Can art amend history? | Titus Kaphar

Translator: Mario Cal Reviewer: Alicia Ferreiro

I love museums.

Encántanme os museos.

Have you guys ever been to the Natural History Museum?

Estivestes algunha vez no Museo de Historia Natural?

In New York City?

En Nova York?

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

So one of the things that I do is I take my kids to the museum.

Eu levo moito os meus fillos ao museo.

Recently I took them to the Natural History Museum.

Hai pouco leveinos ao de Historia Natural.

I had my two sons with me, Sabian and Dabith.

Levaba comigo os meus dous fillos, Sabian e Dabith

And we go into the front entrance of the museum,

Entramos pola porta principal do museo,

and there's that amazing sculpture of Teddy Roosevelt out there.

onde se atopa esa impresionante escultura de Teddy Roosevelt.

You guys know which one I'm talking about.

Xa sabedes a cal me refiro.

Teddy Roosevelt is sitting there with one hand on the horse,

Teddy Roosevelt está sentado cunha man sobre o cabalo,

bold, strong, sleeves rolled up.

valente, forte, arremangado.

I don't know if he's bare-chested, but it kind of feels like it.

Non sei se co peito descuberto, pero dá esa sensación.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And on the left-hand side of him is a Native American walking.

Á súa esquerda vai a pé un nativo americano.

And on the right-hand side of him is an African-American walking.

E á súa dereita, un afroamericano a pé.

And as we're moving up the stairs,

Estamos subindo polas escaleiras,

getting closer to the sculpture,

achegándonos á escultura,

my oldest son, who's nine, says,

cando o meu fillo maior, que ten nove anos, di:

"Dad, how come he gets to ride,

"Papá, por que vai el a cabalo

and they have to walk?"

e eles teñen que camiñar?"

It stopped me in my tracks.

Detívenme en seco.

It stopped me in my tracks.

Detívenme en seco.

There was so much history

Teríamos tanta historia que contar

that we would have to go through to try to explain that,

para tratar de explicar iso,

and that's something I try to do with them anyways.

algo que, de tódolos xeitos, trato de facer con eles.

It's a question that I probably would have never really asked.

É unha pregunta que probablemente eu nunca tería feito.

But fundamentally what he was saying was,

Pero, en esencia, o que viña a dicir era:

"That doesn't look fair.

"Iso non parece xusto.

Dad, that doesn't look fair.

Papá, iso non parece xusto.

And why is this thing that's so not fair

E por que poñen iso tan inxusto

sitting outside of such an amazing institution."

á entrada dunha institución tan impresionante."

And his question got me wondering,

E a súa pregunta fíxome pensar:

is there a way for us to amend our public sculptures,

non haberá un modo de corrixir as nosas estatuas públicas,

our national monuments?

os nosos monumentos nacionais?

Not erase them,

Non digo eliminalas,

but is there a way to amend them?

pero hai algún modo de corrixilas?

Now, I didn't grow up going to museums.

Eu non me criei indo a museos.

That's not my history.

Esa non é a miña historia.

My mother was 15 years old when I was born.

Miña nai tiña 15 anos cando nacín.

She is amazing.

É unha muller incrible.

My father was struggling with his own things

Meu pai facía o que podía cos seus propios asuntos

for most of my life.

durante case toda a miña vida.

If you really want to know the truth,

Se queredes que vos diga a verdade,

the only reason I got into art is because of a woman.

a única razón pola que me dediquei á arte foi unha muller.

There was this amazing, amazing, fantastic, beautiful, smart woman,

Estaba esta muller realmente incrible, fantástica, fermosa, intelixente,

four years older than me,

catro anos maior ca min,

and I wanted to go out with her.

e eu quería saír con ela.

But she said, "You're too young

Pero ela díxome: "Es moi novo

and you're not thinking about your future."

e non pensas no teu futuro."

So I ran on down to the junior college,

Fun a todo correr ao centro de formación,

registered for some classes,

matriculeime nunhas cantas clases,

ran on back,

e volvín correndo,

and basically was like, "I'm thinking about my future now."

e, para resumir, dixen: "Agora xa estou a pensar no meu futuro."

