tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28634063217177253442024-02-07T05:51:00.863+00:00MUSING ON CULTUREMaria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.comBlogger329125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-55118414170080356762024-01-03T13:04:00.001+00:002024-01-03T13:04:52.574+00:00Culture prescribed<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidR7gyNg0MD4m87gnUZO4hHpCV4MbT5-60YvQBSepzNZt8ujIuxb03VFfh4vkzDUCdO-tEWIVt0s2xOOPjRLVEuE5DPbKHYHYU7SZ23LEDOUeSmCBsdmxNQ3v2G5yp_sJP7KPn3XWFha328aE9ofI-DukfCHzFugHxrUV0yQQFsu20s1PDUI_45C4EaYg/s500/Les%20Kurbas%20Theatre_Lviv_adriano%20miranda_500px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidR7gyNg0MD4m87gnUZO4hHpCV4MbT5-60YvQBSepzNZt8ujIuxb03VFfh4vkzDUCdO-tEWIVt0s2xOOPjRLVEuE5DPbKHYHYU7SZ23LEDOUeSmCBsdmxNQ3v2G5yp_sJP7KPn3XWFha328aE9ofI-DukfCHzFugHxrUV0yQQFsu20s1PDUI_45C4EaYg/s16000/Les%20Kurbas%20Theatre_Lviv_adriano%20miranda_500px.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Les Kurbas Theatre, Lviv, Ukraine, 2022. Photo: Adriano Miranda</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Attending
performances of ancient Greek plays in ancient Greek theatres is an experience that
always gets me thinking. I find particularly moving the stream of people
heading towards the theatre to watch for the umpteenth time the same stories
that tell us of love, hate, respect, arrogance, thirst for power, war, justice,
revenge. Stories written many centuries ago about human nature and all that is
good and bad about it. And then, once I look around me at all the people
filling up the theatre, and also seeing them leave after the performance, I
often wonder “So what? What now?”. To what extent people use the “food for
thought” provided by the play to think about contemporary life, about
themselves and others, their place in the world and what could be their
contribution towards a better world? When I consider contemporary Greek society
(and other societies), the way we take care (or don’t take care) of each other,
I am reminded that the power does not lie in the play alone, but also, and
perhaps even more, in the individual and what that person will (or will not) do
with what was given to them.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I value
culture and the arts; I value creativity and the way it questions our
certainties and feeds our imagination; I enjoy and cherish the way we, humans,
create communities based on all sorts of cultural participation. My daily work
is to contribute towards a society where, through culture and the arts,
everyone can have opportunities to participate and to grow, to dream and to
contribute towards a better, more humane, world. But I also know that this is
as far as I can go. The rest, lies with each individual. This is why, years
ago, I started questioning statements made by all sorts of cultural
organisations that they contribute towards social cohesion, individual and
collective wellbeing, intercultural understanding, tolerance, etc. etc., when
we see no sign that anything of the kind is actually happening at a larger
scale – starting from the way these cultural organisations are managed from
within. Some cultural organisations (not all, perhaps not even the majority) make
the “tools” available. I am talking about those organisations which are aware
of human diversity and their role in serving communities on the principles of
access, inclusion and equity. They form part of a broader cultural, educational
and social network, though, one whose “success” lies on collaboration and interconnections
and not only on Culture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The way
culture and the arts have often been pictured as “remedies” that will solve all
kinds of ills in societies (injustices, inequalities, wars and other social
conflicts) normally leaves me uncomfortable, for two main reasons: because it
seems to ignore the broader cultural, educational and social network, that must
see itself as such and become functional, serving a common vision for a future
society; and also because it gives culture and the arts a purpose that is not theirs
in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Early
November, I attended a conference in Portugal where our colleague Mariana Mata
Passos, of the cultural association Pó de Vir a Ser, talked about a pilot
programme of “cultural prescription” in the region of Central Alentejo. In her
brief presentation, culture and the arts were mentioned associated to “mental
health”, “isolation”, “health centres”, “doctors“, “prescriptions”. Given that
time for questioning was rather scarce, some of us left the room feeling
puzzled and troubled. Days later, I came across an article in a Greek newspaper
entitled </span><a href="https://www.kathimerini.gr/society/562748434/sto-theatro-kai-sto-moyseio-me-syntagi-giatroy/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“At the theatre and the museum with a doctor’s
prescription”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. The title
sounded the alarm for me. The article itself described something similar to the
Portuguese experience: a pilot programme of cultural prescription and the
ambition that, by 2025, every private psychiatrist will be able to prescribe
art therapies, with the goal to include cultural prescribing in the National
Health System. What may be prescribed is three-month-long artistic activities
or attending performances, films or concerts at least three times a month, which
the beneficiaries may then discuss, expressing thoughts and feelings. All this </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mariavlachou.pt/posts/pfbid035V6BB3hvjX7bLfpX2fUnygXMR9UjqpFkiRB6UV6P9ap4n6uhr2Lbru6jrHeokQFzl"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>made me comment on Facebook</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, in a rather ironic mood: “If the patient
doesn't improve, will the performance be to blame or will they increase the
dose?”. Colleagues closer to these initiatives or involved in similar
activities offered to talk about it. I truly look forward to it. But before, I
did a bit of homework. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">My main
concerns, as my comment on Facebook pointed out, have to do with the criteria
used by doctors to prescribe a specific activity or attendance and, most of
all, how the results might be interpreted regarding the quality or “healing
capacity” of the activities prescribed and, taking it a bit further, the impact
this might have (is it supposed to?) on the evaluation and perhaps also funding
of culture and the arts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgJvw-rtiaDEZohyphenhyphen0dCff3kjMASjfjj3JykZP9kSSa34tu-glgV5W2oLzJs4JC61zH9g_XSKyEToHTOI0eONmmJk8IyZk1NpkY7g8Y4BVm3ocmYGjRxqKvpx999p9Eh1X4C2FhXd3_9eBDLk7NOEqtDWMm3XQJqYIe8eQvupZ8kMoD0_ITa9Ek-hMQXE/s500/20230803_205419_500px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgJvw-rtiaDEZohyphenhyphen0dCff3kjMASjfjj3JykZP9kSSa34tu-glgV5W2oLzJs4JC61zH9g_XSKyEToHTOI0eONmmJk8IyZk1NpkY7g8Y4BVm3ocmYGjRxqKvpx999p9Eh1X4C2FhXd3_9eBDLk7NOEqtDWMm3XQJqYIe8eQvupZ8kMoD0_ITa9Ek-hMQXE/s16000/20230803_205419_500px.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dodoni Theatre, Ioannina, Greece, 2023. Photo: Maria Vlachou</td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The article
in the Greek newspaper mentioned that “parametres such as how much improvement
the patients saw, which intervention (i.e. watching a theatre performance or
participating in a drama therapy group) proved more effective, how many
patients left, for what reasons and what their characteristics will be
evaluated with scientific criteria.” Considering my main concerns, everything
still sounded too absurd for me, but, after all, this was only a brief
newspaper article. </span><a href="https://www.prescricao-cultural.pt/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FINAL-Manual-Prescricao-Cultural-Entregavel-3-1.pdf"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Reading the document that presents the
Portuguese pilot programme</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, written by Mariana Mata Passos and Patrícia Deus Claudino of the
cultural association Pó de Vir a Ser, I found no specific references to
evaluation – not so much regarding the patients’ progress, but mainly as to
what a positive or negative development for each one of them would tell us
about the “remedy” itself. This is the part that sounds more problematic to me
regarding the “use” of culture and the arts in this context. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">In this
document, one reads (p.11) that “International scientific research on Cultural
Prescription illustrates improvements in mental health and well-being across
different parametres: increased energy level; greater vitality, joy and
pleasure in life; improvement in the establishment of interpersonal
relationships and skills; better self-esteem; increase in motivation; better
ability to understand your needs; better self-care capacity; greater proximity
to the job market.” Apart from these benefits, another document, </span><a href="https://theeuropechallenge.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Athens-Comics-Library-Refugee-Week-Greece-Libraries-on-Prescription.pdf"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Libraries on Prescription</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, written by Greek colleagues Lida Tsene
and Dina Ntziora, also refers that (pp.4-5):<span style="background: white; color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social and
cultural referral programs can help individuals build social connections and
support networks, which are crucial for mental well-being.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">According to
“Art, Culture and the Brain” (2022), participation in cultural activities is
associated with well-being, a sense of cohesion and mobilisation, while the
mental health of people living in developing areas can be improved through
exposure to creative and artistic activities.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Moreover, according
to Katherine Cotter, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania,
"museums and art spaces have the potential to positively affect people,
reducing stress, creating positive emotional experiences, and helping them feel
less alone and more connected.</span></li></ul><p></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">This is not
exactly a surprise for cultural professionals and many of us have got this kind
of empirical/personal evidence. It is also useful to have scientific data supporting
it. But can we actually say that this is a kind of “recipe”, a “rule”?
Something beyond and independent of each individual’s willingness, capacity,
agency and context</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">?</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">
In an article entitled </span><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/could-visiting-a-museum-be-the-secret-to-a-healthy-life-216978"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>“Could visiting a museum be the secret to a healthy
life?”</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">, Emma Dupuy</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"> refers that Mikaela Law, a
psychology researcher at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and her
colleagues reviewed the scientific literature for studies on the
physiological response to the visual arts and its effect on self-reported
stress. “Some of the studies listed in her work show that contact with artwork
can lower blood pressure, heart rate and the cortisol secreted in saliva. Such
changes reflect a reduction in the body’s state of guardedness, also called
stress. This change appears to be perceived by the individual, reflected by the
reduction in the stress he or she feels after exposure. Other studies, on the
other hand, have observed no effects.” This isn’t a surprise either, is it? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">Alexandra Wilson,
</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://thecritic.co.uk/art-does-not-exist-to-improve-society/"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>writing for The Critic</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"> about the
English National Opera’s </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67624384"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>forced move from London to Manchester</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">, criticised the
organisation’s press releases focusing repeatedly and intensely on the
contribution this move will have towards the wellbeing and public health of the
locals. First of all, she commented on the irony of such a statement,
considering </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black;">the damage that has already been done to the mental state of highly
skilled musicians, who are fearing for their livelihoods, as a result of this
change. “Of course, classical music undoubtedly has many benefits for people’s
health and happiness. At the most basic level, attending a beautiful
performance will probably lift the spirits of most audience members”, but
Wilson calls this “a happy by-product”. She also quotes academic Eliane Glaser,
who in her book <i>Elitism: A progressive Defence</i>, writes that “By making
culture, education and journalism into public relations arenas for tackling
inequality, politics has given up on trying to improve society in any kind of
organised way”. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black;">And
this is also my point.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">As I have already stated, I don’t doubt
the physical, emotional and intellectual benefits culture and the arts may have
on individuals and also on the diverse communities they form. Participants in </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://theeuropechallenge.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Athens-Comics-Library-Refugee-Week-Greece-Libraries-on-Prescription.pdf"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>Libraries on Prescription</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"> reported that the programme offered them
the opportunity to find a creative way to express themselves, to socialise and
promote their wellbeing and mental health; to creatively enrich their day; to feel
part of team and have the opportunity to work in groups; to enhance their
confidence and to contribute towards their self-improvement (pp. 14-15). As a
cultural professional, though, my main focus is not to use culture and the arts
to tackle (and to prove to be able to tackle) issues such as “</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black;">the recovery and
well-being of patients with chronic illnesses (hypertension, diabetes),
neurological conditions, cognitive disorders or mental health problems” (as
mentioned in </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/could-visiting-a-museum-be-the-secret-to-a-healthy-life-216978"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>Emma Dupuy’s article</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black;"> regarding museum
prescription in Canada). My main focus is neither tackling the causes of mental
health issues, </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.prescricao-cultural.pt/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FINAL-Manual-Prescricao-Cultural-Entregavel-3-1.pdf"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>referred by our Portuguese colleagues</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black;"> as</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">“</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">the social
determinants of health” (p.15: disposable income and social protection; education;
unemployment and job insecurity; living conditions at work; food insecurity; housing,
basic amenities and the environment; early childhood development; social
inclusion and non-discrimination; structural conflict; access to affordable
health services of decent quality); or failures in the health system, such as “pharmacological
overprescription, the lack of human resources in health centres for psychological
intervention or the hyper-utilisation of the services” (p.9).</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">As a cultural
professional, I am very happy about all the by-products. But I am also very
aware of my place and contribution to the broader cultural, educational and
social network I am part of. And I expect each professional (doctors, nurses, therapists,
social workers, teachers, judges, police officers, as well as politicians) to
do their part to achieve this network’s goals.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Since governments and
professionals of different sectors seem to acknowledge culture’s contribution, I
believe we need to be clear about the nature of that contribution and the
specific role of cultural professionals. Thus, the questions in my mind at this
point are the following:</span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #333333; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Should cultural professionals
be investing time, effort and money in leading pilot programmes that will
confirm scientific evidence on “happy by-products”?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Aren’t we concerned
that, by focusing the by-products, we shall be asked to provide evidence on our
effectiveness in dealing with issues and goals which are anything but cultural
and artistic</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Considering the apparent
consensus on culture’s contribution, shouldn’t we be fighting against the
disinvestment from arts and humanities, and their systemic disappearance from
school and university curricula?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">If culture and the arts
give us tools to become more creative and imaginative, to feed our critical
spirit, to envision a better world and our place in it, shouldn’t we be
focusing on access and inclusion, in order to guarantee opportunities of
attendance and participation for different people?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shouldn’t we be working
on making cultural organisations more relevant and welcoming for different
people, both those with and without health issues and other issues?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shouldn’t we concentrate
on building capacity among cultural professionals in order to better understand
concepts such as access, inclusion, equity, cultural democracy and the way
these concepts may affect how we do our work?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shouldn’t we be
striving to guarantee that cultural professionals (including artists and
mediators) have got adequate conditions to do their work?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">S</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; text-indent: -18pt;">houldn’t we be caring
for cultural professionals mental health?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shouldn’t we all
(citizens, professionals in different sectors and politicians) be more aware of
the need to build a vision for the future and to better understand the role and
contribution of each sector in the broader cultural, educational and social
network we have formed?</span></li></ul><p></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 38.55pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #333333;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I believe that,
being able to imagine and to build a better world should be the shared task of
the sectors forming the network. Achieving our common goals will be the result
of collaboration, acknowledging the specific nature of each one’s contribution
and their expertise. Cultural prescription, its reasons and goals, raise
serious concerns for me. Now that I have been able to express them in a more
organised way, I look forward to discussing them with the colleagues involved.</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-40828772532087424412023-12-26T08:43:00.002+00:002023-12-26T08:43:19.822+00:00We yearn for the future (still)<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jClEuPXHIHyI3aPx_yg9Xz16LyPUYifFWIt7JNR1OtMsDFYt2ziNBn9XmAOTR5YbhMJA8wY-V_tX1xVAtNEZgsizz247dc4yqCIDDsAd89Y7VSSFRRhEZ_Kc23HMku-nAcwlazPrg0WQzwjQ4agiNuU-LjEOhzAcEkRhGfMncS3Z6EgL7QwpXiW8phM/s500/TNDMII_Desejamos%20o%20Futuro_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jClEuPXHIHyI3aPx_yg9Xz16LyPUYifFWIt7JNR1OtMsDFYt2ziNBn9XmAOTR5YbhMJA8wY-V_tX1xVAtNEZgsizz247dc4yqCIDDsAd89Y7VSSFRRhEZ_Kc23HMku-nAcwlazPrg0WQzwjQ4agiNuU-LjEOhzAcEkRhGfMncS3Z6EgL7QwpXiW8phM/s16000/TNDMII_Desejamos%20o%20Futuro_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The façade of the National Theatre D. Maria II, Lisbon, 2020-2021</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Two recent
programmes on Portuguese public TV focusing on culture, as well as numerous
meetings with professionals in the field throughout the year and in recent
years, have intensified my concern regarding how this sector is understood and
managed, what vision it projects and how it practices it.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The November
23rd programme “Sociedade Civil” proposed to discuss </span><a href="https://www.rtp.pt/play/p11183/e730199/sociedade-civil"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Culture in the interior”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. The guests were poet, diplomat and former
Minister of Culture, Luís Filipe Castro Mendes; pianist and diplomat Adriano
Jordão; and Tiago Nunes, President of the association CulturXis and director of
the Azores International Festival. Throughout the programme, we also heard from
Eduarda Freitas (from the creative agency Inquieta) and Cláudio Henriques (from
the Cultura Alentejo collective).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The
programme “É ou não é?”, on December 12th, aimed to question: </span><a href="https://www.rtp.pt/play/p11163/e734506/e-ou-nao-e-o-grande-debate"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Is it possible to do more dor culture?”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. The guests were current Minister of
Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva; the artistic director of the National Theatre D.
