School of Information Management & Systems.   Fall 2003.
142   Access to American Cultural Heritages.   M. Buckland.

Assignment 2: Photography and Black Heritage.   Due Sept 8.

This course involves visiting three exhibits: This exhibit of photographs of Black Panthers; three small exhibits at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology; and, later, one of your own choice. Museums select and interpret as well as store materials.

Visit: The Black Panthers 1968: Photographs. Theater Gallery, University Art Museum.
    "The Black Panther Party was one of many liberation movements taking shape in the 1960s. The creativity, imagination, and genius of young people around the world provided a moment of optimism, albeit in a time of war, that has not been matched since." Before going, look at the exhibit website at http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibits/black_panthers/index.html. The exhibit is in the Theater Gallery, just inside the 2621 Durant Street entrance (between College and Telegraph) of the University Art Museum. Main entrance is 2626 Bancroft Way. Hours Wednesday thru Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays closed. Thursdays 11 a.m.-7 p.m. UCB students free with student card, others: Theater gallery is free; rest of museum $5-$8; free first Thurs of each month.
    Write a paragraph on each of the following:
- What, if anything, did you learn from seeing this exhibit? What impact did it have on you?
- The medium is large black and white photographs: What is this medium most effective for? How, if at all, do you think it influences the exhibit? Would use of some other media (e.g. paintings, pencil sketches, color photographs, or video) have had a different effect?
- How adequate were the explanations?
- What is the attitude of the photographers toward their topic? How might the treatment of the Black Panthers by someone else with a different attitude (e.g. police photographer; TV network news) have come out differently?
- Other thoughts or comments?
    Allow an hour. Try not to do it when tired or in a hurry. Take a quick look at the other exhibits in the main part of the museum. Take a friend!

Not required, but recommended: Two parts of Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography, available only through Sunday August 31.

1. Oakland Museum of California, 10th St & Oak, near Lake Merritt BART station: The exhibit "Art and Activism: Documenting the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements" is at the far end of the California history gallery, 2nd floor. Also, on the same floor, "From Iconic to Ironic" on the history of fashion in California. Details at www.museumca.org. Admission $6, students $4.

2. African American Museum and Library, 659 Fourteenth St, Oakland, about three blocks north of the 12th Street BART station: African American Photography, the First Hundred Years, 1842-1942. The Museum is in the former city library building, at 14th and MLKing, now beautifully restored. Details at www.oaklandlibrary.org/AAMLO/exhibits.html. Free.

Hand in a short report (a page or two, single-spaced) with your comments. Be prepared to discuss the exhibit(s) in class.