We’re surrounded by noise. Everyone’s posting, presenting, panelling. The art world is flooded with statements that sound right but mean nothing. Inclusion. Dialogue. Decolonise. Empathy. It’s a soft parade of borrowed language masking the absence of conviction.
Here’s the truth: most people in this space are afraid to say what they really think. They’re afraid to offend, to be wrong, to lose the invite, the funding, the feature. So they hide behind vague curatorial frameworks and academic jargon. They call it discourse. It’s evasion.
What’s missing is clarity. What’s missing is risk. We need people in the room who are willing to say: this artist is overrated. This institution is playing safe. This show is a lie. This work has guts. This one doesn’t. We need people who can call out the difference between trend and substance without flinching.
The art world won’t evolve until we stop being polite. Until we start naming what’s broken and who’s benefitting from keeping it broken. That means losing the safety net. That means offending people. That means saying something real, even if it costs you.
If you’re curating, writing, programming, collecting—ask yourself: what are you really standing for? Who are you protecting? Who are you avoiding? If the answer makes you uncomfortable, good. Sit with it. Then speak from there.
Don’t show up just to decorate the conversation. We’ve had enough of that. Show up to shake it.
Say something real.
Or step aside.