Maria II, Pedro Penim; writer Lídia Jorge; musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga;
and the owner of Everything is New, Álvaro Covões. Museologist Simonetta Luz
Afonso intervened remotely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was
difficult for me to follow both conversations. I felt that they remained
oblivious to what seems to me to be a reality that urgently needs to be cared for.
I mention the guests’ names with respect for the professional background of
each of the people invited, but also because it is necessary to question
whether the public television could not have made a greater effort in terms of
homework, in order to promote these debates with agents that could show the
diversity of the sector and the actions of different people, in different
territories of this small and diverse country. At the same time, one may also
ask: and we, cultural professionals, do we do our homework?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are
some very problematic confusions, that persist in the cultural sector and the
composition of certain discussion panels helps to perpetuate them:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">culture and the
arts</span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">democratisation
of culture and cultural democracy</span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">programming
and scheduling</span></span></li></ul><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">When the
Gulbenkian Foundation's study on the cultural practices of the Portuguese was
presented in 2022 – and met with the usual reactions and interpretations, which
undervalue and blame the Portuguese, avoiding to question the sector itself - I
wrote with some irony a text entitled </span><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-cultural-habits-of-portuguese.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>The cultural habits… of Portuguese cultural
organisations</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. I
remembered this text again while following the conference “Social impact:
people at the centre of cultural organisations“ (with English translation </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L634LGr_E4&t=1s&ab_channel=DGEstEMinist%C3%A9riodaEduca%C3%A7%C3%A3o"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>here</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrpCb25oLAw&ab_channel=DGEstEMinist%C3%A9riodaEduca%C3%A7%C3%A3o"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>here</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">) and the presentation of the ambitious
project CISOC – Commitment of Cultural Organisations to Social Impact, an
initiative of the National Plan for the Arts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the
introduction to the CISOC publication, the commissioner of the National Plan
for the Arts, Paulo Pires do Vale, states that “Cultural institutions are not
neutral. Because of their mission, because they intervene in public space, in
the way they relate to communities, in the decisions they make, how and what
they programme, in the way they work with production, mediation and access”. He
also asks: “How do [cultural organisations] help to emancipate citizens and
help them participate more actively in our collective life? How do they promote
a healthy democracy?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">I agree both
with the statement and the questions asked. However, my tendency, once again,
is to invite cultural professionals for an introspection: Which Portuguese
cultural organisations have a defined and publicly known mission statement?
Which cultural organisations actually intervene in the public space and what
type of intervention that is? How can they hope to emancipate citizens and
encourage them to actively participate in our collective life if these same
cultural organisations do not participate, do not take a stand and continue to
act, largely, to only serve the interests (intellectual, scientific, artistic
and cultural) of those who run them and work in them? What does programming
mean? Why is it that most people who perform this role in public cultural
organisations cannot imagine anything different than “scheduling a bit of
everything” (it’s called “eclectic programming”)? What is the sector's view of
the role of culture in building a better Portuguese future and society? At a
meeting in April at the Library of the University of Coimbra, regarding the
50th anniversary of the 25th of April revolution, I asked </span><a href="https://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2023/04/freedom-for-what-culture-for-what.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Freedom for what? Culture for what?”</b></span></a>.<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the
aforementioned conference, there were some very pertinent questions, which
should be given space to be better developed: like when cultural manager Maria
de Assis Swinnerton questioned for how long we shall be insisting on making the
diagnosis, without moving on to action; when sociologist Manuel Gama questioned
the lack of strategic plans for culture in most municipalities (and,
consequently, in the cultural organisations they manage) and the existence of
94 quantitative indicators in CISOC and only 16 qualitative. During the debate,
Marta Silva, from Largo Residências, questioned to what extent the years-long practice
of different entities operating in the third sector (a sociological term that refers
to all private initiatives of public utility originating in civil society) had
been taken into account. And Ana Umbelino, councillor for Culture in the
municipality of Torres Vedras, suggested that we thought about how small-scale
organisations, far from what we understand to be the large “centres” and,
often, with incipient levels of professionalisation, can take hold of an
instrument like CISOC, apply it or reinvent it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Culture and the
arts; democratisation of culture and cultural democracy; programming and
scheduling: do we understand the urgency of clarifying, first of all, those of
us who work in the cultural sector, the meaning of these concepts and the differences
between them? Lídia Jorge - who sees around her a society in which “fathers
watch football and mothers read cooking magazines” (!) - said in the TV debate
that we have been discussing the same things for 20 years. We can easily spend
another 20 doing so, as the country moves towards an extreme that promises
“security” and “justice" to the neglected. We need to break vicious
cycles, call ourselves into question, build a new vision in relation to what we
do and why, position ourselves differently in society. We need intellectual
honesty and courage to do it. Are we capable of taking a step forward?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-10871703238193808552023-11-10T16:13:00.002+00:002023-11-10T23:25:48.536+00:00Zia and Manuela were present.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNtImpcUuhb4WdNFd3JQXeUKEBjubBcZGzAkMoV6FGmkpzXnDxMk07ooIW2o8vZ2mP4DnbDWSTjsJD-YIqZFC-d8n9jP19PVuba1lTA9eWouZSMbAgmDNhyphenhyphenFiLHPSBW-0agis_EKvOESzDjTjD-J1hCyDZbJtu7uhYlQ7AFHB2ibvxP9gfuXfllp5Cic/s500/RTCP_Zia_Manuela_500px.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNtImpcUuhb4WdNFd3JQXeUKEBjubBcZGzAkMoV6FGmkpzXnDxMk07ooIW2o8vZ2mP4DnbDWSTjsJD-YIqZFC-d8n9jP19PVuba1lTA9eWouZSMbAgmDNhyphenhyphenFiLHPSBW-0agis_EKvOESzDjTjD-J1hCyDZbJtu7uhYlQ7AFHB2ibvxP9gfuXfllp5Cic/s16000/RTCP_Zia_Manuela_500px.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RTCP conference in Portalegre, 7.11.2023</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Professional meetings
are, increasingly, a precious moment for those who can give themselves or
manage to ask their managers for the time to participate. With more and more
cultural professionals talking openly about mental illness, exhaustion,
depression, senseless rhythms, these moments of encounter - when we can be
together, hug each other, look into each other's eyes, smile, talk – are more
than necessary, they are urgent.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But, even acknowledging
the importance of this, several of us left the Portuguese Theatres and Cinetheatres
Network (RTCP) conference in Portalegre regretting that our professional
meetings cannot be something more. I felt, and heard other colleagues say, that
we always remain on the surface; we get together to listen to the description
of projects; it seems like we always start from the beginning, from the basics;
we don't go into depth. It is not enough to describe a project, of course.
Because each project brings problems, doubts, surprises, unexpected challenges;
it demands from us sensitivity, openness to learn, ability to adapt,
creativity, honesty. Some of these words were heard in one or another meeting I
attended (I didn't attend them all), but we didn't go beyond that, that is,
stating the words. Nothing more was said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It is also clear that
not everything was like this. And I write today to share what was the highlight
of the RTCP conference for me: the presence on stage of actress and director
Zia Soares and culture councillor Manuela Ralha.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zia was presented as
the first black artistic director of a theatre company in Portugal. Well, the ones she founded herself… (Praga and Teatro Griot). It seems ironic to make such a statement. She did not
miss the opportunity to remind us (once again) that she is invited to these
meetings as a “token”. How many times will she have to say it before we start questioning
ourselves about the absences in the room, on stage and in the audience? To act
on them? She also shared with us that teatro Griot, which has been operating for
14 years, must have been invited to present its work in 2-3 theatres among the
more than ninety that form RTCP. She questioned how many of these theatres will
have a black person in a leadership position (or among the staff?). And towards
the end of the session, she looked around the room and asked, “Who are the
non-black people in this room?” Those present felt confused and indecisive. I
must have seen about five arms raised. The question we are usually asked is
“How many black people in the room?” We have gotten used to hearing it, yet we
are not acting on it. But Zia turned things around for us: “Who are the
non-black people in this room?” All of us, except Zia, in that place of “the
violence of being the only one”, that artist Grada Kilomba talks about.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“Before we talk about
participation we have to talk about accessibility.” This is how Manuela Ralha
began her intervention. In the morning, when I entered the auditorium, I found
her in the last row. There was no option, she had to stay there (some people
might be thinking that we should be satisfied, because in other theatres she
would have stayed behind the last row, the only space she would have access to
– no, we are not satisfied, we can't be). Manuela continued: “We all talk about
programming, getting involved, participating, but we forget that there is a
segment of the population that is blocked right at the entrance, that cannot
participate, cannot attend, cannot even be in the audience.” She spoke about
what everyone knows today, which is that, although accessibility is a criterion
for RTCP accreditation, the majority of theatres in the network is not. A piece
of knowledge upon which, once again, we do not act.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was “hidden”,
“protected”, among the many people in the auditorium attending the session. But
the interventions of these two women made me feel painfully aware of my
presence. What good is knowledge if it doesn't become consciousness? What
is the point of knowledge if, returning to our workplaces, we resume a routine
that does not question, does not bother, allows us to ignore, allows us to
pretend that we do not know, hidden and protected as we are in our daily lives.</span></span></p><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-5179252594875482272023-11-03T21:48:00.003+00:002023-11-03T22:11:24.134+00:00Fit for democracy: as natural as water?<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJC2jcGzT0a92wvup4R5hyphenhyphenYa-jY74ir0JIluGYgyXaLvb-3AivynmHe9a770TTG8mpT4VvD-enC_dz7cny4Q0aKxQdFo88y47_SvxvFlLjMris3ytnvrJ8uxjh3fxWwc68pZNJM6vNRe7ryahT_vVRP4AgPaLQRWHF9BgoeG2Gum0bUfEJ-izrmCzcow0/s500/20231023_093527_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJC2jcGzT0a92wvup4R5hyphenhyphenYa-jY74ir0JIluGYgyXaLvb-3AivynmHe9a770TTG8mpT4VvD-enC_dz7cny4Q0aKxQdFo88y47_SvxvFlLjMris3ytnvrJ8uxjh3fxWwc68pZNJM6vNRe7ryahT_vVRP4AgPaLQRWHF9BgoeG2Gum0bUfEJ-izrmCzcow0/s16000/20231023_093527_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Photo: Maria Vlachou</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">This year, I had the
opportunity to spend three days at FOLIO – Óbidos International Literary
Festival. I attended, among other things, the launch of “Voltas e Reviravoltas
- A Cidadania”, by Ana Maria Magalhães and Isabel Alçada, with illustrations by
Mantraste. This is the second of 12 books in the children's collection </span><span style="background: white; color: #050505; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://livraria.parlamento.pt/collections/missao-democracia"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>“Missão: Democracia”</b></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"> <span lang="EN-GB">(Mission: Democracy), an initiative
of the Portuguese Parliament, curated by Dora Batalim SottoMayor.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At this event, Isabel
Alçada said that, for young people today, democracy is as natural as turning on
the tap and water coming out. I wrote this statement down in my notebook. It caused
me a certain discomfort at that time and I later returned to it on several
occasions. Because, from an empirical point of view, I don't see anything like
that around me. Because the opposite of political repression is not necessarily
a democracy of quality, a healthy democracy, a democracy as natural as water
coming out of the tap.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What I see, first and
foremost, around me are adults. Adults who censor themselves so as not to
displease their superiors or people in their circle. I see adults, who are those
“superiors”, expecting obedience and submission, actively combating the
critical spirit. Adults who are not bothered, do not feel that the
discrimination experienced daily by other people concerns them, because they do
not feel it in their own skin. Adults who educate younger people recommending
self-censorship, submission, indifference and… “moderation”. This was the word
I heard most about young climate activists. I therefore doubt that democracy is
as natural as turning on the tap and water coming out. I also doubt that the
majority of us – adults and, consequently, non-adults too – are aware of the requirements
that a democracy of quality, a healthy democracy, brings for citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiN-bXwtQSX77RsBqU5yHh5h-_yRdwnaIatkh3fAdsiiGX55QI4YnDpBYIyJf2vYP2_YPup2JiRe3uePNgjNRjKOkgA6S1nDB-g35pm12Uk0cCazrOQ1qP7N_vnssL6PfdnCZVp9Pue1IJ7bCWwPTMGpkIpA2wOJ6TO_xf8NwWy5r7FTJtPKf97KCN50E/s500/394306579_862281328600440_3998334756746962479_n_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiN-bXwtQSX77RsBqU5yHh5h-_yRdwnaIatkh3fAdsiiGX55QI4YnDpBYIyJf2vYP2_YPup2JiRe3uePNgjNRjKOkgA6S1nDB-g35pm12Uk0cCazrOQ1qP7N_vnssL6PfdnCZVp9Pue1IJ7bCWwPTMGpkIpA2wOJ6TO_xf8NwWy5r7FTJtPKf97KCN50E/s16000/394306579_862281328600440_3998334756746962479_n_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: FOLIO</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">This is what my
empirical knowledge tells me. But there are more scientific data too. I
recently read an article entitled </span><span style="background: white; color: #050505; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/2/democracy-in-trouble-stagnant-at-best-and-declining-in-many-places?traffic_source=rss"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b>“Democracy in trouble, stagnant at
best, and declining in many places”</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #050505; line-height: 107%;">. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">It presented the latest report from the Swedish think
tank </span><span style="background: white; color: #050505; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.idea.int/gsod/2023/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b>IDEA - International Institute for
Democracy and Electoral Assistance</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. IDEA bases its indices on more than 100 variables
related to political issues, including representation, rights, rule of law and
participation. What does the 2023 report tell us?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That 85 of the 173
countries surveyed had “suffered a decline in at least one key indicator of
democratic performance in the past five years.” <br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That, for the sixth
consecutive year, half of the world's countries slid backwards on indicators
such as freedom of expression and political participation.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That the six-year fall
is the longest period of democratic backsliding since records began in 1975.</span></span></li></ul><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These results are not a
surprise. And, despite Europe being named as the highest performing region in
democratic terms, setbacks were recorded both in younger democracies (e.g.
