Similar letters written by the staff and other American museums from San Francisco to new York, their leaders accused of racism, discrimination, hypocrisy and call for justice. Even got to the giant Metropolitan Museum, from the Directorate which subordinates demanded to finally pay attention to “expression of deep-rooted logic of white domination and culture systemic racism” in the Museum.
If the monuments of the activists of the movement “black Lives matter” dealt with by brute force, in the case of museums in the United States in Vogue open letters. As writes portal Artnet news, they have become a real weapon with which artists, curators, galleries, educators, historians, and many others organize their own protests. Often they end in a victory activists: retiring are objectionable to the chiefs, who failed to discern in the work of the Museum’s racist approach, or close the entire exhibition, as it were, for example, at the new Orleans Museum of art, where one of the exhibits was caught in the chanting of “plantation culture” and white Suprematism.
But this is America. And what about Europe? Because of its anti-racist wave side is also not spared. But, unlike the New world, the Old is in no hurry to go on about discontented. They, of course, good fortune smiles. As, for example, in Belgium, where the main object of hatred of the activists became the figure of the king of the colony of Leopold II, founded the Museum for Central Africa in Brussels. During his reign, His Majesty personally owned a considerable part of the Central African territory and by slave labor were taken out of the rubber, ivory and food. Ironically, it was his Museum, which was created as a monument to the “glorious” era of colonization and scientific center, by order of the Parliament will create a special Commission to establish the historical truth about the events in Africa, as well as reconciliation with the former colonies.
But in neighboring Germany protesters against racism activists have so far failed to win concessions from the städel Museum, which put on one of his expositions picture Ziegelneger (literally translates as “brick Negro”). This work 1981 artist Georg Herold, one of the visitors of the exhibition were published in his Instagram and called “racist art”. After that, the leadership of the Museum barrage of criticism, someone cut eye the word neger, which no one was censored, but someone was not satisfied with the painting itself, which depicts a black man trying to Dodge flying bricks. However, despite all the attacks, the Directorate of the Museum of painting racist believes, but rather sees in it a reason to critically think about the most pthe problem of racism. Therefore, the painting removed from the exhibition no one will.
Loud accusations of racism and – most importantly – the hypocrisy and in the UK, where museums are accused that, in spite of all their statements of support for the movement BLM, they are not in a hurry any way to change the internal rules. At the center of scandals has been the famous British Museum and the Victoria and albert Museum, whose leaders have repeatedly stressed their commitment to racial justice, but in response to questions about specific reforms referred to the British law, which make it difficult to make any radical changes.
