Memphis Airport Reinstalls Art by Queer Artist Tommy Kha
The Advocate on Tuesday before the art was put back. “I am not one of those artists that just ruffled feathers like that. I love my community.
I love Elvis. I love the Elvis community.”He says he got a message from the Urban Art Commission — the organization behind facilitating the artwork at the airport — and its representatives told him that there were negative comments online about his work.In a Zoom meeting to discuss steps forward, Kha asked them if the pieces had been removed, and the airport representative confirmed they had been.“I left the Zoom meeting and asked them to think about what artist protections would look like — whether that means transparency or any way to prevent this from happening to other artists is now my goal,” Kha said.He added, “I’d like to have a conversation about this.” He’s open to how that would look — maybe something in the form of a workshop or public forum.As to why this whole art was removed in the first place, Kha said, “I assume it was racism” by how the comments online sounded.
He said that he wanted people to come to that conclusion for themselves.Kha, who is from Memphis, is of Asian descent. He told The Advocate that while he loves Elvis, Memphis’ identity is more than that.“I think it's really disparaging to erase people's contributions to Memphis’ totality, its own identity.”The airport authority said in a statement that it "appreciates the support that the community has shown for Tommy and we have made the decision to reinstall the artwork.