Hungary) and in other, more established ones (e.g. the United Kingdom).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">At the end of October,
I had the privilege of attending the meeting in Lisbon of the European project </span><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://publiclibraries2030.eu/lighthouse-libraries/building-bridges-eu-policy/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b>Future of Europe for Public
Libraries</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. Its objective is
to build a network of public libraries across Europe, the Lighthouse Libraries,
to participate in European Union policies and initiatives on topics such as the
digital, sustainability and democracy. At the beginning of the first day, we
heard the director of the magnificent Aarhus Public Library (Denmark), Marie
Østergaard, talk about her library's public programmes, which look at public
participation as democratic infrastructure. Her colleague Asmund Bertelsen
introduced us to the programme </span><em><span style="background: white; color: black; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://cop-demos.jrc.ec.europa.eu/blog/public-libraries-2030-democracy-gym-public-library-getting-ready-engagement"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b>“Democracy Fitness”</b></span></a></span></em><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, which aims to exercise the “muscles” of democracy:
mobilisation, compromise, active listening, empathy, disagreement, activism,
verbal confidence, curiosity, courage, opinion. The programme acknowledges that
we need to daily train our capabilities for living in democracy – reminding us
of Martha Nussbaum, who in her book “Cultivating Humanity” writes that “freedom
of thought and human dignity are capabilities to be developed in order to
produce free citizens, citizens who are free not because of wealth or birth,
but because they can call their minds their own.” Therefore, democracy is not
as natural as we would like for human nature. You need to train in order to
know how to defend and protect it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftNFv7KXuadWCJ85f3XT8A03RotcXYvy3z_QvTRMRKeL3Tw1vPmmqaZd1tqn3WzRlABo_hAnGIe1sgAirk44YYr9ScQq5pFA9ez9E99EffIwQaaLVrEU1eAChL47dbfzcBZG1M0SG61AmpT-S9obG6rH837juG4ll1MoQ7-1AdGJ9KP2_DaRganMk6w0/s500/image1_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftNFv7KXuadWCJ85f3XT8A03RotcXYvy3z_QvTRMRKeL3Tw1vPmmqaZd1tqn3WzRlABo_hAnGIe1sgAirk44YYr9ScQq5pFA9ez9E99EffIwQaaLVrEU1eAChL47dbfzcBZG1M0SG61AmpT-S9obG6rH837juG4ll1MoQ7-1AdGJ9KP2_DaRganMk6w0/s16000/image1_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slide from Asmund Bertelsen's presentation.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In her presentation,
Marie Østergaard explained that two of the main objectives of the AarhusLlibrary's
public programmes are to cultivate trust in the system and democratic
self-confidence. In other words, they want younger people to be able to
understand that their opinion matters and that it will be worth participating
and getting involved. Something that also made me think about what many young
people are seeing around them. There is no shortage of adults with opinions and
self-confidence, but what good is this in the face of the arrogance and lack of
democratic sense of many politicians? We have politicians who are too
comfortable in their power, used to subservience (or demanding it), convinced
that citizens exist to serve them and not the other way around. All too often,
this reality makes people question whether it is worth voting, whether it is
worth participating, whether this will ever change.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I thought about these
questions again when I read the last paragraph in today's <b><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/11/03/opiniao/opiniao/quero-forcas-internacionais-gaza-ja-boicote-mundo-governo-israel-2068893" target="_blank">article by Alexandra Lucas Coelho</a></b>, about the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian
territories. It is with this paragraph that I will conclude my text:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“Israel must be
isolated as an apartheid state, investigated for war crimes, in light of
international and humanitarian law. Subject to economic and political
sanctions, in addition to citizen boycott. Not remaining powerless also means
questioning those who govern: António Costa, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Portuguese
Parliament, the European Union. People are protesting as best they can. And those
who represent them? Prove that democracy exists, that it is still worth voting,
that human rights belong to everyone. Live up to the life that comes from Gaza,
and each minute we don’t know whether it will continue.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let’s live up to it…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">More readings:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2023/04/freedom-for-what-culture-for-what.html"><b>Freedom
for what? Culture for what?</b></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Special thanks to:</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lisbon Libraries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">CRID – Centre for the
Rehabilitation and Integration of the Disabled, Leiria Polytechnic Institute<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">DGLAB – General-Directorate
for Books, Archives and Libraries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Municipality of Óbidos<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-24468314701636600052023-10-16T00:55:00.009+01:002023-10-16T08:07:26.069+01:00Politics and classical music<p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqLje2m6GgP7jWuKysDuQWABnJY3gxQ2_wL4W0zUJ_xQ1LeUge7fJqPtXqwgvyay2hyphenhyphen0gjtya8vLP1I-eqd4qyNQwNH23i0a3-ZbQVl_dVBm7KI7Tvbq2WpCeoje6e9y7hUszB_KJ_ZAJG9Y8XvrcNGIw4DtcRVIu2EZ1RYLyWqrB16dUOdpUfveWpUM/s500/YES-logo_500.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqLje2m6GgP7jWuKysDuQWABnJY3gxQ2_wL4W0zUJ_xQ1LeUge7fJqPtXqwgvyay2hyphenhyphen0gjtya8vLP1I-eqd4qyNQwNH23i0a3-ZbQVl_dVBm7KI7Tvbq2WpCeoje6e9y7hUszB_KJ_ZAJG9Y8XvrcNGIw4DtcRVIu2EZ1RYLyWqrB16dUOdpUfveWpUM/s16000/YES-logo_500.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logo of the "Yes" campaign for the "Voice Referendum"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Reading that the
Oakland Symphony’s Playlist will host and celebrate Angela Davies gave me some
hope this morning, in the midst of the terrible news we´ve been following in
the last week. “Activist. Educator. Conscience of a generation. She will share
the music that inspired her courage and her commitment”, one reads on <a href="https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/event/playlist-angela-y-davis/"><b>the
orchestra’s website</b></a>. “Courage” and “commitment” have become essential
attributes for US cultural organisations, considering the challenges democracy has
been facing in that country. Just a few days ago, I had felt truly depressed when
reading about the refusal of a North Carolina radio station to broadcast Met
operas it considered “inappropriate”. The refusal, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/29/1202425600/met-opera-wcpe-north-carolina"><b>I
read in an article</b></a>,<span style="background: white; color: #050505;"> “comes at
a time when the Metropolitan Opera is eager to showcase its commitment to
recently written operas and works from outside the traditional canon of music
written by white men. Three of the operas that WCPE plans to reject in the
2023-24 season were written by Black or Mexican composers. This past April,
WCPE also refused to broadcast another Met-produced opera written by a Black
composer that included </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">LGBTQ themes.</span>”
Considering the Met’s efforts to move beyond the “canon” and become more
relevant for more US citizens, the general manager of the radio station expressed
deep moral concerns, such as “What if one child hears this? When I stand before
Jesus Christ on Judgement Day, what am I going to say?”. On 5 October, news
came that the radio station had reversed its decision due to widespread
criticism.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is not just about
the US. Every country, every society, faces its own challenges, and cultural
organisations often fail to see their role in dealing with them or choose to
stay on the margin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">I recently read about
the intriguing way an Australian orchestra chose to deal with the “Voice
Referendum”, which took place on 14 October. The referendum itself was rather
puzzling for me: <span style="background: white; color: #202122;">voters were asked
if they approved of a change to the </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Australian Constitution</span><span style="background: white; color: #202122;"> that would </span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">recognise
Indigenous Australians by creating</span><span style="background: white; color: #202122;"> a body (called the </span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Voice)</span><span style="background: white; color: #202122;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">to represent this
population to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth. How
could, <a href="https://www.inclusiveaustralia.com.au/resources/the-inclusive-australia-social-inclusion-index-2020-21-report-1"><b>despite
acknowledging the invisibility and continuous discrimination of the indigenous population</b></a>,
the right of its voice to be heard be a matter of a referendum and a change in the
constitution? Anyway, the majority of Australians voted “No”.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/arts-organisations-say-they-want-to-be-cultural-leaders-but-are-they-living-up-to-their-goals-215445"><b>The
article I read</b></a> was related to cultural leadership and started with the
following story: When the date of the referendum was announced, the Tasmanian
Symphony Orchestra (TSO) quietly cancelled its Last Night of the
Proms concert, scheduled for the night before. At the time, the orchestra informed
only ticket buyers, individually. Weeks later, in a statement for the press,
TSO said that the reason for cancelling was that “to press ahead with a musical
celebration of British pageantry on this night felt insensitive given its
proximity to the Voice referendum the following day.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">“Why did the orchestra not make any
meaningful statement with the cancellation?”, wondered Samuel Cairnduff, author
of the article and a PhD candidate in cultural leadership. In my view, there is
a clear sign of sensitivity towards social issues that affect part of the
country’s population and are of concern to many more citizens. And there also
seems to exist awareness regarding the ways that population is affected. At the
same time, TSO followed the steps often followed by the majority, perhaps, of
cultural organisations around the world: it chose not to take a clear stand on
a matter that divides Australian citizens; it chose not to create a much-needed
space for this matter to be discussed; it chose to tsay on the margin. They
wouldn’t have felt comfortable in performing the programme initially planned (and
that means something), but they wished to remain as discreet - or is it “neutral”?
– as possible about it. Is this what one can expect of an organisation that
aims to serve the sector as cultural leader (p.7 of its <a href="https://www.tso.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TSO2030_StrategyDocument_WEB.pdf"><b>strategy
document</b></a>)?</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-paragraph" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">The
world of classical music is as political as any other. Reading about this cancellation,
reminded me of Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra dropping a Tchaikovsky concert,
due to be performed on 18 March 2022. Although many saw it as a “cancellation”
of the Russian composer, <b><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-60684374">the
orchestra clarified</a> </b>that “There were also two military-themed pieces as
part of the programme - Marche Slave and 1812 Overture - that we felt were
particularly inappropriate at this time.” (apart from also mentioning that an
orchestra <span style="background: white;">member had family in Ukraine and that </span>they
were also made aware at the time that the title “Little Russian” of Symphony nº
2 was deemed offensive to Ukrainians). Is it a surprise that music pieces are
not just “a bunch of notes put together”, but they carry meaning and a message?
Shouldn’t orchestras and musicians share this with their audiences and beyond?
Is music “just” music – just like Gustavo Dudamel once stated he was “just” a
musician, when expected to take a stand in relation to the Venezuelan regime’s treatment
of peaceful protesters back in 2014? (<a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2014/03/being-just.html"><b>see more
on this blog</b></a>)</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-paragraph" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-paragraph" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">We
are not “just”… And what we create or produce is not “just” either. We are
taking a position, either with what we say or with what we don’t say; both with
what we do and we don’t do.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-paragraph" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-paragraph" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">Back
in 2014, <a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-educational-dimension.html"><b>I
wrote on this blog</b></a> about the educational dimension of the work of cultural professionals.
