Corine - ATOMIC COWBOY / TAKE IT HOME Exhibition Response

ATOMIC COWBOY / TAKE IT HOME Exhibition Response

Curatorial Activism Defined

When I went to “Atomic Cowboy and Take It Home” I noticed right away how both shows used art to talk about history, power, and memory in really powerful ways. They made me think about who gets to tell certain stories and how those stories shape the way we understand the world today.

In This Is What I Know About Art, Kimberly Drew says that “art is a tool for change, and museums and galleries are battlegrounds for whose stories get told” That quote really fits with these exhibitions. Atomic Cowboy looks at the image of the cowboy and connects it to masculinity, control, and the darker side of American culture during the atomic age. Meanwhile, Take It Home, curated by Souya Handa, focuses more on remembrance and healing. It looks at how nuclear violence connects places like Japan, the Congo, and the U.S., and how those histories are still affecting people today.

Handa talks about the Japanese cenotaph that says, “Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the error.” She changes it to “Take it Home,” which I thought was really meaningful it turns a message of grief into one of shared responsibility. The artists she included Souya Handa, Kei Ito, Layla Yamamoto, and Sixte Kakinda all approach the idea of nuclear history from different perspectives, which made the show feel global and personal at the same time.

Dr. Maura Reilly defines curatorial activism as “curating with the aim of counteracting exclusionary practices in the art world and society at large” I think Handa’s show really does that. She gives space to artists who aren’t usually centered in conversations about nuclear power and war. The exhibition challenges viewers to think about how these stories have been told in the past and who was left out. For me, that’s what makes this kind of curation a form of activism.

Art Examples

One piece that stood out to me was Kei Ito’s “Aborning New Light.” It uses old footage from U.S. nuclear tests, but Ito transforms it into still images using sunlight and his own breath. He’s the grandson of a Hiroshima survivor, which makes the work feel even more emotional. It’s like he’s turning something that once represented death and destruction into a form of light and memory. I thought it was a really beautiful way of keeping that history alive.

Kei Ito’s “Aborning New Light.”

Another work I connected with was Layla Yamamoto’s “Therefore I Want It (Postwar Is Over).” This piece responds to Japan’s postwar identity and the ongoing issues around nuclear power, especially after Fukushima. By changing the phrase “postwar is over,” Yamamoto questions whether true peace has ever really existed. I liked how her work used simple text and imagery to say something so big it reminded me that activism can start just by changing how we speak or see something.

Layla Yamamoto’s “Therefore I Want It (Postwar Is Over).”

Both exhibitions made me realize that art isn’t just about what we see, it’s about what we take away from it. The artists and curators used their work to confront history, question power, and start conversations. It made me feel like activism through art can be quiet but still incredibly strong.