Meet Me at the Chazen

Send us a Text It turns out that the Chazen's archives are packed with detailed documentation of—yes, the art, but also the food that was served at the museum. Meet Me at the Chazen host Gianofer Fields digs into a 1996 reception menu and gets the Chazen staff involved. Listen at the link below or wherever you get your podcasts. Questions? Post them on Instagram at @meetme.chazen! Meet Me at...

Send us a Text Host Gianofer Fields shows us the archival decision-making process as Registrar Andrea Selbig and Archivist Jordan Craig consider what to do with an array of items from the Chazen's past. "Stay or go" is just the first question among several that get asked. Listen in as the process unfolds in real time, as they consider anniversary banners, publication duplicates, and...

Send us a Text Garbage? Detritus? Ephemera—or archival gold? Host Gianofer Fields, Archivist Jordan Craig, and Facilities Manager Adam Hutchinson shine a (figurative and literal) light into some of the Chazen's shadowy corners to find potentially worthy materials that haven't been cataloged yet—the so-called dark archive. From press clippings and a vinyl record to a handwritten note from...

Send us a Text What comes to mind when you think of the word "archive"? Is it a pristine, climate-controlled vault or a dusty, musty corner of the basement? Host Gianofer Fields talks with Chazen Chief of Staff Lindsay Grinstead to learn about the origins of the Chazen's archives. She follows up with archivist Jordan Craig to get a better picture of how archiving works. And she talk...

Send us a Text UW–Madison journalism major Gabriella Hartlaub was always that kid in the back asking why, why, why. In conversation with host Gianofer Fields, she brings that inquisitive nature to the Insistent Presence exhibition, reflecting on the ways it might shape the way she approaches her profession. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen M...

Send us a Text In this week's episode of Meet Me at the Chazen, Host Gianofer Fields talks with someone who's had hours and hours to observe the finer details of, and people interacting with, the Insistent Presence exhibition of contemporary African art. Visitor Services Assistant Erin Coron says that even though she sees the works on every shift, the way visitors approach them often mak...

Send us a Text In this episode of "Meet Me at the Chazen," host Gianofer Fields and Chief Curator Katherine Alcauskas discuss the unique challenges posed by the pandemic in acquiring and curating new art for the Insistent Presence exhibition. Alcauskas says having a guest curator brought essential outside perspective to the exhibition, which will help inform how African art is incorporat...

Send us a Text Host Gianofer Fields and art history scholar Giulia Paoletti discuss the history of photography in Senegal, its meaning as a medium used in everyday life, and its use by a range of artists. Paoletti highlights the practice of xoymet , the creation of photo walls for weddings, and the work of artists like Ibrahima Thiam, who have reworked the historical tradition in new ways. Meet Me...

Send us a Text After an interruption, Host Gianofer Fields and guest curator Margaret Nagawa finish their walkthrough of the Insistent Presence exhibition. Touching on themes of memory and movement, they discuss works by artists like Khaled Ben Slimane, Moataz Nasr, and El Loko, noting how they deeply evoke humanity without needing physical representation of the body.  Meet Me at the Chazen is a p...

Send us a Text Host Gianofer Fields puts you in the middle of moving a work of art that is a centerpiece of the Insistent Presence exhibition: Exodus by Barthélémy Toguo, a work that comments on the movement of people throughout Africa. Listen for the hiss of the tire pump, the squeaky wheels, and the groans of the Chazen's freight elevator (which, it turns out, has a name). Meet Me at the Ch...

Send us a Text Host Gianofer Fields revisits the Insistent Presence exhibition gallery with guest curator Margaret Nagawa, getting behind Nagawa's color choices,  use of space, and the art groupings that help gallery viewers forge connections between North America and the African continent. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art...

Send us a Text Ugandan curator Serubiri Moses and Host Gianofer Fields discuss the work of two South African photographic artists a generation apart: Santu Mofokeng, whose Black Photo Album debuted at second Johannesburg Biennial, and Lebohang Kganye, whose work appears in the Chazen's current exhibition Insistent Presence .  Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisc...