In that text I mentioned a protest which took place d<span style="background: white;">uring the intermission of a performance of Brahms' “Requiem” by the
Saint Louis Symphony. Protesters stood up and sang “Requiem for Mike Brown”
(the black unarmed youth that was shot by a policeman in Ferguson, a suburb of
St.Louis). “Noone interrupted the protesters, noone called the police”, I wrote
at the time, “Maybe because what happened made sense, at that place, at that
time, in that specific context”. In that same text, I also referred to the controversial
decision of Tricycle Theatre not to host the UK Jewish Film Festival, for the
first time in eight years. The reason was that the festival received support
from the Israeli Embassy in London and, given the ongoing assault on Gaza at
the time,</span> it seemed inappropriate to accept financial support from a government
agency – a stark reminder for all of us currently commenting on the Israel-Hamas
conflict that the attack on Gaza and the killing of Palestinian civilians is
not something new, a response to the slaughter carried out by Hamas on 7
October. Perhaps as cultural professionals we should consider our
responsibility for this ongoing inhumanity – not only in Palestine or in
Australia, but in our neighbourhoods too. Or are we still wondering what we
have got to do with it?</span></span></p><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-paragraph" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-paragraph" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">Living in society is
not (has never been) an easy matter. Learning how to do it, striving to do it,
takes effort and time. But, <a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2023/09/what-is-politics-about-and-what-is.html"><b>as
I recently wrote in a post on politics and culture</b></a>, “</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">political life, the life organised in a <i>polis</i> (city),
is a condition for our survival.” A society that cares is a society that stands
a chance to prosper and be happy. My feeling in the last months is that cultural
professionals seem to be tired, even impatient, in relation to what many call “difficult”
or “fracturing" or even “controversial” social issues. I believe we would like
things to be easier, less demanding, we prefer to carry on with “business as
usual” rather than investing time to listen, to learn, to understand nuance,
well… to care, really. The cultural organisations we all work for will be as
irrelevant to people as our lack of interest in getting involved.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" style="line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">More on this blog<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2023/09/what-is-politics-about-and-what-is.html">What
is politics about and what is culture for?</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-educational-dimension.html">The
educational dimension</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span color="windowtext" lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2014/03/being-just.html"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Being ‘just’</span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></o:p></span></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-39104633521769514262023-10-01T13:06:00.001+01:002023-10-01T13:14:58.631+01:00Censorhsip doesn't always bother us, does it?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzPSq962jWQWhxLuz1vSIxprszNkhx2-O345UCLigZ8YFRtL4bXmvCWfbZxP4qdfooSx4dbdWso1ZTJeUnI-TJHJ4hraw8MCLfGv5Az0qG-kHqHXnA-3FvVuercLRtmfu-GigbcJ9YFr7bcI710frmpYrk0BjidKK9j42B-qm4YOev7F73S99GyZD4l8/s500/luca_top_500.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzPSq962jWQWhxLuz1vSIxprszNkhx2-O345UCLigZ8YFRtL4bXmvCWfbZxP4qdfooSx4dbdWso1ZTJeUnI-TJHJ4hraw8MCLfGv5Az0qG-kHqHXnA-3FvVuercLRtmfu-GigbcJ9YFr7bcI710frmpYrk0BjidKK9j42B-qm4YOev7F73S99GyZD4l8/s16000/luca_top_500.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">Image taken from LUCA - Teatro Luís de Camões Facebook page.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The Fitzwilliam Museum
in Cambridge is one of the best-known university museums. Its current
exhibition </span><a href="https://fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/plan-your-visit/exhibitions/black-atlantic-power-people-resistance"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>Black Atlantic: Power, people,
resistance</b></span></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"> <span lang="EN-GB">questions us:
“Which stories get remembered, and why?”. The museum states that this
exhibition explores some new stories from history, questioning Cambridge's role
in the transatlantic slave trade.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1816, Richard
Fitzwilliam donated large sums of money, literature and art to the University
of Cambridge, which gave birth to the museum. The donations were made possible
by the enormous wealth of his grandfather, Sir Matthew Decker, a Dutch-born
English merchant who helped establish the South Sea Company in 1711,
responsible for the African slave trade. Responding to a need and a demand from
part of the society – but also its own, it seems to me – the museum puts the
finger in the wound, questioning itself and its contribution to the
perpetuation of a certain History.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">It is common to hear
people argue against “the erasure of history”. I always get the feeling of a
reaction that is too superficial, coming from people who are too comfortable,
who don't truly question which history has been erased. Last summer, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/14/video/belizaire-frey-children-portrait-met.html"><b>news
of the acquisition of the painting “Bélizaire and the Frey children” by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art</b></a> went around the world. Bélizaire was an enslaved
child and his figure had been erased from the painting, for reasons still
unknown. Restoration work in 2005 revealed it again, and the Met acquired the
painting “as part of its larger effort to reframe how it tells the story of
American art.” This also reminds me of Worcester Art Museum’s initiative, back
in 2018, to include labels that referred to the association of people depicted
in portraits to slavery, <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/439716/can-art-museums-help-illuminate-early-american-connections-to-slavery/"><b>“<span style="background: white;">drawing attention to the connections between art,
slavery, and wealth in early America”</span></b></a><span style="background: white; color: black;">.</span></span> It is to these erasures and distortions that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/sep/24/black-atlantic-power-people-resistance-fitzwilliam-museum-cambridge-review"><b>the
work of British artist Barbara Walker Vanishing Point 29 (Duyster) (2021) also refers</b></a>.
But it's not this erasure of history that bothers some people, that's not what
they are talking about. Our sensitivity is rather selective; our fight for
History, for Art, for freedom of expression too.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJFLrmyaPnVafO17M6XDovnBglhh12zeTTeoymHwoOa_CzaHnI0SLgGs76nxqMncv3rw0QlHSyMBrX0patqP6K3T0urgnec5fWdlqV_xM5Ij_slLUq1qawvsrDVtiRpQRf0jgLYdMhHi78kwqtFF4e2Tj-nWBvGrwjQSf8zy6qQpz8O7ieshesoaNQUo/s500/erasure_guardian_500.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJFLrmyaPnVafO17M6XDovnBglhh12zeTTeoymHwoOa_CzaHnI0SLgGs76nxqMncv3rw0QlHSyMBrX0patqP6K3T0urgnec5fWdlqV_xM5Ij_slLUq1qawvsrDVtiRpQRf0jgLYdMhHi78kwqtFF4e2Tj-nWBvGrwjQSf8zy6qQpz8O7ieshesoaNQUo/s16000/erasure_guardian_500.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">Image taken from the newspaper The Guardian.</span><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Last May, Dori Nigro
and Paulo Pinto's installation </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Adoçar a Alma para o Inferno III</i><span style="font-family: verdana;">, part of
the Porto Photography Biennial, questioned us: “How many enslaved people is a
psychiatric hospital worth?”. The Conde de Ferreira Hospital Centre, where the
work was installed, is one of more than 100 institutions that were supported by
Joaquim Ferreira dos Santos, Count of Ferreira, with money resulting mainly
from the trade of enslaved people between Angola and Brazil. On the very day of
the inauguration, the executive administrator of CHCF Ângelo Duarte ordered the
closure of the room where the work was located, </span><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/05/24/culturaipsilon/noticia/bienal-fotografia-porto-acusa-misericordia-acto-censura-2050909" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>citing</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">
the potential discomfort that this could generate in a community that is home
to many patients”. This censorship did not really seem to bother our society,
starting with the cultural sector itself. </span><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/827128/portugal-hospital-removes-artwork-about-its-slavery-ties/" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>I
read at the time</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> that the Biennial received emails of support from Porto
City Council, the General Directorate of the Arts, the University of Porto and
other partners. </span><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/06/21/culturaipsilon/opiniao/arte-abrir-portas-nao-fechalas-2054115" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>I
also read an open letter</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, which I think was an initiative of UNA – Black
Union of the Arts. But I felt that, for the most part, as a sector, we didn't
really feel uncomfortable, we didn't publicly express our solidarity to our
colleagues, neither as individuals nor as institutions, we were too silent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Therefore, I found somewhat
ironic the <a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/09/13/culturaipsilon/noticia/estatua-camilo-porto-sair-espaco-publico-apos-peticao-invoca-questoes-gosto-moral-2063247"><b>controversy
provoked in that same city of Porto</b></a>, and discussed by several colleagues in
different parts of the country, regarding the permanence or not of the statue
of Camilo Castelo Branco and Ana Plácido in front of the old Prison. I am not
interested here in discussing the disastrous management of this matter by the
Mayor of Porto. I'm not even going to repeat <a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2020/06/my-responsibilty-for-this-vandalism.html"><b>what
I have already shared</b></a> about challenging statues in the public spaces. I am
interested in discussing our concern with <a href="https://amusearte.hypotheses.org/10033"><b>freedom of artistic expression</b></a>
or with <b><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/09/14/culturaipsilon/noticia/nova-peticao-pede-estatua-camilo-porto-fique-onde-2063384">“erasing
history”</a> </b>or, even, with <a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/09/15/opiniao/editorial/estatua-camilo-irrevogavel-moreira-2063507"><b>the
opinion of the remaining residents of Porto</b></a>. Once again, our sensitivity
proved to be very selective and we, once again, not very honest. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A few days ago, there
was yet another attempt at censorship, at the launch of the book “No meu bairro”,
by Lúcia Vicente. The neutral language used in the book bothered some people,
who felt they had the right to interrupt the event, to silence the author. <a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/09/23/culturaipsilon/noticia/livro-infantil-linguagem-inclusiva-alvo-protesto-autora-censura-2064389"><b>Lúcia
Vicente told Público</b></a> that "there were seven people in the audience who
had come to destabilise or directly question the book, showing their
displeasure. Which seemed perfectly acceptable to me, until the person with the
megaphone came in"... This time, I saw with some emotion and hope the
neighbouring <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=799292318865386&set=a.502554041872550"><b>Teatro
do Bairro Alto to publicly expressing its solidarity</b></a>. Days later, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=817671010362311&set=a.639980994797981"><b>LUCA
– Teatro Luís de Camões also took a stand</b></a>; perhaps more discreetly, for
those who were not aware of the incident, but unequivocally.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgMPkMHbAKOeZcjJZDqZ4d0AZQ2cxXj_Es_rS2ZK5oA73sApROWxgxkog5x8fWd33hT8fsDuIQzUdssARm0ryEcx988yQolx0l4E8yaJGLZg-f8oJ7hk9Vg2DbfH8PxsPqS4xgZWo4gAHSbU1l1yy9M1raT6RjzUFQnQCVlVFUiRYp9LH4TLql70i8uY/s500/tba_luca_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgMPkMHbAKOeZcjJZDqZ4d0AZQ2cxXj_Es_rS2ZK5oA73sApROWxgxkog5x8fWd33hT8fsDuIQzUdssARm0ryEcx988yQolx0l4E8yaJGLZg-f8oJ7hk9Vg2DbfH8PxsPqS4xgZWo4gAHSbU1l1yy9M1raT6RjzUFQnQCVlVFUiRYp9LH4TLql70i8uY/s16000/tba_luca_500.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">We may think that we
are far from the very serious situation experiences in the USA in recent years,
with repeated (and successful<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/20/book-bans-us-rise-public-libraries">)
<b>attempts to censor books</b></a> in school libraries, which more recently have also
affected public libraries. Initiatives such as the </span><a href="https://front.moveon.org/recap-of-banned-bookmobile-tour/" style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Banned Bookmobile Tour</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"> or </span><a href="https://booksunbanned.org/" style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Books Unbanned</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"> fight against the silencing of authors and stories,
while the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the
UK recently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/21/new-guidelines-urge-uk-libraries-not-to-avoid-controversial-books-and-ideas"><b>issued
new guidelines for its members</b></a> stating that “In a polarised world, it is
important our sector is clear in its opposition to censorship.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was saying that we may
think that we are far from these very serious situations. Should I remind you
that, just a few years ago, it was said that Portugal was immune to the extreme
right? It is our silence and relativisation, it is the way we normalise certain
acts and discourses, that gives space to the enemies of democracy. Our defense
of freedom of expression and the non-erasure of History must be informed,
permanent, unequivocal. And it should really – or rather mainly – exist when it makes us leave our comfort zone.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-11772915648652778692023-09-24T23:44:00.003+01:002023-09-25T07:14:27.924+01:00What is politics about and what is culture for?<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQuGZ1ggsbmKhBpT02lkl5eC7g64tPkIPy0Kk9UPnqE3-j_m0CPIg5K_wEqRg0Qvm83qryhyVivbbqS8f7aEzWBF9t4Y0VAvRy0z74y27Y5I-fp8YxaLURHLob5nHFhaQgPgWJ_EI_soy_RNUym4YFckSy3wCK83QoAZjT6TNLwJnyoLspVBN54rZPUs/s500/chicago_500px.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQuGZ1ggsbmKhBpT02lkl5eC7g64tPkIPy0Kk9UPnqE3-j_m0CPIg5K_wEqRg0Qvm83qryhyVivbbqS8f7aEzWBF9t4Y0VAvRy0z74y27Y5I-fp8YxaLURHLob5nHFhaQgPgWJ_EI_soy_RNUym4YFckSy3wCK83QoAZjT6TNLwJnyoLspVBN54rZPUs/s16000/chicago_500px.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicago heatwave 1995 <br />(image taken from Liva Kreislere's presentation)</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the beginning of August,
I had the opportunity to participate in a summer school organised by the <a href="https://lcca.lv/en/"><b>Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art</b></a> and
dedicated to the subject <a href="https://lcca.lv/en/events/public-programme-of-the-summer-school--care-of-earth-care-of-people--/#izstade"><b>“Care
of Earth. Care of People”</b></a>. Just before I left, I had the opportunity to
attend part of the presentation of a young architect and urbanist, Liva
Kreislere, on cultural planning. Cultural planning is an approach to city
development that looks at the city as a cultural phenomenon and strongly
focuses on the local population, local cultural stakeholders, and municipality
involvement. It is a method where artists and cultural institutions are
increasingly placed in a more central position, with a demonstrated
contribution to social well-being as well as to the improvement of citizens’
civic engagement. “Culture”, Liva said, “is closely linked to healthcare, economy
and politics.” One of the examples she brought up was that of the deadly 1995 heatwave
in Chicago. According to a study, there was a higher survival rate among the
older population in neighbourhoods with a strong connection among their members.
Closely knit communities took better care of older people, especially
vulnerable under the circumstances.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">“We have lost a sense
of the city and sense of citizenship”, Liva said. Which reminded me of Greek
philosopher Christos Yannaras writing in his book “On the meaning of politics”
about the origin of the political phenomenon, the organised coexistence of human
beings. According to the Greek myth, people used to live dispersed, so they
were an easy prey for the beasts. Although they had developed creative arts,
that guaranteed their nourishment, they had not developed the political art.
