This character design for a Junior Anthropologist was created in summer of 2019 in response to an exhibition of work by the artist Rafa Esparza at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. The program for the exhibit is included, as are three research images that sparked ideas and inspired pieces of the character.
The idea of this character came from reflections while I experienced the exhibit about anthropology's history of operating through a primarily white, patriarchal, and colonial lens. Esparza's idea of "browning the white cube" of the art gallery led me to reflections on the impact and difference it makes when Black and brown curators (both art curators and archaeological/anthropological curators) are included in shaping culture. It also made me reflect on how our longstanding systems of hierarchical structure and seniority within institutions slows the speed at which new voices and fair representations are introduced and taken seriously.