Is hip-hop valued enough by Canadian art galleries?

The Art Gallery of Ontario recently debuted its first international hip-hop exhibit, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century. The exhibit features both international and Canadian artists who are integral to the hip-hop scene, such as Patrick Nichols and the brand Too Black Guys.  Today on Commotion, hip-hop academic Mark Campbell and emcee and art curator Aaron Francis join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss the exhibit, their criticisms of it and what it can tell us about the way hip-hop is valued in art institutions.  We’ve included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player. WATCH | Today’s episode on YouTube: [embedded content] Elamin: I want to make room for some of the tension, this idea that yes, maybe major arts institutions have been doing this for a minute, but not necessarily ours in this country. Mark, the debut of this exhibit ends up sparking this criticism of the AGO’s track record when it comes to making space for contemporary art that actually intersects with hip-hop. Mark: The context is this is a traveling exhibition. This is the Baltimore Museum of...