The article previews a major new video installation by artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien, titled "Once Again... (Statues Never Die)," which will be presented at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. The work engages in a complex dialogue with the museum's founder, Albert C. Barnes, and his historic collection of African sculptures, exploring themes of colonialism, modernism, and representation.
Julien's installation is significant for its direct institutional critique, interrogating the fraught history of how African art was collected and displayed by Western modernists. By placing his contemporary cinematic work in conversation with Barnes's foundational collection, Julien reframes historical narratives and prompts a necessary re-examination of the ethics of museum display and cultural appropriation.