Thus, the gods offered them the political life, the life organised in a </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">polis</i><span style="font-family: verdana;">
(city), as a condition for their survival. This does not come naturally to
humans, it is not in their nature. It is a present from the gods, an achievement
of liberation from the human nature.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These references
blended in my mind, they kept coming back, making me question what we
understand as “culture” and what its role is in building a society that cares
for the earth and for people. I spent my summer holiday in my hometown in
Greece. The country witnessed this year severe natural / man-made catastrophes;
saw the image of a black vulture looking for its nest in the burnt forrest of
Evros; learnt about the death of a late passenger when he was thrown into the
sea by the ferry crew and heard a minister equating the pain for this death to
the pain of the families of those responsible for it; saw the prices of bottled
water going up as people stricken by the floods in Thessaly were deprived (are
still deprived) of running water. In the month of September, two murder anniversaries
intensified my questioning regarding the culture of this nation: that of rapper
Pavlos Fyssas by the fascist criminal organisation Golden Dawn (once an elected
party in the Greek parliament) and that of queer activist Zak Kostopoulos in
the centre of Athens and at the hands of “common” citizens, with the police
watching.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When Arts Council England
announced in 2020 its cultural strategy for the decade, <i><a href="https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/lets-create"><b>Let’s Create</b></a></i>, the
question underlying it was “Who do we wish to be in 2030?”. And it stated: “By
2030, we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is
valued and given the chance to flourish. A country where every one of us has
access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. (…) By 2030,
we envision a country transformed by its culture and, at the same time,
constantly transforming it: a truly creative nation, in which each of us can
play a part.” Do you know at this point of any other country that looks at its
culture as something more than a network of formal cultural venues and perhaps also the people working in the sector?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zak Kostopoulos’ mother
reminded us a few days ago that “The culture and superiority of a society is
seen in the way it protects and helps the weak person, the poor, the disabled,
the woman, the child, the immigrant, the elderly, the sick and others. In
Greece we saw the poor lose their home, the disabled thrown into the sea, the
woman murdered by her husband or partner, the child raped, the immigrant sunk
with the boat, the transgender person stabbed.” (<a href="https://www.avgi.gr/koinonia/460454_mi-lypasai-min-pikrainesai-mama"><b>her open
letter for those who read Greek</b></a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What can we say to Zak's mother when in Greece we also saw a party led by one of the arrested Golden Dawn criminals, emerging three weeks before the last general election, win 11 seats in parliament? Who have we become? Who
do we wish to be? What is politics about and what is culture for?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Readings
suggested by Liva Kreislere:</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Lia Ghilardi (2015), <i>This
is our city: Place-making through cultural planning<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Franco Bianchini
(2014), <i>Cultural planning and artist-led urban transformation</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Both available <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LQxRv54M5FbBEZHdQya0DXVnd2BEYn64">here</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>More on this blog</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2023/04/freedom-for-what-culture-for-what.html"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Freedom
for what? Culture for what?</span></a> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwqXn2Gm9rvdXiMxF3CKxUqu1odY3GCvsnUbjaJPUyls2AJFAOFLn6qCy3Pz1Uv4s2thS4ZMGxmf-W9SJbpAJKM2QE4QixfV4Sn014rBDxfZ7cfOKS_zsmam1a-8LNGhAywv-4N-pg5VwabyDWcRxbMo-vz26WoUfQ5bRcwHT8Bvj7UJbsRdZSrWvIxo/s500/black%20vulture_christos%20kalogeros.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwqXn2Gm9rvdXiMxF3CKxUqu1odY3GCvsnUbjaJPUyls2AJFAOFLn6qCy3Pz1Uv4s2thS4ZMGxmf-W9SJbpAJKM2QE4QixfV4Sn014rBDxfZ7cfOKS_zsmam1a-8LNGhAywv-4N-pg5VwabyDWcRxbMo-vz26WoUfQ5bRcwHT8Bvj7UJbsRdZSrWvIxo/s16000/black%20vulture_christos%20kalogeros.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A black vulture looking for its nest in the burnt forrest.<br />(photo by Christos Kalogeros/Facebook)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-53921916066188005302023-06-05T16:30:00.002+01:002023-06-05T16:30:31.269+01:00Restless museums<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnYIrwN9qJdNLzVUdlNkaoNfTm3qCwV2J1p_cpdX7qdW91Wgy9LxypOOsBAtUkyEMh9-4gjEuQQ6i0Ej7IF2OQzkyFWIr5BiGzxvyD0_JlZ7Q4iDwJo75WupJSuDCOIDgNsLpDOp6EQXH_mrfBnRp8k6A0RGMUdj2oqdvitOAdjLWvmR2hpxc8WRP/s500/Cheri%20Samba_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnYIrwN9qJdNLzVUdlNkaoNfTm3qCwV2J1p_cpdX7qdW91Wgy9LxypOOsBAtUkyEMh9-4gjEuQQ6i0Ej7IF2OQzkyFWIr5BiGzxvyD0_JlZ7Q4iDwJo75WupJSuDCOIDgNsLpDOp6EQXH_mrfBnRp8k6A0RGMUdj2oqdvitOAdjLWvmR2hpxc8WRP/s16000/Cheri%20Samba_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chéri Samba, "Reorganisation". AfricaMuseum, Tervuren (Photo: Maria Vlachou)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Following the work of
museums that question themselves and question us is particularly exciting,
motivating and inspiring. In a rather conservative and slow-moving context,
these museums are few, still very few, and it is refreshing to be able to
identify that kind of leadership that deals with whatever is necessary and
helps to bring about necessary changes, gradually contaminating the entire
sector. It is in this type of museums that I see a true and honest effort to be
useful to society, to be part of it, to be relevant.<span></span></span><p></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">I had the opportunity
to visit some of these museums. I start with the </span><a href="https://www.tropenmuseum.nl/en/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Tropenmuseum</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> in Amsterdam. On my first visit, in 2017, the
directness with which it approached the country's colonial past, the creation
of its own collection, as well as racism in contemporary society shook me.
Never before had I visited an ethnological museum with this kind of discourse.
Both in its permanent and temporary exhibitions (“Colonialism in Indonesia”,
“The Future of the History of Slavery” and </span><a href="https://www.tropenmuseum.nl/en/afterlives-slavery"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Afterlives of Slavery”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">), the museum questioned itself and questioned us:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">How did the museum
acquire its collection?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">What is our shared
history of slavery?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">How do we deal with it
today?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">How can we shape our
common future?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is it possible to
digest the history of slavery and all its consequences and to move forward?</span></li></ul><p></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/8czyr8f5erqUBr?hostedIn=slideshare&page=upload" width="476"></iframe></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">On my most recent
visit, in 2022, the museum had already inaugurated the exhibition </span><a href="https://www.tropenmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/our-colonial-inheritance"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Our colonial inheritance”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. With the directness to which we are accustomed – and
notably the possessive determinant “our” in the title of the exhibition – the
museum shares an extensive and profound research into the colonial past of The
Netherlands. And there's a question for visitors at the end:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">How do you get
involved?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">This is a type of
questioning that I have encountered in other museums as well. The recently inaugurated
</span><a href="https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Humboldt Forum</b></span></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"> <span lang="EN-GB">in Berlin questions the provenance of its collection, as well as its
inventory work and the interpretation of the objects. It also invited the
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to give <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMRv5xhMCo4"><b>the opening speech</b></a> in
September 2021. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/KdvvD7ofCyyitg?hostedIn=slideshare&page=upload" width="476"></iframe> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"><span lang="EN-GB">The </span></span><a href="https://www.africamuseum.be/en" style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>AfricaMuseum</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"> in Tervuren, near Brussels, which reopened to the
public in 2018, claims that its collections are the legal property of the Belgian
federal state, but the moral property of the countries of origin, and shares
with visitors the “rule of six” that it applies when acquiring objects:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is the object of importance
for scientific research?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Does it complete a
collection or exhibition?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is it of exceptional
value?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is it well-documented?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">In what circumstances
was it acquired?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Does it add to our understanding
of contemporary Africa?</span></li></ul><p></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/yndi9tJ30Zxz6N?hostedIn=slideshare&page=upload" width="476"></iframe></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Questions of this
nature are also raised and shared with the public by the Royal Museums of Fine
Arts of Belgium, in Brussels, through the campaign </span><a href="https://fine-arts-museum.be/en/exhibitions/our-collection-in-question"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Our collection in question”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. Other museums, still, interpret their collections
with a new view, having acquired a different awareness, even when, apparently,
their collection is not related to the history of colonialism or racism. I am
thinking specifically of the reference I found at </span><a href="https://www.momu.be/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>MoMu</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> (Fashion Museum) in Antwerp about the black hooded cape:
used by monks in medieval times and by women in the 18th century, protecting
the person from prying eyes; in the 1970s, it is transformed into the “hoodie”
by hip-hop culture, protecting from the surveillance of urban security cameras,
acquiring also a political connotation after the 2012 murder of black teenager
Trayvor Martin (his killer claimed that he looked suspicious because he was
wearing a black hoodie, which shows that being able to wear a hoodie without concern
is part of white privilege).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmJ_t6-WfKgR2cpk3uL7KADOEGGk5z8MH4dhptv0vrqOZqAcPGHEYYLpRKgkeEKmRc-RArDNSmHXqHaJ7qKodVrfRQ-7qhfMD0ww9EXg2VdxU19pUWHR9gTYyd7Vf3YKAZjhV0OZm20n6TmyX4qz5jw3sCyhEaju9KgIPYFAAOI8UDBibYFRPdmVV/s500/MoMu_1_s.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmJ_t6-WfKgR2cpk3uL7KADOEGGk5z8MH4dhptv0vrqOZqAcPGHEYYLpRKgkeEKmRc-RArDNSmHXqHaJ7qKodVrfRQ-7qhfMD0ww9EXg2VdxU19pUWHR9gTYyd7Vf3YKAZjhV0OZm20n6TmyX4qz5jw3sCyhEaju9KgIPYFAAOI8UDBibYFRPdmVV/s16000/MoMu_1_s.jpg" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicO0Ub4wigI8zxwBOESUWwgd9P4nR1-zw4JFsjf89U5rc8srtKXctigApRAIs1GIvwMXh7IlTkxCTEnvx08ev2pr0yztrUHZnnDVrh1MmGEA9iVcpzlGPti9-ndTzpjH6cPsWA9U-HNdSBfXlWlR7hPHV0TV9A8g5XuRC8e0SApcvNWtO5BngyCao3/s500/MoMu_2_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicO0Ub4wigI8zxwBOESUWwgd9P4nR1-zw4JFsjf89U5rc8srtKXctigApRAIs1GIvwMXh7IlTkxCTEnvx08ev2pr0yztrUHZnnDVrh1MmGEA9iVcpzlGPti9-ndTzpjH6cPsWA9U-HNdSBfXlWlR7hPHV0TV9A8g5XuRC8e0SApcvNWtO5BngyCao3/s16000/MoMu_2_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">MoMu, Antwerp (Photo: Maria Vlachou)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">In this context, we
should also refer, by way of example, to exhibitions such as </span><a href="https://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/expositions/le-modele-noir-de-gericault-matisse-196083"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Le modèle noir de Géricault à Matisse”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> at the Musée d´Orsay in Paris (2019) on aesthetic,
political, social and racial issues, as well as on imaginary revealed by the
representation of black figures in the plastic arts; </span><a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/past/slavery"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Slavery: ten true stories”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (2021), where the
director of the museum, Taco Dibbits, also assumes himself as a beneficiary of
slavery; or </span><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/juan-de-pareja"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Juan de Pareja: Afro-Hispanic painter”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (2023), about
the painter who for two decades was enslaved by Velázquez and also his model. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The inevitable question
is: what about Portugal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The most recent episode
is <a href="https://www.publico.pt/2023/06/01/culturaipsilon/noticia/misericordia-porto-justifica-censura-obra-arte-bemestar-doentes-2051874"><b>the
censorship practiced by the administration of the Centro Hospitalar do Conde de
Ferreira to the work “Adoçar a Alma para o Inferno III”, by artists Dori Negro
e and Paulo Pinto, which denounces Conde de Ferreira’s known links to slavery</b></a>.
The work is presented within the framework of the Bienal'23 Fotografia do Porto
and the hospital administration, in addition to considering the references
“offensive to the memory” of its patron, considers that “there are no
psychological conditions allowing the exhibition of the work in question, since
'patients, workers and their families feel affected' by the question 'how many
enslaved people is a psychiatric hospital worth?'".<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is not a museum,
but it seems that even in museums there are still no “psychological conditions”
for certain reflections and practices. Or there is no will, sense of
responsibility, awareness of urgency. It occurs to me that, in January, when
Lonnie Bunch (first black secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and first
director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture) was at
Culturgest, in Lisbon, to speak about “Racism in the public square” (<a href="https://www.culturgest.pt/en/whats-on/race-public-square-lonnie-bunch/"><b>information</b></a>
and<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2j8LICsVhU">video</a></b>), there was
not even one director of a national museum or representative of the Ministry of
Culture in the audience; at the symposium that followed at the National Museum
of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC), “Settling scores with racism: the
social memory of the slave trade” (<a href="https://www.ulisboa.pt/evento/acertando-contas-com-o-racismo-memoria-social-do-comercio-de-escravos"><b>information</b></a>
and<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kLBDA98ds8&t=1s">video</a></b>) only
the Director of the National Museum of Archaeology attended. The absence of the
directors of our national museums and monuments has been a constant in several
forums.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHY0noq2aZz_4AFYQHtPMZCDurYYUfvBcDrxkhbNkyHfF9-VMDoCothcvqxjQo0azzzK5S7m2e4rpFT8GmV6V8xeTtFyKuQqFpl4ORKDKv-4wqW5Nh3u-WXiVmv5UAhHOKrPHrOb4WCs9kfy5hh-w__HhKeOlmKe8-oVe_xoleiP7mPewU7AvwP2Q/s500/Cynthia%20Schimming_No%20Title_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHY0noq2aZz_4AFYQHtPMZCDurYYUfvBcDrxkhbNkyHfF9-VMDoCothcvqxjQo0azzzK5S7m2e4rpFT8GmV6V8xeTtFyKuQqFpl4ORKDKv-4wqW5Nh3u-WXiVmv5UAhHOKrPHrOb4WCs9kfy5hh-w__HhKeOlmKe8-oVe_xoleiP7mPewU7AvwP2Q/s16000/Cynthia%20Schimming_No%20Title_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cynthia Schimming, "No title - My philosophy, your interpretation". Humboldt Forum<br />(Photo: Maria Vlachou)</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thinking about some which
I attended or was involved in the organisation, I remember becoming aware of
this total absence:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">at Nicholas Mirzoeff's
lecture "Decolonizing the Museum: Lessons from New York" in 2018 at
RE.AL;</span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">at Felwine Sarr’s
lecture (co-author of the so-called “Matron report” on the restitution of
objects) at Culturgest in 2020;</span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">at the meeting
Decentralise the empire, repair the future”, held in November 2022 at
Culturgest; </span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">at the Acesso Cultura
seminar <a href="https://accessculture-portugal.org/decolonising-museums-in-practice-this-is/"><b>“Decolonising
museums: this in practice…?”</b></a> in 2019 (information and recordings), which
had Wayne Modest of the Tropenmuseum as keynote speaker and where the Director
of the National Museum of Ethnology participated as a panelist;</span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">at the annual
conference of Acesso Cultura in 2016, whose theme was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVbZ7zk1Pg"><b>“What? So what? Relevance of
contents and simple language”</b></a> and with Martine Gosselink from the
Rijksmuseum, responsible for the project to rewrite the tables in her museum,
as keynote speaker.</span></span></li></ul><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These are just a few
examples. There was more. How to explain these absences? And how can we expect
to see changes, necessary and urgent changes, if the people responsible are not
available to listen and participate in the dialogue?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We must not go further
without mentioning the work done by a few Portuguese museums. Despite the
widespread apathy and inertia, something is stirring. It is worth mentioning
here the exhibition <a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2019/12/plural-lisbon.html"><b>“Plural
Lisbon”</b></a> at the Museu de Lisboa (2019) or <a href="https://www.museus.ulisboa.pt/exposicao-impulso-fotografico"><b>“The
photographic impulse: (un)arranging the colonial archive”</b></a>, currently at
MUHNAC. Both these museums, as well as Acesso Cultura and other entities, were
responsible for bringing Lonnie Bunch to Portugal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;">What's in a label?</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This reflection was
provoked by a label. A label that accompanies a sculpture by Soares dos Reis on
display at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC). It reads: “Cabeça de
preto / Head of black”. I had already received comments about it from various
sources, but last week a colleague's post on Facebook sparked an intense
conversation. And that’s good. It should also be taken to other contexts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTFachkzRz8TONpjYMjWhSYwoNBeVYm7or9Fu-4rxc52UGMzGAtRiPQ674seARF41yz11QbY3S7QP4-SZPVUgSC2jOwb39RiXEts1iClOAI-8EtXJMy-Yo-W7gZSx7ireTL6pMKU5ys_IC73gmGcYlAbZK422qCurTS_OMGIQqaa72NEu14HB9CA-/s615/mnac.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTFachkzRz8TONpjYMjWhSYwoNBeVYm7or9Fu-4rxc52UGMzGAtRiPQ674seARF41yz11QbY3S7QP4-SZPVUgSC2jOwb39RiXEts1iClOAI-8EtXJMy-Yo-W7gZSx7ireTL6pMKU5ys_IC73gmGcYlAbZK422qCurTS_OMGIQqaa72NEu14HB9CA-/s16000/mnac.png" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What leaves me most
perplexed in the case of this label is that the museum understands that it is
problematic. But it doesn't act. Not with the urgency that, at least some of us,
would like. Yes, these are complex issues; yes, there is so much to do. But
there are also options to take, there are priorities and, above all, there is
an obligation to take care of our audiences, including black visitors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In this most recent
exchange of opinions, there were the usual arguments: “we are not going to
erase history”, “people understand the context in which the work was created”,
“censorship”… And yet another: “If we changed this label, we would have to
change them all” or “We will change it when we have the opportunity to review
them all”. I would venture to say that those who used these arguments have not
followed developments and reflections in, at least, the last eight years, since
in 2015 the Rijksmuseum was the first to take the initiative to revise titles
and labels. It didn't do it by erasing history; and I learned from its work
that most of the titles of the works are not chosen by the artists themselves.
