Dr. Noah Simblist and Lauren Woods

Language has unmistakably made plain that memory is not an instrument for exploring the past, but rather a medium. It is the medium of that which is experienced, just as the earth is the medium in which ancient cities lie buried. He who seeks to approach his own buried past must conduct himself like a man digging. Walter Benjamin, “Excavation and Memory,” in Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings Volume 2, 1927–1934 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999)

Curator, writer, and artist Dr. Noah Simblist is joined by artist lauren woods as he leads a panel discussion titled “Reading Monuments: An Introduction” in conjunction with the national project Reading Monuments. Reading Monuments is a coalition of reading groups that explores the legacy and future of Confederate monuments in four significant southern US cities: Dallas/Fort Worth; Richmond, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Simblist serves as artistic director for this national initiative and woods is discussion leader for the program locally.

As an institutional site for Reading Monuments, the Modern is proud to collaborate with Simblist and woods in launching the 2019–2020 program with this special Tuesday Evenings presentation, in which Simblist and woods introduce the program and the DFW discussion group members while leading an engaging conversation about Confederate monuments between participants and the Tuesday Evenings audience.

A video recording of this lectures will be available on the Modern's Youtube.