In the last 2-3 years, it has
been a pleasure seeing the way museums have been marking Saint Valentine’s Day
on their Facebook pages. From objects in their collections, to architectural
elements to flowers in their gardens, they’ve made me smile, laugh out loud,
look better, learn something new. In a simple, imaginative, humorous way, and
from a distance, some cultural institutions have marked on my calendar a day I
otherwise find rather uninteresting.
Not all cultural institutions
mark this day. Some might be thinking that this is not a serious thing to do,
that it is something frivolous, commercial, it doesn’t relate directly to their
exhibition or theatre play or concert programme. It does relate to something
else, though: life.
When hurricane Sandy hit New
York in 2012, MoMA PS1 director, posted this on the museum’s Facebook page:
How did this relate to his museum? To the temporary exhibition? It didn’t. It related to something else, though: life.
In 2014, the year of the
Mundial in Brazil, some cultural institutions presented exhibitions, organized
events, made all sorts of references to football. Some might have hoped to lure
followers among football fans. Others might simply have thought: this is also
life, let’s celebrate it!
The Charlie Hebdo attack made
me once again think of the role cultural institutions have in society and the
capacity they have to relate to it. And also to put their theory into practice.
Theory says that culture helps us to be humans, to be tolerant towards the
‘Other’, to live together, to learn from each other, to share and defend
values, to think critically. When the cultural sector comes under attack, we
use these same arguments to defend it and to defend the importance of what we
do for the society. But when that same society laughs, cries, falls in love,
feels in despair, celebrates, mourns... then we take some time (too much time,
even) to consider whether it is appropriate for us to acknowledge it, to relate
to it. Quite often, we remain quiet.
So, the morning after the
Charlie Hebdo attack, I expressed my dismay at the fact that no Greek or
Portuguese cultural institution had acknowledged the tragedy. A tragedy that
related directly to most things culture stands for. Seconds after I published
my post, the Onassis Cultural Centre published theirs. Later on, the Benaki
Museum. Relief.... After that, some colleagues let me know of similar attitudes
on behalf of the Museu Nacional da Imprensa or the Bordalo Pinheiro Museum. Some
more cultural institutions followed. On the 9th of January, the
Carmo Archaeological Museum was inviting us for a debate with cartoonists and
academics. Relief.... Still, I am not aware of any large / national portuguese
cultural institution acknowledging the events.
A friend wrote to me at that
time and asked: “But which cultural institutions do you expect to react? All of
them? The ones that somehow relate to what happened? (that would be, for
instance, the Museo de la memoria e de los Derechos Humanos in Chile or the
Museu Nacional da Imprensa in Portugal, wouldn´t it?) The French cultural
institutions? Well, I don’t want to sound
naive, but I would have liked to see reacting all the cultural institutions
which claim to want to have a role in forming a better society; which claim to
embrace and promote certain values; which claim to want to be relevant for
people; which claim to want to be part of society and to help form responsible
and critical citizens.
Let me clarify here that by
“reaction” I don’t mean a hasty response to an incident or a superficial
association to a celebration, without consideration for what the institution
stands for and with the intention of using it for cheap public relations or
simply for not being “left out”. People know opportunism when they see it and
they don’t appreciate it... By “reaction” I mean the thoughtful, responsible,
honest and coherent response of a cultural institution that is clear about its
mission and about the role it wishes to play in people’s lives. And this does
not only involve programming or educational activities. It involves being constantly aware of what is going on around us and the
way it affects people's lives, so that, as a result of a defined and coherent policy of intervention, the institution may promptly give its
contribution towards the kind of world it aims to help build.
What is relevant and what is
not relevant for a cultural institution? Well, that’s probably not the
question. The question is rather: what makes a cultural institution relevant? I
recently gave a course, where we discussed the place and role of cultural
institutions in the contemporary society. In the last part of the session, we
did a practical exercise:
Please consider:
- The Charlie Hebdo attack
- Saint Valentine’s Day
- The natural disaster in
Madeira in 2010
- The big anti-austerity
demonstration in Portugal on 15 September 2013.
Would your institution react?
If yes, how?
If not, why not?
Anyone?
More readings:
Ed Rodley, Museums and social change
No comments:
Post a Comment