We cannot continue arguing without seeking to consult the information available
and the extensive bibliography that already exists. We cannot continue arguing from
within our bubble, without knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">I don't know exactly
how much it costs to produce a new label, but I think it should be changed urgently
and, if necessary, just this one, yes! At the very least, to add – as Ferens
Gallery in Hall did in one case – “Artist’s title”. It would be the minimum and
it would be a signal from the museum to its visitors. A contextualisation
paragraph, written by the museum, would be even better. I really liked the text
in the introductory panel of the temporary exhibition </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.quaibranly.fr/en/exhibitions-and-events/at-the-museum/exhibitions/event-details/e/ouvrir-lalbum-du-monde"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b>“Photographs: an early album of the
world”</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, at Quai Branly,
and the way it deals with terminology. But, above all, the fact of
communicating their options to the visitor and being aware of their
responsibilities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A new label for this
work by Soares dos Reis would also make it possible to review the translation
of the title. Because, as two colleagues pointed out, the translation is wrong.
In English it would be “Head of a negro”, which would perhaps allow us to
understand the seriousness of the use of the word “preto” in Portuguese without
any comment on the part of the museum. Translation (specifically, proofreading
by specialists, because translators are not necessarily specialists) is of
enormous importance. I remember the shock I felt when I noticed for the first
time that the translation of “Slave collar” in the exhibition “One museum, so
many collections!” at the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia (2017) was “necklace”.
We have an obligation to take care of objects and people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Last year, on a visit
to the Marta Ortigão Sampaio House-Museum, in Porto, I saw the “traces” of an
educational project carried out with a school. A student’s discomfort was
recorded on the wall, underneath the painting by Aurélia de Souza entitled
“Cabeça de homem preto” (Head of black man):<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“My discomfort was that
he was the only one to be described by the colour of his skin.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Next to the work, the
museum label, where the word “preto/negro” had been erased with correction
fluid. I shivered at this gesture. I thought it was good that the label had remained
just like that on the wall, with the marks of a 21st century intervention. <a href="file:///C:/Users/maria/Documents/Underneath%20the%20painting%20by%20Aur%C3%A9lia%20de%20Souza%20entitled%20%E2%80%9CCabe%C3%A7a%20de%20homem%20preto%E2%80%9D%20(Head%20of%20black%20man),"><b>On
the museum's website</b></a>, the title is “Cabeça de homem” (Head of a man, so I
assume that it was not Aurelia herself who gave the previous title.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/5a7Xjdfjhd98uk?hostedIn=slideshare&page=upload" width="476"></iframe></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is an inertia in
the world of Portuguese museums, it is as if most of us were hiding our heads
in the sand. Knowing the difficulties, the complexities, the lack of means, we
also know that priorities are set every day, decisions are taken, investments
are made. Taking care of people, just as well as we take care of objects, is a
priority, an urgency. Being relevant is, at the very least, a matter of
survival.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>More on this blog</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2022/06/whos-afraid-of-decolonisation.html">Who’s
afraid of decolonisation?</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2019/12/plural-lisbon.html">Plural
Lisbon</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2018/06/discussing-decolonisation-of-museums-in.html%5e"><b>Discussing
the decolonisation of museums in Portugal</b></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Further reading</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2016/02/12/culturaipsilon/noticia/nao-queremos-um-museu-so-para-brancos-1722839">Não
queremos um museu só para brancos</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2022/08/what-can-we-expect-from-museum-director.html">What
can we expect from a museum director?</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://canadianart.ca/features/offensive-terminology-in-artwork-titles/">Offensive
Artwork Titles in Canadian Museums: What’s in a Name?</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/263180/why-the-rijksmuseum-is-removing-bigoted-terms-from-its-artworks-titles/">Why
the Rijksmuseum Is Removing Bigoted Terms from Its Artworks’ Titles</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/304385/danish-national-gallery-removes-the-word-negro-from-13-artworks-titles/">Danish
National Gallery Removes the Word “Negro” from 13 Artworks’ Titles</a></span></span></h1><div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/dec/15/artworks-racist-titles-rijksmuseum-amsterdam"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Young
Negro Girl: should artworks with offensive names get an update?</b></span></a></div>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #121212; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/past/rijksmuseum-and-slavery">Rijksmuseum
and slavery</a></span></span></h1><div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/439716/can-art-museums-help-illuminate-early-american-connections-to-slavery/" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"><b>Can
art museums help illuminate early American connections to slavery?</b></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-53476105432973808582023-05-14T10:02:00.001+01:002023-05-14T10:02:59.724+01:00So, what happens tomorrow?<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFr8BjfZAj9ICUDYklk_RAAWTmC18GYbkya45LQqcWlRyOVY9v1L_R83HflBgy9miGjjlBoqQQnlBjt4Zm2ZKCt1oz8-goAgJbWyTpPW1G1ccPRSWHTc3h4-FIU9Qb5KZRFO43EmgUdUmS2l-ZzIlzbVibYvjq6mr7VupjPn31Zf_tUAlBHMbsmfy/s500/ovar%201_s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFr8BjfZAj9ICUDYklk_RAAWTmC18GYbkya45LQqcWlRyOVY9v1L_R83HflBgy9miGjjlBoqQQnlBjt4Zm2ZKCt1oz8-goAgJbWyTpPW1G1ccPRSWHTc3h4-FIU9Qb5KZRFO43EmgUdUmS2l-ZzIlzbVibYvjq6mr7VupjPn31Zf_tUAlBHMbsmfy/s16000/ovar%201_s.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last day of the project "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces it to Surrender" <br />in Ovar (2022)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 2022, I had the
happiness of participating in a very beautiful project by ondamarela, called <a href="https://ondamarela.pt/en/tmshfits/"><b>“This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces
it to Surrender”</b></a>. It was a project that invited people of different ages in
different parts of the country to address the issues of hate, prejudice,
difference and freedom through new artistic creations, built with these same
people. On the last day of the project, we discussed what this experience had
been like for the different participants. I often think of a teenage girl in
one of those conversations. When I said “The artists are leaving today, the
project is over. What happens tomorrow?” she murmured, “Tomorrow will be a sad
day.”<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I thought about her
again last month, at the meeting <a href="https://www.comediasdominho.com/portfolio/encontro-mutante/"><b>Mutante</b></a> organised
by Comédias do Minho. This meeting was the culmination of the <a href="https://www.comediasdominho.com/projeto-mutantes/"><b>Mutantes Project</b></a>,
which sought to involve young people aged 12 to 18 who live in the 10
municipalities of the Alto Minho region in a reflection, through the arts, on
'I', the 'other' and 'us'. During the three days that brought together culture
and education professionals, fifteen young people who had participated in the
project workshops worked intensely with choreographer Joana Castro in the
construction of a performance, presented to us on the last day. We saw and
heard young people who were sensitive, attentive, sincere, hopeful, but also
anguished, and we felt that, over the course of those three days of work, a
very strong and very moving connection was created between them, although they had
not known each other before. In the conversation that followed, I asked: “So,
what happens tomorrow?”. Several answered: “Tomorrow there is school.”<br /><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkpQDPcxfb4XvNSHyybuQHEJviOScyTGc-DPIGuiTxLYBVtXewQXWoe98hlVKOzRth0FUKp82cULbIbrAIAh5SPwEf7cHsPsJ96D9922yaNiySgoXgIDtfEE47w-7rlNUAqlwJxxb2_qEtifRpJ_dx1bycU-OCp5RzSYPsXI8JUwYdlSG_LHiwLds/s500/mutantes_s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkpQDPcxfb4XvNSHyybuQHEJviOScyTGc-DPIGuiTxLYBVtXewQXWoe98hlVKOzRth0FUKp82cULbIbrAIAh5SPwEf7cHsPsJ96D9922yaNiySgoXgIDtfEE47w-7rlNUAqlwJxxb2_qEtifRpJ_dx1bycU-OCp5RzSYPsXI8JUwYdlSG_LHiwLds/s16000/mutantes_s.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last day of the meeting Mutantes in Paredes de Coura (2023).</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The formal end of a
project seems to be a definite end for many of the people who participated in
it. There doesn't seem to be a continuation in their lives, there doesn't seem
to be a will or capacity or, perhaps, imagination for its continuation in “real
life”. Maybe people (not just the younger ones) don't imagine themselves
capable of changing something that the project made them acknowledge it needed
to be changed. And although many of the projects are aimed at empowering people
or promoting civic participation, there is a political culture that convinces
many people that it's not worth imagining, it's not worth trying, it's not
worth worrying and acting. There is a culture of impossibility.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The arts and culture alone
do not have the power to bring about changes in people's personal and
collective lives. Those who expose themselves to them and get involved with
them receive nourishment, but do not automatically become more active, more
imaginative or even better people. That said, I often wonder what could be done
to connect these experiences to “tomorrow” and to create a culture where people
can feel included, empowered, important and needed, cared for, in charge of
their own minds and lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIELCMeD-_ccwt0aAR92g25YrGALnl0tHUiUq-4cbhteGWtwHaeW8eDTXDyXnmCzw6xP45ZY2MRwDziaUA8Ck9iTWKRmDJOdlj6t9Ka8zIZdSsNK7ELR6QLsEY34qcjmJDlaLOF457WSRYyrXc16B94dirFzU6-q07w_ogbPgrOMgeOAEYEwX1c6UZ/s500/tropen%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIELCMeD-_ccwt0aAR92g25YrGALnl0tHUiUq-4cbhteGWtwHaeW8eDTXDyXnmCzw6xP45ZY2MRwDziaUA8Ck9iTWKRmDJOdlj6t9Ka8zIZdSsNK7ELR6QLsEY34qcjmJDlaLOF457WSRYyrXc16B94dirFzU6-q07w_ogbPgrOMgeOAEYEwX1c6UZ/s16000/tropen%201.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRemzJ9RcQs8XaHC_WtYs9iunVdnfsZEqKNgD3YIOp73dqHIMQOSd5iqPSung1_eGRXty96livF0IUWQCSOwY8IyLrpPrG8Zh-vtO8cl-Q1WX0-WqzbyDVZc4D_fp1ys60blxsS-Od3VHv-0wtSdZfY67hikxTM0E01ZUihRcz08BkJQ5LrosPNlL/s500/tropen%202.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRemzJ9RcQs8XaHC_WtYs9iunVdnfsZEqKNgD3YIOp73dqHIMQOSd5iqPSung1_eGRXty96livF0IUWQCSOwY8IyLrpPrG8Zh-vtO8cl-Q1WX0-WqzbyDVZc4D_fp1ys60blxsS-Od3VHv-0wtSdZfY67hikxTM0E01ZUihRcz08BkJQ5LrosPNlL/s16000/tropen%202.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When last October I was
at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to visit the new
exhibition <a href="https://www.tropenmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/our-colonial-inheritance"><b>“Our
Colonial Inheritance”</b></a>. The museum, which has accustomed us to a courageous
and frontal attitude towards its own past and the country's past and present,
did not disappoint us this time either. But what I would like to highlight here
is what happens when we reach the end of the exhibition. Before entering the
last room, we read on a panel: “How do you get involved? Choose the way that
suits you”. We are then invited to meet different people who have decided to
act in order to build a better and fairer world. The ways of doing it were
different and this conveys the idea that there is something that each of us can
do, in our own way; that we are neither small nor impotent in the face of great
causes and problems.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am also thinking of
my first visit, last March, to <a href="https://kazernedossin.eu/en/"><b>Kazerne
Dossin</b></a>, a Holocaust memorial museum in the Belgian city of Mechelen. There
were three things that made me think about the role that a museum can play in
empowering people and promoting active citizenship:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the temporary
exhibition “<a href="https://kazernedossin.eu/en/expo/temporary-exhibition-homosexuals-and-lesbians-in-nazi-europe/"><b>Homosexuals
and lesbians in Nazi Europe”</b></a>, History gains a more humane, closer, less
abstract scale, through the personal stories of different people who suffered
discrimination and persecution, who died or who survived.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrNgeg0dX7FW3utSW0BIEzpbR48qHeCjpXRmmXr__Y8KXu8g15ahxXzZcsmUXhHjRzbhsYoe20hdVRIlXYGVV3w6a2-P6lNqSkPVg84Tp6-tP-6o0rznukXlg-vBPi4Xd3we4L9aHAn_fbD6CGdrHhfouIrvaa5pQJstlJ2t3ZzgqvCIVbEmgwOzR/s500/mechelen%200.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrNgeg0dX7FW3utSW0BIEzpbR48qHeCjpXRmmXr__Y8KXu8g15ahxXzZcsmUXhHjRzbhsYoe20hdVRIlXYGVV3w6a2-P6lNqSkPVg84Tp6-tP-6o0rznukXlg-vBPi4Xd3we4L9aHAn_fbD6CGdrHhfouIrvaa5pQJstlJ2t3ZzgqvCIVbEmgwOzR/s16000/mechelen%200.png" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://kazernedossin.eu/en/expo/permanent-collection/">In the permanent
exhibition</a>, presented in three chapters spread over three floors (Mass,
Fear, Death), the museum includes stories resistance to the occupying Nazi regime,
sometimes through comic episodes, but coming from ordinary people, civil
servants who were, probably, just as afraid as everyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU61lMHmCjqMnwf2HpSzQAO-K3lB_vT3M468JFc7TkJ0mZfwYyfWzcxyqA3jC6vt_3Ch20lTvQ6B0MTLTorFvsweuqewL4S7FvhT9icvez-tealvjg8BCgNCJWMqWmStuoaFQXTf6_9Ck4squgNPfAuzD3SR1B915LR8VO0f4R6IMdpTkClSwjQRW5/s587/mechelen%201.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU61lMHmCjqMnwf2HpSzQAO-K3lB_vT3M468JFc7TkJ0mZfwYyfWzcxyqA3jC6vt_3Ch20lTvQ6B0MTLTorFvsweuqewL4S7FvhT9icvez-tealvjg8BCgNCJWMqWmStuoaFQXTf6_9Ck4squgNPfAuzD3SR1B915LR8VO0f4R6IMdpTkClSwjQRW5/s16000/mechelen%201.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At the end of each
chapter, before moving on to the next floor, the museum challenges us with
current events. These are not past stories, they are always present.
