White Lies. Race and the Myth of Whiteness is the prescient title of Maurice Berger’s first book, published in 1999. This tribute is an invitation to address the urgent challenges of the current moment through the seminal work of scholar, educator, curator, and New York Times columnist Maurice Berger (1956-2020), who was the first Vera List Center Fellow appointed in 1993. 

Berger’s seminal contributions to the studies of race and representation are illuminated by scholar Courtney R. Baker, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, artist Nona Faustine, New York Times writer David Gonzalez, and scholar Sarah Lewis, in a discussion moderated by curator Kinshasha Holman Conwill. The tribute to Berger, a victim of Covid-19, looks at three key areas his career -- his foundational scholarly work; the orbit of allies, peers, and artists gathered around him, and to whom he was mentor and colleague; and his position as both an astute scholar and a passionate activist. An excerpt of Marvin Heiferman’s Instagram account @whywelook concludes the exchange.

Participants

Courtney R. Baker, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of California, Riverside

Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

Nona Faustine, photographer and visual artist

David Gonzalez, journalist and co-editor, The New York Times Lens blog

Sarah Lewis, Associate Professor, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University

Moderator

Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Deputy Director, National Museum of African American History & Culture

This event is preceded by a protocol-directed performance composed by VLC Fellow Robert Sember. It concludes with a video tribute by some of Maurice Berger’s colleagues and peers, and VLC Fellow Sarah Rothenberg’s piano recital of Morton Feldman’s last composition, Palais de Mari, recorded earlier this year and dedicated to Berger.

The Vera List Center Forum 2020 launches the center’s 2020-2022 focus theme, As for Protocols. Curated by Carin Kuoni and Eriola Pira, it is organized with the support of Adrienne Umeh, Heran Abate, Joshua van Biema, and Maryna Arabei.

The Vera List Center Forum 2020 is made possible by major support from Jane Lombard and the Kettering Fund, as well as the Boris Lurie Art Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and The New School as well as members of the Vera List Center's board and other individuals.

This tribute reflects on the seminal contributions by Vera List Center inaugural fellow Maurice Berger. It is organized by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School, with the support of Marvin Heiferman.