In the wake of protests against systemic racism, art and culture have helped disrupt the status quo and challenge entrenched ways of thinking. For Nick Cave and work-and-life partner Bob Faust, that change starts from within. The duo has transformed the windows of Facility, their Chicago arts space, into “Amends,” a canvas for the community to share how they’re taking responsibility for their personal roles in the proliferation of racism.

Cave’s work has long responded to issues of social justice. The 1992 Los Angeles Riots, spurred by the beating of Rodney King by police, galvanized Cave into creating his signature Soundsuits—bright, enveloping costumes made of everyday objects that obscure the wearer’s gender, race, and class. “George Floyd was another tipping point for me,” Cave tells the New York Times. “It made me question my own practice. Is my work purposeful enough? Why does this keep happening? How can I do more? I’ve been working against this problem and for this issue my entire career and am more committed to it than ever. We need to be talking about it.”

“Amends,” on view through the summer, is multi-pronged. Handwritten letters from Chicago’s cultural cognoscenti display on the gallery’s storefront windows, backed by yellow frowning emojis. Across the street, at Carl Schurz Public High School, people can identify their own roles in racism and make amends with their peers. The final component, the hashtag #AMENDS, encourages global participation in this overdue dialogue. “Through art and by sharing vulnerable examples from others, we can ask for very personal participation that is reflective and consequential,” says Faust. “We believe sincerity and real apology with substantive action is needed to make genuine change in the world.”

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One triumphant consequence of protests against systemic racism has been the toppling of Confederate monuments across the United States. Though nearly 200 statues have been taken down to date, new research from BeenVerified and the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that more than 1,700 are still standing. The states with the most remaining statues are Virginia (232), Texas (202), and Georgia (198), while Maryland has removed a staggering 73 percent.

According to BeenVerified data analyst Brian Ross, “the Confederate symbol removal gained traction after the 2015 Charleston church shootings, which ignited a nationwide debate on these symbols and their prominence in public spaces.” He further explains that the research project serves to “shine a light on the progress towards tearing down totems to institutional racism.”

While in exile as a dissident poet in the 1950s, Ai Weiwei’s father received an anonymous postcard. This one small act of kindness had a profound impact on Ai, who is the subject of a new documentary, Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly. Directed by Cheryl Haines and released to Virtual Cinemas today, the film sees the Chinese artist elaborate on this meaningful event and how it informed “@Large, Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz,” a 2014 presentation of artworks at the notorious prison to address the global struggle for human rights.

The exhibition invited visitors to write messages of hope to imprisoned activists around the world. When the show ended, more than 90,000 postcards had been sent. The documentary follows their journeys as prisoners and their families reveal the comfort they found in the messages from people they’d never meet. “I hope this project will encourage audiences to consider how they might contribute to the ongoing struggle for human rights,” says Haines, “and how a simple act can make a difference in someone’s life.”

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