“Immigration and refugees in Europe today” or “When the State starts to
discriminate” are current issues, concerning the people next to us or ourselves.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwikgf1KinIvx7fke-snL2qywEhrxZBVJ-qdhgYM3nuexJJNNqWbNx1C0F5wNV3kYClazMIjJprvbCUzH-Djja8VNgzkI_LC4UAUJCXWKnPrlBtQa4OiiaM0xmj8GtVnbAv44aN1UJCx99s1BE965ENAxUpSMplEOsTX5nUhSCP1KaPNo13hkX81GH/s500/mechelen%202.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwikgf1KinIvx7fke-snL2qywEhrxZBVJ-qdhgYM3nuexJJNNqWbNx1C0F5wNV3kYClazMIjJprvbCUzH-Djja8VNgzkI_LC4UAUJCXWKnPrlBtQa4OiiaM0xmj8GtVnbAv44aN1UJCx99s1BE965ENAxUpSMplEOsTX5nUhSCP1KaPNo13hkX81GH/s16000/mechelen%202.png" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The feeling of
impotence, the feeling of the impossibility of change is something that is
cultivated among citizens, something that becomes a culture. Joana Villaverde
recorded it in a way that left an impression on me in her article <a href="https://www.publico.pt/2020/08/21/culturaipsilon/noticia/vidas-interior-importam-1928572"><b>“As
vidas do interior importam”</b></a> (The lives of the interior matter), written in
2020 in Avis, Alentejo. I believe that this feeling gains strength because
people also feel alone, <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">when, in fact, they are not. The work of the </span><a href="https://commoncausefoundation.org/" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Common Cause Foundation</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> has been
instrumental in showing how most people, most of us, embrace intrinsic,
altruistic values, but are convinced that the same is not true for others. Their
2016 study </span><a href="https://commoncausefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CCF_survey_perceptions_matter_full_report.pdf" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>“Perceptions
Matter”</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, which focused on the British population, indicated that, while 74%
of respondents valued, for example, mutual helpfulness, equality and the
protection of nature, 77% believed that others are only interested in selfish
values such as wealth, public image and success. Will it be much different
around here?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We live closer and, at
the same time, further apart. We take care of our own and ignore others. We
distrust those we don't know, we don't love those we don't know. Perhaps, a
possible path forward is to look for ways to make it more evident, on a
smaller, closer, more humane scale, that we are not alone, that we share values,
that we care, that we have each other. That the love and hope don't end when
the project ends.</span></span></p><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-32606559507445735782023-04-15T23:23:00.001+01:002023-04-15T23:23:15.206+01:00Freedom for what? Culture for what?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhnPZqPrqDzNvDz8TyOOAp_nflfly1f3fxqxDEKmlYIUzCJWFBlkCEvbVY_1UTGfZ8QipLSACUpkHKdj9W5FfNp_Y0qzhuVtZGxkm62OqB0Kl2xW2MdDyyv60NjLAKdkYCsCwXP2eWUB0wlhE523wDqApff7UszWcGawW06fEtkY2zLhaSL8Xvbfg/s500/coimbra_500px.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhnPZqPrqDzNvDz8TyOOAp_nflfly1f3fxqxDEKmlYIUzCJWFBlkCEvbVY_1UTGfZ8QipLSACUpkHKdj9W5FfNp_Y0qzhuVtZGxkm62OqB0Kl2xW2MdDyyv60NjLAKdkYCsCwXP2eWUB0wlhE523wDqApff7UszWcGawW06fEtkY2zLhaSL8Xvbfg/s16000/coimbra_500px.png" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My talk at the General Library of the University of Coimbra, on April 13, 2023, as part of the cycle "Portugal - 50 years (1973-2023): What has changed? What remains to be done?". You can read it <b><a href="https://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2023/04/freedom-for-what-culture-for-what.html" target="_blank">here</a></b>.</span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-43335065181948334762023-01-01T17:25:00.004+00:002023-01-01T17:25:27.246+00:00The year of radical care<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIYoOd-8ePCyo_CrOLaaGyMEHAydU2R55fHVrw5-1-ZxIs6ZYiaRhWD7A_MpIt1DyuWQ0e5H5bzd3aTvTqKBFkgD9jkqL1Moot_2-oh5PzqAzByFL5Jgl0yGU-LJRp9Ez6XRlK-h_on2oLjyAYh_fAMjsgiErlilKuvyuA-KjZJ4jCrFv44GJJV6k/s500/partridge_2014_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIYoOd-8ePCyo_CrOLaaGyMEHAydU2R55fHVrw5-1-ZxIs6ZYiaRhWD7A_MpIt1DyuWQ0e5H5bzd3aTvTqKBFkgD9jkqL1Moot_2-oh5PzqAzByFL5Jgl0yGU-LJRp9Ez6XRlK-h_on2oLjyAYh_fAMjsgiErlilKuvyuA-KjZJ4jCrFv44GJJV6k/s16000/partridge_2014_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partridge in Cape Sounion, 2014 (Photo: Maria Vlachou)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A bit more
than ten years ago, I remember how deeply angry I felt at an article by Clara
Ferreira Alves in the newspaper Expresso, where she criticised young Greek
people for getting married when the country was going through a serious
economic crisis. She considered this attitude to be irresponsible, revealing
lack of notion. I was angry because, in my view, hope and celebration are ways of
resisting. The determination to celebrate in the face of adversity is an act of
love, love for life, love for self and others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I thought
about this on many more occasions and also last night, when fireworks went up
in the sky, outside my window and in many other places around the world. I was
never a big fan of fireworks, they always seemed an unnecessary extravagance to
me and also distressingly noisy for certain people and animals. More recently,
I found out about their polluting effects. But this year, I felt that their
“exploding” sound was also an expression of our lack of empathy, as Ukrainians,
while they were also celebrating the coming of the new year (an act of love,
hope and defiance), were once again under attack and had to run to shelters.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">One of the
hopes the pandemic raised in me was that we would firmly develop the capacity to
empathise, that it would be something that would stay with us. Acts of care and
concern, especially for people we didn’t know, had become more common. The word
“care” itself was (and is) more and more used, both in personal and
professional contexts. Still, one of my observations in the last months was how
totally focused we have once again become on ourselves, how we tend to see
everything as a competition, where more rights for another person mean less
rights for ourselves. This lack of empathy and care, associated to a rather
childish attempt not to assume responsibility for anything that is going wrong
or less well, is an attitude that is on the rise and has marked our relationships,
including in our professional field.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Another
observation I´ve made is the rising authoritarianism in the cultural field,
both among some of its professionals, as well as among politicians who have a
word in the management of the sector. I see the “powerful” naturally expecting
to be just flattered and praised, leaving no space for healthy criticism and
debate and, on some occasions, questioning its legitimacy and attempting to
discredit those who express their critical spirit. I see them making arbitrary
decisions, treating people with arrogance, hostility and disrespect, feeling
entitled to refuse to answer questions or justify their choices. On the one
hand, this is nothing new, it is as old as politics; on the other, it is a
worrying development, considering what we have been through and learnt as a
collective in the last few years. Thus, we need to be more aware not only of
the generalisation of these practices, but of the ways we actually support them
ourselves – for instance, by remaining silent or feeling scared and powerless,
as if this was something inevitable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">A third
observation, related to the two previous ones – and, in some cases, a result of
those -, is the state of the mental health of cultural professionals, <a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-mental-health-of-museum-workers-in-portugal.html" target="_blank"><b>about which I wrote for the first time last October</b></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. The rising competitive spirit, the crazy
rhythm with which we produce (simply produce), authoritarianism and abuse of
power, lack of empathy and solidarity, have resulted in deep depression, sick
leaves, some resignations and a generalised ill-being.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In her book “Caring
Democracy”, Joan Tronto questions: “How can people claim to live in a democracy
if their fears and insecurities begin to override their abilities to act for
the common good?”. Tronto claims that the current “care deficit” and the
current “democratic deficit” are related to one another. She wrote this in
2013, so one can only confirm that these two deficits have worsened in the last
decade. We did not pay enough attention to them and to their co-relation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As this new
year starts, and although things seem rather bleak, I feel the need to accept once
again the challenge of hoping, of dreaming. This year should be the year of
radical care. “What makes us free, actually”, writes Tronto, “is our capacity
to care and to make commitments to what we care about.” I care about freedom,
every person’s right to be whole, to be the best they can. I care about
intelligence, critical thinking and intellectual honesty, as well as about
their public expressions. I care about my colleagues, what they think, do and
feel. I care about the people I know and people I don’t know. I care and I wish
to preserve the freedom to do so.</span></span></p><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-73615417893929033852022-12-03T20:10:00.011+00:002022-12-14T07:24:14.863+00:00Is it really so hard to understand?<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhij6tlSFzLG-sFc4x0SlZLnFj6atvNhznOTbQoA3WusmKwVr1657o0g-I5zSwn8lO4qM9mtGSnKytz2n1ZJB4UXZZYoo7UadR7FOEwKFrE5Z1LcQlIDbRsqfOb15ToJz6GNey3UTVYX9LKmrm5QI9IbMEBN0s8N9uQykrWwZyJWf_wGpcFY_2szjLZ/s500/Just%20Stop%20Oil%20photo%20on%20NYT_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhij6tlSFzLG-sFc4x0SlZLnFj6atvNhznOTbQoA3WusmKwVr1657o0g-I5zSwn8lO4qM9mtGSnKytz2n1ZJB4UXZZYoo7UadR7FOEwKFrE5Z1LcQlIDbRsqfOb15ToJz6GNey3UTVYX9LKmrm5QI9IbMEBN0s8N9uQykrWwZyJWf_wGpcFY_2szjLZ/s16000/Just%20Stop%20Oil%20photo%20on%20NYT_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Just Stop Oil via The New York Times.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">“Museums tighten vigilance worried about environmentalist ‘terrorism’ actions against art”.<b><a href="https://www.tsf.pt/portugal/cultura/museus-apertam-vigilancia-preocupados-com-acoes-de-terrorismo-ambientalista-contra-arte-15320973.html" target="_blank"> I don’t know whether it was the word “terrorism” in the title</a></b> that I found more shocking or the actual answers given to the journalist by different Portuguese museum directors. Answers that revealed a complete disconnection from the issue of climate emergency and the role and impact museums have on it. I felt dumbstruck when a national museum director stated that he had “some difficulty understanding what museums and works of art have to do with this type of environmentalist protest” and that "It is related to the issue of oil and pollution, but the works of art are not to blame. These are actions to draw attention, but it is difficult to understand why works of art have to pay for this.” Another national museum director said that he finds these actions worrying because museums “hold, preserve and exhibit collections which are unique in the world” and "they [the activists] put at risk a heritage that belongs to everyone" and "must be protected for present and future generations" (wouldn’t these words serve perfectly to discuss our natural heritage and obligation to future generations?). </span></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">One might think that perhaps the journalist didn’t ask questions that went beyond the activists’ acts, that’s why museum directors did not also talk about the impact museums are having in the climate change and what their museums are, actually, doing about it. I do think, though, that if this was the case – that is, if they had both the knowledge and information to share – they would have done it, even without being asked directly; they would have taken a position. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Days after these interviews were published, causing no special reaction in the country and in the museum field, <b><a href="https://icom-deutschland.de/de/nachrichten/564-statement-attacks-on-artworks-in-museums.html" target="_blank">ICOM Germany published a statement</a></b>, signed by more than 90 museum directors at an international level, which basically says this: “The activists responsible for them severely underestimate the fragility of these irreplaceable objects, which must be preserved as part of our world cultural heritage. As museum directors are frustrated with the care of these works, we have been deeply shaken by their risky endangerment.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hyperallergic’s Jasmine Liu answered with an article very appropriately entitled <b><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/778967/museum-leaders-deeply-shaken-by-climate-protests/" target="_blank">“As the World Burns, Museum Leaders ‘Deeply Shaken’ by Climate Protests”</a></b>. She wrote: “The world is nearing a climate catastrophe, with heating gases hitting record highs and experts warning of ‘irreversible’ changes to our environment. Against this backdrop, leaders at prominent art institutions have released a statement indicating that they are “deeply shaken” - not by the alarming warming of the planet, necessarily, but by recent climate protests involving the “risky endangerment” of art.” She’s right. Are museum directors around the world that alienated? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">A couple of days later, an even more ironic Hakim Bishara was asking <b><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/779372/museum-directors-do-you-need-a-hug/" target="_blank">“Museum directors, do you need a hug?”</a></b>, identifying an essential cause for these embarrassing statements: a resounding failure of leadership. “The bigger problem here”, he wrote, “is that these museum directors have a severely narrow understanding of their positions. In their own words, the museum’s primary responsibility lies in ‘collecting, researching, sharing and preserving’ cultural heritage. No, we need you to do more than that. We need museum directors to become actual cultural leaders who know how to identify and address society’s most pressing problems, and actively engage in solving them. I’m calling on you to stop thinking like caretakers and start acting like changemakers. Start representing your community, not just your board of trustees.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><a href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2022/11/icom-says-it-shares-climate-activists-concerns-but-condemns-art-attacks/" target="_blank">In a statement published on 18 November</a></b>, ICOM – International Council of Museums seemed to have balanced things a little better. It wished “to acknowledge and share both the concerns expressed by museums regarding the safety of collections and the concerns of climate activists as we face an environmental catastrophe that threatens life on Earth.” It also said that “museums are key actors in driving climate action and should be seen as allies in the climate movement.” True, but it takes more than words. Museums cannot and will not be seen as “allies” for as long as they take no action whatsoever and seem to have not the slightest notion or true concern regarding the emergency we are already experiencing. Days later, Italy's Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, <b><a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/italy-climate-protests-admission-fees-museums-1234647374/#new_tab" target="_blank">told the media</a></b>: "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Considering the enormous heritage to be protected, the intervention will represent a considerable cost for the coffers of the ministry and of the entire nation. Unfortunately, I can only foresee an increase in the cost of the entrance ticket." How shameless can a politician be?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">NEMO - The Network of European Museum Organisations – in my view, one of the most relevant organisations in the field – recently shared in <b><a href="https://youtu.be/o9aibEVE42U?t=1" target="_blank">a webinar</a></b> the results of its <b><a href="https://www.ne-mo.org/fileadmin/Dateien/public/Publications/NEMO_Report_Museums_in_the_climate_crisis_11.2022.pdf" target="_blank">survey on museums in climate crisis</a></b> and its recommendations. Let’s have a look at this reality:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">8 in 10 museums stated that they reflect the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in their strategic plans (SDG13 being “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”). NEMO commented on this that the narrative has very often been that cultural heritage and cultural heritage institutions are something to be protected, but we don’t often consider how cultural institutions can contribute in creating solutions and supporting the sustainable transition;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">1 in 4 work museums with internal criteria or an external assessment network framework to measure sustainable efforts;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">1 in 10 museums are aware of local/regional or national climate policies that feature or address them;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Less than 1 in 10 museums have completed an analysis about challenges associated with climate change in their region;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">2 in 3 museums do not have sufficient knowledge about the SDGs and climate action in their organisation;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">1 in 10 museums are part of a cultural network that focuses on climate change.