Send us a Text As a boy growing up, Ghanaian visual artist Nana Yaw Oduro knew his view of the world was different. "I used to ask myself, Why? Why me? Why? Why am I like strange? Why am I an artist? Because I don't think I chose it." He talks with host Gianofer Fields about how his life experiences have led to the recurring themes of identity, masculinity, and self-acceptance that...

Send us a Text Belgian-Congolese photographer Léonard Pongo trained as a journalist but soon realized the images he wanted to make went beyond mere documentation. Host Gianofer Fields talks with Pongo about his series, The Uncanny, his family's role in his art, and his choice to work in black and white. Pongo's book The Uncanny is now available. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about t...

Send us a Text Host Gianofer Fields talks with Ugandan visual artist Immy Mali about Virtually Mine , a mobile, sculptural work drawn from text messages between the artist and her then-fiancé, now-husband. Mali talks about the mental pictures of each other we create when we're apart and why glass was the ideal material to represent qualities of their long-distance relationship. Meet Me at the...

Send us a Text Chazen Registrar Andrea Selbig thinks about more than how works of art will look in the galleries. Using an example from the Insistent Presence exhibition, Selbig talks with host Gianofer Fields about the considerations that go into acquiring art at a collecting and teaching museum. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of A...

Send us a Text Guest curator Margaret Nagawa and host Gianofer Fields discuss the Insistent Presence exhibition, touching on the challenges of classifying  African art, colonization, commodification, the relationship between artist and culture, and much more. Above all, Nagawa says, "It's important that we walk through the doors of the Chazen Museum of Art with an open heart. The idea th...

Send us a Text What do we mean when we say "African art"? How did these works come to be here? Who decides, and why? Chazen Director Amy Gilman and Host Gianofer Fields engage with these questions and more as they discuss the opening of Insistent Presence: Contemporary African Art from the Chazen Collection . Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madiso...

Send us a Text Chazen Director Amy Gilman sets up Season 2 of Meet Me at the Chazen, which focuses on Insistent Presence: Contemporary African Art from the Chazen Collection. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art, the largest collecting museum in the Big Ten. As we report what’s happening here, we'll also explore what it means...

Send us a Text As the re:mancipation exhibition draws to a close, host Gianofer Fields talks with Chazen Director Amy Gilman  about how the groundbreaking project changed the museum and its staff and how it will live on. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art, the largest collecting museum in the Big Ten. As we report what’s happenin...

Send us a Text As they take part in a re:mancipation cape-making workshop, host Gianofer Fields talks to community members and artist/activist Wildcat Ebony Brown about what freedom means to them. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art, the largest collecting museum in the Big Ten. As we report what’s happening here, we'll also...

Send us a Text In this week's episode of Meet Me at the Chazen, host Gianofer Fields talks with re:mancipation artists who designed oklads, an Eastern European religious art form, to venerate Black icons of Wisconsin. As they worked on an oklad for Dr. James Cameron, the late civil rights leader who survived a lynching as a youth, they felt the spiritual light of his story moving through them...

Send us a Text Oscar-nominated hair stylist Camille Friend educated the artisans at Quarra Stone on the nuances of Black hair as they finished Sanford Biggers's sculpture, Lifting the Veil , which features Frederick Douglass and his iconic mane. Host Gianofer Fields was there to capture the sights and sounds. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s C...

Send us a Text Host Gianofer Fields visits a Wisconsin Historical Society archive with artisans from Quarra Stone to research the kinds of garments that would have been worn by Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art, the largest collecting museum in the Big Ten. As we report what’s happening he...

Send us a Text Host Gianofer Fields was interviewing textile artist Lynore Routte when Kirstin Pires, the Chazen's communications manager, came by with an incredibly moving gift. Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art, the largest collecting museum in the Big Ten. As we report what’s happening here, we'll also explore what...