(Laughter)

(Risas)

"Can we go out?"

"Queres saír comigo?"

For the record, she's even more amazing.

Para que conste, ela é aínda máis incrible.

I married her.

Casei con ela.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

So when I randomly ran down to the junior college

Así que cando fun correndo ao tolo ao centro de formación

and registered for classes,

e me matriculei

I really wasn't paying attention to what I was registering to.

non atendín moito en que clases me anotaba

(Laughter)

(Risas)

So I ended up with an art history class,

Acabei nun curso de historia da arte,

and I didn't know a thing about art history.

e non tiña nin idea de historia da arte.

But something amazing happened when I went into that class.

Pero pasou algo incrible cando entrei naquela clase.

For the first time in my academic career,

Por primeira vez na miña vida académica

my visual intelligence was required of me.

pedíanme intelixencia visual

For the first time.

Por primeira vez.

The professor would put up an image,

A profesora mostraba unha imaxe,

bold strokes of blues and yellows, and say, "Who's that?"

audaces pinceladas de azuis e amarelos, e dicía: "Quen é este?"

And I'd go, "That's Van Gogh. Clearly that is Van Gogh.

E eu saltaba: "É Van Gogh. Está claro que é Van Gogh.

I got this."

Estou seguro."

(Laughter)

(Risas)

I got a B in that class.

Saquei notable nese curso.

For me, that was amazing.

Para min, iso foi incrible.

In high school, let's just say I wasn't a great student. OK?

No instituto, digamos que non era un alumno moi aplicado, vale?

In high school, my GPA was .65.

No instituto, a miña media nunha escala de 1 a 4 era 0,65

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Decimal point first, six five.

Cero coma seis, cinco.

So me getting a B was huge, huge,

Así que para min sacar un notable era algo tremendo,

absolutely huge.

absolutamente tremendo.

And because of the fact that I realized that I was able to learn things visually

E ao decatarme de que era quen de aprender visualmente

that I couldn't learn in other ways,

cousas que non aprendía doutros xeitos,

this became my strategy, this became my tactic

iso converteuse na miña estratexia, na miña táctica

for understanding everything else.

para entender todo o demais.

I wanted to stay in this relationship. Things were going well.

Quería conservar a relación. As cousas ían ben.

I decided, let me keep taking these art history classes.

Así que decidín seguir coas clases de historia da arte.

Unha das últimas clases nunca, nunca a esquecerei.

One of the last art history classes, I will not forget, I will never forget.

It was one of those survey art history classes.

Era un deses cursos panorámicos de historia da arte.

Anybody ever have one of those survey art history classes,

Algún de vós fixo un deses cursos

where they try to teach you the entire history of art

nos que intentan ensinarche toda a historia da arte

in a single semester?

nun só semestre?

I'm talking about cave paintings and Jackson Pollock

Falo de meter a pintura rupestre e Jackson Pollock

ben apertados todo xunto...

just crunched together all in the same --

It doesn't really work, but they try anyway.

En realidade non funciona, pero eles inténtano de todos modos.

Well, at the beginning of the semester,

Ben, ao comezo do semestre,

I looked at the book,

mirei o libro,

and in this 400-page book was about a 14-page section

e entre esas 400 páxinas había unha sección dunhas 14

that was on black people in painting.

sobre os negros na pintura.

Now, this was a crammed in section

Era unha sección ateigada

that had representations of black people in painting

de representacións de negros en cadros

and black people who painted.

e de negros que pintaban.

It was poorly curated, let's just put it that way.

Digamos que non estaba moi ben montada.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Nonetheless I was really excited about it,

Con todo, a min entusiasmoume,

because in all the other classes that I had,

porque no resto das miñas clases

we didn't even have that conversation.

nin sequera chegamos a ter esa conversa.

We didn't talk about it at all.

Non falamos diso para nada.

