Found & Ekphrastic Poetry in the Iziko South African National Gallery and Cantor Arts Center: An Exploration of Cultural Reproduction

This work explores cultural reproduction in art museum spaces with the Iziko
South African National Gallery (ISANG) and the Cantor Arts Center as case studies. My primary methodology is embodied research, with found and ekphrastic poetry acting as vessels to translate and integrate my findings from embodied research, literature review, and interviews with museum leadership. Ultimately, there is ever-evolving nuance and variation in the cultural reproduction that happens when an artwork or a museum space meet the viewer; however, I encourage museums to take steps within their control to leverage their sites of cultural reproduction to disrupt social hierarchies rather than passively allowing them to continue or even purposefully reinforcing them.