Lectures and Talks

Photographer and educator Zora J. Murff creates pictures of people and the urban and natural environments that surround them. For some projects, he also incorporates appropriated imagery to reflect on his own experiences and to examine social and racial injustices. His work considers minimized histories, experiences of being a Black person in America, and the ways visual culture shapes and is shaped by us.

Zora J. Murff’s monograph True Colors (or, Affirmations in a Crisis) was published by Aperture in 2022 and he received a prestigious Infinity Award from the International Center for Photography in 2023. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Photography at University of Oregon.

This program is presented in connection with the photography exhibition What We’ve Been Up To: People , February 8 – September 29, 2026.

Join Jill D’Alessandro, Director and Curator of the Avenir Institute of Textile Arts and Fashion, for a behind-the-scenes look at Conversation Pieces: Stories from the Fashion Archives.  Showcasing nearly 70 designs, the exhibition explores DAM’s permanent fashion collection, pairing the historic with the avant-garde to create surprising juxtapositions.  In this talk, D’Alessandro will share a few of the stories behind these garments and how they entered the museum’s holdings.

Didier William uses vivid colors and bold patterns to evoke memories of growing up in Miami as an immigrant from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Inspired by Haitian history, language, and mythology, and personal experience, William unpacks the legacies of colonialism, social resistance, and the struggle for political agency. Incorporating traditions from painting, collage, wood carving, and printmaking, he materially visualizes the intersections of identity and culture.

Powerful, faceless figures appear in William’s otherworldly, electrified landscapes. Their bodies, covered with carved eyes conscript the viewer into a flamboyant narrative made deliberately queer by refusing explicit sex and gender signifiers. “It’s a way for the figures in my paintings to return the curios gaze,” comments Williams. “Not just with their eyes, but with every square inch of their skin.”

Rendering his figures with larger-than-life anatomies, William transforms them into supernatural beings or what he calls “Titans.” His humanoid forms touch, wrestle, and embrace as they seek out tenderness, care, and belonging. They often appear to float or at least try to overcome the forces of gravity as they aim for higher realms.

With Pissarro's Impressionism as a springboard, the Perspectives on Pissarro program series offers a fresh take on the exhibition, the artist, and his world.

Join curators, art historians, and a horticulturalist as they share insights into Pissarro's work and the natural landscapes that inspired him. Register for individual sessions or enjoy a discount for the full series.

Please note that this link is for purchasing tickets to livestream recordings of the lecture series so that you can watch from home. To purchase in-person tickets, please click here.

With Pissarro's Impressionism as a springboard, the Perspectives on Pissarro program series offers a fresh take on the exhibition, the artist, and his world.

Join curators, art historians, and a horticulturalist as they share insights into Pissarro's work and the natural landscapes that inspired him. Register for individual sessions or enjoy a discount for the full series.