Speaking Volumes | Transforming Hate
Speaking Volumes | Transforming Hate showcases the diverse work of more than thirty artists who have transformed thousands of hateful white supremacist books into uplifting works of art. This stunning exhibition challenges and moves visitors with its thought-provoking and occasionally light-hearted collection of artwork, and provides honest opportunities to address discrimination in our communities and racism in America.
Join Us for Speaking Volumes | Transforming Hate Throughout 2018
Utah Humanities is collaborating with two museums to host the exhibition and to create additional humanities programming during the exhibition stay.
Springville Museum of Art: January 17 - June 2 | View Springville Events
Ogden Union Station Museums: June 15 - September 3 | View Ogden Events
Exhibition Resources
Gallery Self-Guide
Artist Statements and Biographies
Tour Media Coverage
- This display of white supremacist books led a Utah family to talk honestly about racism, Salt Lake Tribune, June 14, 2018
- Speaking Volumes in Utah, Michael McLane on Contact with Mary Dickson, PBS, May 31, 2018
- Social Justice: Speaking Volumes Transforming Hate, by Michael McLane, Catalyst Magazine, February 28, 2018
- With group's 'bibles' in hand, a white supremacist defects — and an art exhibit is born , Deseret News, January 31, 2018
- Getting Creative with Hate: Speaking Volumes Transforms Negativity at Springville Museum of Art, 15 Bytes: Utah's Art Magazine, January 24, 2018
- Speaking Volumes exhibit at Springville Museum of Art turns hateful literature into powerful art, Daily Herald, January 15, 2018
- Michael McLane Previews Speaking Volumes | Transforming Hate Exhibition in Utah, KRCL RadioActive, January 15, 2018 (starts about minute 5:00)
- Thumbs up to Springville Museum of Art for bringing Speaking Volumes to the area, Daily Herald, January 12, 2018
Speaking Volumes | Transforming Hate Background
In 2004, a defecting leader of one of the most virulent white supremacist hate groups in the nation presented the Montana Human Rights Network with 4,000 volumes of their "bibles" — books promoting extreme anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and racist ideologies. In partnership with the Human Rights Network, the Holter Museum of Art invited artists across the country to respond to, integrate, or transform the books in provocative ways. The resulting exhibition is Speaking Volumes| Transforming Hate.
Subtle and overt forms of prejudice, all of which can foster fear and mistrust, ultimately restrict our capacity to fully experience the world. By responding creatively to hate, injustice and violence, the artists in Speaking Volumes provoke thinking and conversations that encourage empathy for others and respect for social justice.
You can learn more about the exhibition's origins, history, and influence at the Speaking Volumes website, by reading a Book Arts Program interview of Clarissa Sligh (the Speaking Volumes artist featured in the photo above), and by watching the video below:
Speaking Volumes | Transforming Hate, an exhibition from the Montana Human Rights Network curated by Katie Knight, is brought to Utah by Utah Humanities and is touring in partnership with the Springville Museum of Art and the Ogden Union Station Foundation, with support from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums and the BW Bastian Foundation.