So imagine my surprise

Así que imaxinade a miña sorpresa

when I get to class

cando chego á clase

and on the day that we're supposed to go over that particular chapter,

o día que se supoñía que iamos ver ese capítulo concreto,

my professor announces,

e a profesora anuncia:

"We're going to skip this chapter today

"Hoxe imos saltar este capítulo

because we do not have time to go through it."

porque non temos tempo de velo."

"Whoa, I'm sorry, hold on, professor, professor.

"Alto aí! Desculpe un momento, profesora, profesora.

I'm sorry. This is a really important chapter to me.

Desculpe. Este é un capítulo moi importante para min.

Are we going to go over it at any point?"

Ímolo tratar nalgún momento?"

"Titus, we don't have time for this."

"Titus, non temos tempo para iso."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,

"Perdón, perdón, perdón.

Por favor, teño que entendelo.

please, I really need to understand.

Está claro que o autor pensa que isto é importante.

Clearly the author thinks that this is significant.

Why are we skipping over this?"

Por que o saltamos nós?"

"Titus, I do not have time for this."

"Titus, non teño tempo para tratar isto."

"OK, last question, I'm really sorry here.

"Vale, unha última pregunta, perdoe.

When can we talk, because we need to talk."

Cando podemos falar, porque temos que falar."

(Laughter)

(Risas)

I went to her office hours.

Fun ás súas titorías.

I ended up getting kicked out of her office.

Acabou botándome do despacho.

I went to the dean.

Fun ver ao director,

The dean finally told me, "I can't force her to teach anything."

que acabou dicindo: "Non podo obrigala a ensinar nada."

And I knew in that moment if I wanted to understand this history,

Nese intre souben que se quería entender esta historia,

if I wanted to understand the roles of those folks who had to walk,

se quería entender o papel dos tipos que eran obrigados a camiñar,

I was probably going to have to figure that out myself.

probablemente tería que descubrilo por min mesmo.

So ...

Así que...

above you right here on the slide

Nesa diapositiva de aí arriba

is a painting by Frans Hals.

tedes un cadro de Frans Hals.

This is one of the kinds of images

É unha das imaxes

that was in that chapter.

que había naquel capítulo.

I taught myself how to paint

Aprendín eu só a pintar

by going to museums and looking at images like this.

indo a museos e contemplando imaxes coma esta.

I want to show you something.

Quero ensinarvos unha cousa.

I made this.

Eu pintei isto.

I --

Eu...

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

I made some alterations.

fixen algúns cambios.

You'll see there are some slight differences in the painting.

Veredes lixeiras diferenzas no cadro.

All this art history that I had been absorbing

Toda esa historia da arte que absorbera

helped me to realize that painting is a language.

axudoume a decatarme de que a pintura é unha linguaxe.

There is a reason

Hai unha razón

why he is the highest in the composition here.

de que el sexa o máis alto nesta composición.

There is a reason

Hai unha razón

why the painter is showing us this gold necklace here.

de que o pintor nos mostre este colar de ouro de aquí.

He's trying to tell us something about the economic status

Trata de contarnos algo sobre o nivel económico

of these people in these paintings.

das persoas do cadro.

Painting is a visual language

A pintura é unha linguaxe visual

where everything in the painting

na que todo o que hai no cadro

is meaningful, is important.

ten un significado, é importante.

It's coded.

Está codificado.

But sometimes, because of the compositional structure,

Pero ás veces, a causa da estrutura compositiva,

because of compositional hierarchy,

a causa da xerarquía compositiva,

it's hard to see other things.

resulta difícil ver outras cousas.

This silk is supposed to tell us also that they have quite a bit of money.

Supostamente esta seda tamén nos di que teñen bastantes cartos.

There's more written

Na historia da arte

about dogs in art history

lévase escrito máis sobre cans

than there are about this other character here.

ca sobre estoutro personaxe de aquí.

