When Turkish artist Serhat Tanyolacar depicted the robes of the Ku Klux Klan in a sculpture on the University of Iowa’s campus, he intended to protest racism.
He says he never anticipated the controversy that he has ignited by doing so.
“I assumed that it would be interpreted as an anti-racist work and art piece,” he says.
During this hour of Talk of Iowa, Tanyolacar talks with host Charity Nebbe about his sculpture, why he created it, and what message he was trying to send by placing it on the Pentacrest of the University of Iowa’s campus a few weeks ago.
Associate Professor of Art History at Iowa State University John Cunnally also joins the conversation. He says despite Tanyolacar’s intentions, it’s important to remember that, typically, publically displayed art is not morally ambiguous and that, by contrast, a sculpture reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan immediately prompts ethical questions.
Clair Rudison, Chairman for the Iowa Commission for the Status of African Americans, grew up in Texas in the 1960’s and agrees with Cunnally. He says that while the conversation [deleted] about racism in Iowa is important, the pain attached to the imagery of the robed figure should not be overlooked.
“I played football in high school and remember ending a game and being told to get directly on the bus because the town we were playing in had a sundown law. Vider, Texas. That’s where my dad had told me the KKK was headquartered in Texas. People followed our bus throwing rocks and broken bottles.”
Rudison and Ako Abdul-Samad, who represents Iowa’s 35th House Distict, also join Nebbe during this hour of Talk of Iowa.
