Burlington, VT — The Fleming Museum of Art at the University of Vermont presents Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections, on view from February 6 through May 18, 2024.
On a desk within the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, an old stuffed parrot guards a small library and a vast, yet obsolete ornithology collection. An excited young scientist reads a story on the origins of the desiccated animal to entertain a group of visitors: it may have been the last "speaker" of a dead Indigenous language from colonial Venezuela or a German prince's precious gift to the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. There is no clear understanding which of these versions, if any, might be true.
Curated by David Ayala-Alfonso, Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections is a traveling exhibition that reflects on the birth of modern collections, the art institutions that sustain them, and their contingent origin stories to reveal a universe of erasures, violence, and fortuity. Considering how institutional collections organize our lives, Never Spoken Again brings together artists whose works open up a critique of material culture, iconography, and political ecologies.
In turn, each of the works sheds light on myths, simulations, fake currencies, war games, and the slow violence of systematic racism that historically underpin collecting practices. Together, they invite inquiry into how our collective histories are presented, curated, fabricated, or all of the above. With wit, curiosity, and compassion, Never Spoken Again asks the question most museum visitors dare not: How did these objects and artworks get to a gallery in Vermont anyway? And why?
In complement to Never Spoken Again, the Fleming Museum of Art's Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Kristan M. Hanson, has incorporated commissioned, loaned, and existing works from the Museum's collections. From a panel of stone carved in relief which once decorated the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II's (r. 883–859 BCE) palace to a newly printed 3-D Copy of the Bust of Nefertiti (2023), the exhibition further expands and enriches the Fleming's ongoing efforts to interrogate its collecting histories and implement impactful changes in museum practice.
Visitors will have several opportunities to delve deeper into the exhibition, including two hour-long screening events featuring video artworks from Never Spoken Again as well as a public tour guided by Hanson and the Fleming's Manager of Collections and Exhibitions, Margaret Tamulonis.
Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections is a traveling exhibition curated by David Ayala-Alfonso and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI). It is the result of a new series of programs, pioneered with the support of the Hartfield Foundation, aimed at providing opportunities to alumni of ICI’s Curatorial Intensive as they move through the stages of their career, and reflecting ICI’s commitment to fostering and championing new curatorial voices who will shape the future of the field. Never Spoken Again is made possible with the generous support of ICI’s Board of Trustees and International Forum. Additional support for Erkan Öznur’s participation is provided by SAHA. The presentation at the Fleming Museum of Art has been organized in collaboration with Kristan M. Hanson, the Fleming’s curator of collections and exhibitions. Crozier Fine Arts is the Preferred Art Logistics Partner.
Artists: Morehshin Allahyari, Maria Thereza Alves, François Bucher, Giuseppe Campuzano, Alia Farid, Sofia de Grenade, Laura Huertas Millán, Ulrik López, Carlos Motta, Erkan Öznur, David Peña Lopera, Claudia Peña Salinas, Michael Rakowitz, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Reyes Santiago Rojas, Daniel R. Small, and Felipe Steinberg.
Fleming Museum of Art
Offering world-class art in the heart of Burlington since 1931, the Fleming Museum of Art is a vital part of the University of Vermont and its School of the Arts. Featuring rotating exhibitions, community events and programs, and over 24,000 art and cultural heritage objects within its collections, the Fleming is a meeting place for inspired learning, critical thinking, and fostering understanding of our shared human experiences.