Gala Porras-Kim, artist challenging institutions' role as stewards of history - Heinz Awardee

Gala Porras-Kim received the 29th Heinz Award for the Arts in 2024. She is an interdisciplinary artist whose work with cultural and ethnographic objects calls into question who has agency to interpret history. Her work spans drawings, sculptures and installations that challenge institutions to reassess their role as stewards of history and culture. Through artworks often informed by direct engagement with museums and their staff, she aims to shift policies regarding the ownership of objects, as well as their care and presentation in a culturally sensitive way that also honors the intent of museums that serve as public archives of the human record. Ms. Porras-Kim’s works range from meticulous drawings to installations that morph through exposure to natural elements, echoing the physical transformation of museum objects that conservators diligently work to make immutable.