Where does this object start? What makes this object appropriate for a teaching museum? How has its function as a teaching object changed over time? On Tuesday, March 9th, Dr. Makeda Best, the Richard L. Menschel Curator of Art at the Harvard Art Museums, opened her talk with these questions. In a teaching museum, art […]
History months in the U.S. separate Americans’ obligation to jump into the struggles of those who face oppression, which prevent us from experiencing and learning about the similarities and differences in their fights against systemic oppression. In February, Americans listened to protest music last month to learn about the Civil Rights Movement, but switched the […]
Artists and non-artists alike have spent more free time than normal in their heads and homes this year, with little to occupy the overactive young adult mind. Many have turned to pen and paper, collage, stamps, and even henna to release pent-up emotion or begin a passion they have always wanted to pursue. Without the […]
“Oh, I don’t believe in God anymore.” “That makes sense.” Suddenly, the size of my left wrist became more interesting than our conversation. I gripped it in a chokehold for a few moments. “What?” My eyes didn’t leave my hand. “But, I wish I did.” I drew in a sharp inhale. The words left a […]
Today, cameras flood Harvard’s campus. Whether it’s with a passerby’s iPhone, a tourist’s DSLR, or an Indyite’s newfound vintage 35mm camera, we constantly capture moments with the flick of a shutter. In 1969 when one of the founders of the Independent, Jim Vassef ’71, was photographing Harvard and its community, the making and sharing images […]
“Why they want to pin a felly on me? I ain’t did nothing.” Bobby Shmurda, Wash The Case Away If you didn’t know Bobby Shmurda by name, you knew him by voice. In his 2014 breakout single, “Hot N**** (Hot Boy),” Shmurda proudly declared he had “been selling crack like since the 5th grade.” Shmurda’s […]
In the Victorian era people often used flowers to communicate. Meanings were assigned to flowers. They were used to send secret messages that could not be said aloud in the culture. “Floriography” allowed rules to be broken in an alluring, lusciously enigmatic way. A woman would know a man “fancied” her through a particular flower […]
Like most, January 6th began with sunshine. The city often experiences winter differently than most places— it feels like the swamp underneath the city radiates heat and the cool of winter gets wrapped up in its blanket of humidity. I was there on that day to feel it. In the sun, it felt easy to […]
Boots don’t have a good formal definition or a clean etymological lineage. Simply, it’s understood that boots must cover the entire foot and part of the leg. In the transition from the worst part of winter to the slightly less worse part of winter, boots reign supreme among all footwear. Demonstrated by the costar of […]
The break between semesters often feels like a moment of drift. We are all of a sudden devoid of the artificial purpose injected by school. Photographers Ghislaine Taubman and Marbella Marlo investigated that space with their cameras over break. The Harvard Independent presents the series, Transition: We tumble into the break, free and exuberant. Free […]