(un)heard voices

Our experience of the RISD Museum remains largely didactic. The way exhibits are understood and interpreted is prescriptive, creating a singular way of looking. This passive dialogue limits the museum’s potential and contribution to its public.

(un)heard voices unearths voices in and outside of the RISD Museum to shift the focus to experiences beyond the expected. It initiates dialogue with museum visitors and non-curatorial workers, foregrounding their opinions and amusements to break through the singular narrative and inspire dialogue and change. This project, at its core, intends to make the human experience of the RISD Museum visible.

— Priyata Bosamia and Shivani Pinapotu

Priyata Bosamia (RISD MDes 2023, INTAR)

b. in 1994 in Mumbai, India; works in Providence

Shivani Pinapotu (RISD MDes 2023, INTAR)

b. in 1997 in Chennai, India; works in Providence

(un)heard voices, 2023

Paper envelopes, vinyl, paper

The Dorner Prize is an annual juried competition that invites RISD student artists and designers to create new installations, performances, programs, or digital encounters that engage the public by using the RISD Museum’s object collections, public spaces, and digital platforms. The Dorner Prize, named for distinguished early 20th-century RISD Museum director Alexander Dorner, is made possible by a generous anonymous gift.

2023 Jurors

Emily Banas, Assistant Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, RISD Museum and Jacqueline Shaw, Schiller Family Assistant Professorship in Race in Art and Design and Assistant Professor of Architecture, RISD