MoMA Exhibition Explores Evolving Perspectives on the Body in Public Spaces

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opened a new exhibition titled 'Taking Back Our Space: Photographic Perspectives,' running from September 20, 2026, to May 2, 2027. This show revisits and expands upon a landmark feminist photographic project that analyzed body language shaped by patriarchal structures, while engaging contemporary artists who explore the complex relationships between bodies, space, and identity.

The exhibition draws inspiration from a seminal work that organized images from books, newspapers, advertisements, and film stills to reveal how gendered body language is socially constructed. This foundational project serves as a framework for the exhibition’s dialogue, which includes contemporary artists using photography to investigate intersectional feminist perspectives, encompassing race, colonialism, Indigenous sovereignty, sexuality, and self-representation.

Among the featured artists are Nona Faustine, who uses her body to highlight sites marked by histories of enslavement and racial violence; Martine Gutierrez, who challenges identity construction by merging roles of artist, editor, and model; and Joiri Minaya, whose work critiques the exoticization and commodification of Caribbean women. The exhibition also includes Yuki Kihara, whose photographs of Indigenous Samoan fa’afafine models shift narratives from colonial perspectives to self-representation, and Wendy Red Star, who transforms archival materials into living Indigenous memory.

Additional contributors such as K8 Hardy and Paulina Olowska investigate how gender and identity are continuously performed and redefined through bodily gestures. The exhibition thus situates itself within ongoing political debates about public space and gender fluidity, emphasizing that the issues identified half a century ago have evolved but remain deeply relevant.

MoMA’s acting chief curator of photography highlights that the exhibition not only reaffirms the historical significance of the original feminist project but also establishes a critical framework that contemporary artists continue to challenge and expand. By doing so, the show invites global audiences to reconsider how bodies inhabit and negotiate public spaces amid shifting social and political contexts.

'Taking Back Our Space: Photographic Perspectives' offers a timely exploration of how visual culture reflects and shapes the politics of the body, encouraging reflection on identity, power, and representation in public realms worldwide.