Founded in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1989, REPOhistory was a multi-ethnic group of writers,
visual
The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...
and
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
ists,
filmmaker
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
s, and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
s. The organization's name means "repossessing history" and was modeled after the movie title ''
Repo Man''. REPOhistory's goal was to "relocate, retrieve, and document missing or absent historical narratives from specific sites in New York City." In order to accomplish this goal, the group created
public installations, performances, educational activities, printed matter and other visual media, though REPOhistory is best known for erecting temporary historical markers on city streets that focused on issues of slavery, colonialism, race, gender, and class. The group believed that the arts were essential to shaping a collective
cultural identity
Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity (social science), identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, Locality (settlement), locality, gender, o ...
and their work instigated a questioning of the cultural practices of the 1980s and the early 1990s.
[Constanzo, Jim. "REPOhistory's Circulation: The Migration of Public Art to the Internet" ''Art Journal'', Vol. 59, No. 4, pp. 32-37.]
Notes
External links
about REPOHistory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Repohistory
Arts organizations based in New York City
1989 establishments in New York City
Arts organizations established in 1989
History organizations based in the United States