Historically speaking, in research on these kinds of paintings,

Desde unha perspectiva histórica, na investigación sobre estes cadros,

I can find out more about the lace

podo saber máis sobre o encaixe

that the woman is wearing in this painting --

que leva a muller deste cadro,

the manufacturer of the lace -- than I can about this character here,

sobre o fabricante do encaixe, ca sobre este personaxe de aquí,

about his dreams, about his hopes,

sobre os seus soños, as súas esperanzas,

about what he wanted out of life.

sobre o que esperaba da vida.

I want to show you something.

Quero mostrarvos algo.

I don't want you to think

Non quero que pensedes

that this is about eradication.

que isto ten que ver coa erradicación.

It's not.

Non vai diso.

The oil that you saw me just put inside of this paint

O aceite que acabades de verme engadirlle á pintura

is linseed oil.

é aceite de liñaza.

It becomes transparent over time,

Co tempo vólvese transparente,

so eventually what's going to happen

así que o que finalmente vai pasar

is these faces

é que estes rostros

will emerge a little bit.

volverán a verse un pouco.

What I'm trying to do,

O que trato de facer,

what I'm trying to show you,

de amosarvos,

is how to shift your gaze just slightly,

é como desviar a vosa mirada lixeiramente,

just momentarily,

momentaneamente,

just momentarily,

só momentaneamente,

to ask yourself the question,

para que vos fagades a pregunta:

why do some have to walk?

por que algúns teñen que camiñar?

What is the impact of these kinds of sculptures at museums?

Cal é o impacto desas estatuas dos museos?

What is the impact of these kinds of paintings

Cal é o impacto destes cadros

on some of our most vulnerable in society,

sobre os máis vulnerables da nosa sociedade,

seeing these kinds of depictions of themselves all the time?

ao verse así representados todo o tempo?

I'm not saying erase it.

Non digo que haxa que borralo.

We can't erase this history.

Non podemos borrar esta historia.

It's real. We have to know it.

É real. Temos que coñecela.

I think of it in the same way

Eu enténdoa do mesmo xeito

we think of --

que entendemos...

Let me step back a second.

Volvamos atrás un momento.

You remember old-school cameras,

Lembrades esas cámaras antigas

where when you took a picture, you actually had to focus. Right?

coas que para sacar unha foto tiñades que enfocar, non?

You'd put the camera up,

Preparabas a cámara,

and if I wanted you in focus,

e se quería enfocarte a ti,

I would move the lens a little to the left

xiraba a lente un pouco á esquerda

and you would come forward.

e ti acercábaste.

I could move the lens a little to the right,

Podía mover a lente un pouco á dereita,

and you would go back and the folks in the background would come out.

e ti retrocedías e os do fondo distinguíanse mellor.

I'm just trying to do that here.

Iso é o que trato de facer aquí.

I'm trying to give you that opportunity.

Intento darvos esa oportunidade.

I'm trying to answer that question

Trato de responder a pregunta

that my son had.

que se facía o meu fillo.

I want to make paintings,

Quero pintar cadros,

I want to make sculptures

quero facer esculturas

that are honest,

que sexan honestas,

that wrestle with the struggles of our past

que se enfronten ás loitas do noso pasado

but speak to the diversity and the advances of our present.

pero falen da diversidade e os progresos do noso presente.

And we can't do that by taking an eraser and getting rid of stuff.

E non podemos facer iso borrando e librándonos de cousas.

That's just not going to work.

Iso simplemente non funcionaría.

I think that we should do it in the same way

Penso que deberiamos facelo da maneira

the American Constitution works.

en que funciona a Constitución dos Estados Unidos.

When we have a situation

Cando estamos ante unha situación

where we want to change a law in the American Constitution,

na que queremos cambiar unha lei da Constitución,

we don't erase the other one.

non borramos a anterior.

Alongside that is an amendment,

Ponse unha enmenda ao pé da outra,

something that says,

algo que di:

"This is where we were, but this is where we are right now."

"Aquí era onde estabamos, pero isto é onde nos atopamos agora."

I figure if we can do that,

Imaxino que se somos quen de facer iso,

then that will help us understand a little bit

vainos axudar a entender un pouco

about where we're going.

cara a onde imos.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)