Personal is Political

A Statement by Noa Ishaki

 

Just like everybody, I like a good narrative, a good story. I don’t know if I am any good at telling one but I sure like to read, listen, watch and live them - but never dared to write one, or anything else that mattered anyway.

 

There has never been a time in life when I wasn’t a feminist, and striving to be strong and dominant, while loving visual arts, literature, music and ancient history like my mother, I wanted to be a businessperson like my father. While both my parents gave me free reign as to what I would want to be since childhood, I guess my father was the only one who pushed me the imagery of being a successful business woman who ruled over men just as Davinia Prince did in the British TV series we watched back then called the Foundation. I ended up saying “I will be Davinia”, in between wanting to have hair like Farah Fawcett and reading Greek mythology. I don’t know why my mother never suggested something else, perhaps she didn’t see a talent in anything else.

 

In the end, I still couldn’t decide what to study for the longest time, taking breaks, trying different majors. Despite knowing I would eventually work in international business I actually received my Bachelor or Arts (BA) in Political Science with a minor in History from Emory University in Atlanta. I then plunged into work, working and traveling for a business which was quite male-oriented, until everything was sold. In the meantime I married, moved to Spain, had a child and did what I loved the most, study and read. Anything about creativity, art, and public service interests me.

 

Museums are my passion. I believe they serve many great purposes that are ultimately for the greater good of the public.

 

I received my Master of Arts (MA) in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University. I am interested in museum exhibitions, programming and education. I also visit art fairs, and galleries, seeing how the market influences museum exhibitions and vice versa as well as biennials for their merging of art and politics.

 

I live in Miami, Barcelona and Istanbul –where I was born, and travel to New York and London often, and other places too of course.I am somebody whose mood is greatly influenced by location, therefore architecture and design of museums interest me too.

 

Most of all I believe in good storytelling.

 

Stories told beautifully which can have the power to entertain and transport you to different realms and ultimately inspire you.

 

I am still not sure if I can write well, or if I am qualified to write about what I want to write about for that matter either, but I realize I want to talk about what I see and admire and want to see in the world at large as a private citizen. The rest I hope to figure out along the way.