Washington: A metal fence built this month around the White House was removed, but many of the anti-racism posters and art that adorned the “wall” will become museum pieces and kept for possible exhibitions on protests.
At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, the Secret Service opened two panels and announced that Lafayette Square surrounding the White House was now “open” to the public, and on Thursday morning agents had removed most of the metal fence, reports Efe news.
The barricades were erected more than a week ago after security forces dispersed protesters from the square with tear gas so that the President Donald Trump could walk from the White House to the nearby church and pose for a picture with a Bible in his hand.
Many protesters were angered by the decision to widen both the perimeter around the White House and the lack of access to Lafayette Park, but they soon turned the over two-metre-high fence into a canvas on which they have hung their anti-racism posters and art.
The Smithsonian Institution, which has nine museums in the capital, took note of this makeshift mural and on Thursday announced that three of its galleries have formed “a coalition to document, collect and preserve the expressions of protest and hope from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C.”.
The museums involved in the project are the NMAAHC, the National Museum of American History, and the Anacostia Community Museum. Anacostia is a predominantly African-American neighbourhood in southern Washington.
“At this stage, the Smithsonian cannot confirm which objects will become a part of its official collection,” the institution said in a statement.
The goal of the project, the statement added, is to “recognize that the tragic killing of George Floyd has spurred a transformative time in US history” and that “the world, in the present and future, can understand the role that race has played in our complicated 400-year history” since the beginning of slavery.
The museums have also asked those who participated in the demonstrations to keep those objects that may be of interest to the museum, and to send them photographs to see if they can fit into the curators’ project. (IANS)