Peter Benson Miller on Encounters II, the American Academy in Rome's First Virtual Exhibition

Peter Benson Miller, curator and now head of international relations at the Quadriennale, discusses Encounters II, the first virtual exhibition of the American Academy in Rome, marking its 125th anniversary. The show pairs artist Julie Mehretu and architect J. Meejin Yoon, exploring abstraction as social activism, particularly in response to the 2017 Charlottesville events. Miller notes that the digital format allowed inclusion of works not feasible in a physical show, broadening access. The exhibition's subtitle, 'The Activist Gesture,' references Mehretu's view of each mark as a political act. Miller also reflects on his earlier exhibition Nero su Bianco (2015), which addressed Afro-Italian identity and featured BLM co-founder Alicia Garza. He emphasizes that cultural institutions must actively build new paradigms and amplify marginalized voices. Miller concludes his seven-year tenure at the American Academy, now focusing on international partnerships for the Quadriennale and writing a book on 1950s exchanges between American artists in Rome and Italian colleagues.