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: verdana;">When many middle-aged people are telling young activists that there are “better ways to protest” and are recommending more information and education (scientists have actually been ringing the bell on climate change since the early 90s, when today’s middle-aged people were in their 20s…), what do they have to say about a whole cultural field expressing ignorance and almost total lack of action? Shouldn’t we be feeling ashamed and deeply responsible, instead of calling the activists “terrorists”? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's not as if there is no knowledge and specific initiatives in the museum field, should we actually wish to fight our ignorance and contribute in tackling the issue of climate change. In NEMO’s webinar, Henry McGhie from </span><a name="_Hlk120987596"></a><a href="http://www.curatingtomorrow.co.uk/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Curating Tomorrow</b></span></span></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> (a consultancy service for museums and the heritage sector interested in creating a better future, with </span><a name="_Hlk120987627"></a><a href="http://www.curatingtomorrow.co.uk/resources/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>a number of free publications</b></span></span></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> on climate emergency and, most importantly, climate empowerment) briefly presented a blueprint for climate action in and with museums, which can give a basic orientation regarding what we should be discussing and acting upon. “In” and “with” is very important here, as it is not only about what museums can do for others, but what they should do within as well; two equally important aspects of the work that needs to be undertaken. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE52yYfzTowHC4SioEtVOLRTR2PeHAU-8KZU8-sk5lFSl5AEMSgvBB1jTHLLBWBCwBfyLv-oEDOOuJxkLWevUEldnKh_k5sNBBsyJAeSzvfDIzld727CrY41A_2ytGBlt7aHphH-OPD-e8jF867F0nvgeQSq1uThP0owLleBlb2IYnKlsw9bWATocZ/s543/nemo_500.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE52yYfzTowHC4SioEtVOLRTR2PeHAU-8KZU8-sk5lFSl5AEMSgvBB1jTHLLBWBCwBfyLv-oEDOOuJxkLWevUEldnKh_k5sNBBsyJAeSzvfDIzld727CrY41A_2ytGBlt7aHphH-OPD-e8jF867F0nvgeQSq1uThP0owLleBlb2IYnKlsw9bWATocZ/s16000/nemo_500.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is more, much more:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The artist-led collective Artists Commit, <b><a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/04/22/launch-of-artists-commit-intensifies-the-push-to-act-on-climate-change" target="_blank">founded in 2021</a></b>, has begun releasing <b><a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/01/14/artists-commit-climate-impact-reports-exhibitions" target="_blank">climate impact reports </a></b>(CIRs) that gather data on the energy consumed and waste generated by specific projects and exhibitions, in order to accelerate climate action. The reports focus on four areas - cutting emissions, eliminating waste, supporting people and promoting collective action - and the group has used the Gallery Climate Coalition’s <b><a href="https://galleryclimatecoalition.org/carbon-calculator/" target="_blank">carbon calcultor</a></b>. The Coalition has also made available a <b><a href="https://galleryclimatecoalition.org/usr/library/documents/main/gcc_decarbonisation-action-plan_2021_final.pdf" target="_blank">Decarbonisation Action Plan</a></b>, a ten-step strategy for art institutions to lower carbon emissions.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is the <b><a href="https://www.museumsforclimateaction.org/mobilise/toolbox" target="_blank">Museums for Climate Action Toolbox</a></b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is the CIMAM – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art toolkit on <b><a href="https://cimam.org/sustainability-and-ecology-museum-practice/cimams-toolkit-on-environmental-sustainability/" target="_blank">Environmental Sustainability in Museum Practice</a></b></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM16PBvDwcJn8s6dA8MpuYI5VTac3xc5hG5cXJcMloWQT__xL3Efep9-fYvmWXm_IytE7FbSb11er55fLVX5iIzaTQUyGQsHEw6TujNxuf6aEF89UtBvWsAVziMuS9kJDu1gnTf3AL9f28iOyuPV5UylCXHlRTJCtXFvmOh1JFrJQPTvRs7V5UXGz6/s500/bordallo%20ii_500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM16PBvDwcJn8s6dA8MpuYI5VTac3xc5hG5cXJcMloWQT__xL3Efep9-fYvmWXm_IytE7FbSb11er55fLVX5iIzaTQUyGQsHEw6TujNxuf6aEF89UtBvWsAVziMuS9kJDu1gnTf3AL9f28iOyuPV5UylCXHlRTJCtXFvmOh1JFrJQPTvRs7V5UXGz6/s16000/bordallo%20ii_500.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div>At this moment, there seem to be big queues in Lisbon for artist Bordallo II’s exhibition <b><a href="https://www.bordaloii.com/news/evilution-solo-show" target="_blank">“Evilution”</a></b>, questioning the “evils” of our “evolution” and their effects, especially in terms of waste production. The venue is not central and there is not good public transport, but people are looking for information, they are looking for ways to get involved and to act. they don't wish to feel powerless. How do museums answer their concerns and needs? We are not in a position to express difficulty in understanding what all this has got to do with museums or works of art or each one of us personally (as an individual and as a museum and cultural professional). It is becoming dramatic that this sector confirms, again and again, its alienation from society, its irrelevance. We need to do better. And we are late. </div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Note: The post was updated on 8 December in order to include the Italian Minister of Culture's statement to the press.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">More on this blog: </span></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2022/08/what-can-we-expect-from-museum-director.html " target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What can we expect from a museum director?</span></a></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Further readings: </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New London Architecture,<b> <a href="https://nla.london/news/the-art-of-zero-waste-can-temporary-exhibitions-be-sustainable" target="_blank">The art of zero waste: can temporary exhibitions be sustainable?</a></b> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Touring Exhibitions Organisation, <b><a href="https://www.teo-exhibitions.com/sustainable-travelling-exhibitions/" target="_blank">Sustainable Travelling Exhibitions: Can travelling exhibitions be part of a sustainable museum policy?</a></b> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://theatregreenbook.com/" target="_blank">The Theatre Green Book</a></b> </span></span></div>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-75557440621960868432022-10-02T18:09:00.007+01:002022-10-03T09:25:38.065+01:00The mental health of museum workers in Portugal: who cares?<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7ZZtNkBhWlv9Elu9AdxWHWl8CBHNBNwT_BjNaH0z9ZT8OWOQdZ0XP-pE1fjPnBWGX3ndSTIDbf5VVD6nvsJuOLRT7-6UOQqfV26HgYet-xesSYcIiom2owTZkEHduVKHE9_RsaIKdKRcsYhVpFI_1gpzc31pIZiZgKIWXMCLNFpsrtkz3QgLApLX/s500/union_s.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7ZZtNkBhWlv9Elu9AdxWHWl8CBHNBNwT_BjNaH0z9ZT8OWOQdZ0XP-pE1fjPnBWGX3ndSTIDbf5VVD6nvsJuOLRT7-6UOQqfV26HgYet-xesSYcIiom2owTZkEHduVKHE9_RsaIKdKRcsYhVpFI_1gpzc31pIZiZgKIWXMCLNFpsrtkz3QgLApLX/s16000/union_s.png" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt;">Aug 29, 2022; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Museum of Art employees and supporters rally outside the museum before handing over a letter to management requesting voluntary recognition of the CMA Workers United union. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns - The Columbus Dispatch</span></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">“For the past several
months the YBCA leadership team has been grappling with the unprecedented
impacts and volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">(…) Today, because of
these impacts, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the elimination of 27
staff positions at YBCA. This represents more than a third of our staff,
primarily those in positions that are directly tied to live events and
activities which are not operational for the foreseeable future. As an
organization that cares deeply about its employees, we held off on making these
changes as long as our finances would allow. We also carefully considered
equity in all of our decision making.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These valued team
members who have made important contributions to YBCA will receive severance
pay along with three months of healthcare. They will also have priority as
candidates for future openings at YBCA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For our remaining, most highly compensated team members, we will be
implementing tiered salary reductions between 5 to 12 percent, with the highest
reductions at the top level of the organization.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I announce these
changes with the painful acknowledgement that we are losing members of our YBCA
family that have given so much of themselves to create an enduring and
indelible legacy at YBCA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
eternally grateful for the vision, creativity, commitment, and passion they
have contributed to making YBCA what it is today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know you join me in expressing gratitude
for our departing team members.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">This is how, on 21 July
2020, Deborah Cullinan (then CEO of the YBCA) </span><a href="https://ybca.org/an-important-announcement-from-ybca/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>announced the dismissal of 27 team members due to the
impacts of the pandemic</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">About a year ago, I was
at the Douro Museum, participating in </span><a href="https://immer.fba.up.pt/2021/#programa"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>IMMER #3 - International Meeting on Museum Education
and Research</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. In my session, I
presented this excerpt from the YBCA announcement. I was about halfway through
the reading when one of the people present began to cry. I understood and felt
a tightening in my stomach… She was one of the people who had been “dismissed”
from the museum where she worked and which became the case that was mostly
discussed in the media for the way they treated their workers in that first
year of the pandemic. I continued reading, having placed my hand on that
person's shoulder. The rest of the room was absolutely silent. There were more
people among us who had worked in that museum. The distance that separates it
from the YBCA had become even more evident.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I recalled that
occasion and the way it affected us when, with an interval of a few days, I
became aware of the situation experienced by two colleagues who work in museums
and who are at different moments in their careers: one about 10 years away from
retirement and the other with about three years of service. What they shared
with me, and which profoundly affects their lives - from a professional point
of view, but inevitably, personally as well - has been reported to me by
several other colleagues and much discussed in trainings. This is not just about
one or other case that get in the attention of the media; it is about installed
and generalised practices, more or less known and little contested. It is not
about one or other person; it is about different people working in this sector,
with or without a permanent contract, more or less young. Will we continue keeping
our eyes shut? Or feeling powerless?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I believe none of this
will sound unfamiliar: rigid hierarchies; superiors with little knowledge or
sensitivity on the subject of museums; accumulation of powers and
decision-making capacity in one person, who cannot handle the enormous task;
little or no delegation of tasks; endless time waiting for answers, whatever
the subject; lack of human and technical resources, but great demand for the
organisation of numerous “activities” (the only thing that counts for the end-of-the-year
report); partisan logics in the management of museums with very perverse consequences
in the territories; changes in municipalities that put everything on stand by
or tear down what was already being done to do it all over again; eternal
reorganisations of services.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">All this is associated
with abuse of power, moral harassment, lack of respect for the people who are
part of the teams – for their knowledge and skills, but also for their right to
a personal life. One of the colleagues I mentioned before told me specifically
about the effort to stop worrying, stop caring and try to resist the urge to
propose things, because… it's not worth it, it's just trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Does any of these
things come as a surprise? Something we´re hearing for the first time? I’d say
no… But, suddenly, I became much more aware of how these testimonies are
multiplying and seem to define, in recent times, the museum sector in Portugal.
It is not that these situations do not occur in other sectors in the area of
Culture. But, having the privilege of collaborating with different organisations
and professionals in this area, I consider that the museum sector has become
particularly problematic. Which leads me to question the state of mental health
of its professionals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Discouragement,
disbelief, demotivation, pessimism are some of the states of mind expressed by
people. But there is also depression, consultations with mental health
specialists, medication, sick leaves. There are more serious cases of moral
harassment that lead to the thought of suicide, are we aware of this? I'm not
making it up, everything I share here has been shared by colleagues. We are
talking about the environment in which we work, we are talking about the person
next to us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">None of this is unique
to the world of Portuguese museums. In other countries, however, and especially
in the USA, these situations have become more obvious, they started being
discussed in public. Instagram accounts such as </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/changethemuseum/?hl=en"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Change the Museum</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> or </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/abetterguggenheim/?hl=en"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>A Better Guggenheim</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> reveal what is going on inside some of these organisations,
which publicly present themselves as defenders of values and ethical
principles. The pandemic has also led many museum workers to found new unions
or reactivate existing ones (see articles at the end of this text). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We’re not experiencing
something similar in Portugal. Perhaps because, first, we must become aware of
the severity of the situation, admit that we are not dealing just with isolated
cases. Sometimes I think about the results of a satisfaction survey not for
visitors, but for workers… How many demotivated people? How many people who
feel conditioned and put aside, when they can and want to contribute? How many
people who feel abused, morally harassed, because they care? How many people
taking medication to be able to face the workplace? How many people on
psychological sick leaves? And also… how many people who left the “comfort of a
secure job”, in such an insecure moment, and presented their resignation? People
with many or few years of service at a specific museum, being left with nothing.
In my most immediate environment, three. Let's give it a thought...<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Right now, I'm reading
Joan Tronto's book “Caring Democracy”. The underlying thought is that we have a
democratic deficit because we have a care deficit. At the end of the chapter I
finished yesterday, Tronto states: “’Choice’ is not the same thing as freedom
from dependency. (…) even if we could be free from all forms of dependence,
that would not be a free life, it would be a life devoid of meaning. Dependence
marks the human condition from birth until death. What makes us free, actually,
is our capacity to care and to make commitments to what we care about.” I
smiled… Because I thought that the reason why I left the “secure job”, exactly
10 years ago, is that I refused to stop caring. Like several other people I
call colleagues – and some whom I call friends – who fight, in different ways,
for this freedom. But at what cost? And why, what for?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Further reading<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Hakim Bishara, </span><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/765068/momas-cruel-offer-to-unionized-workers-during-the-pandemic/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>MoMA’s cruel offer to unionized workers during the
pandemic</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. In <i>Hyperallergic</i>,
30.09.2022<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">John Hurdle, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/arts/design/strike-philadelphia-museum-of-art.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Strike at Philadelphia Museum of Art is Window to Broader
Unrest</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. In <i>The New York
Times</i>, 29.09.2022<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Maria Vlachou, </span><a href="https://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2022/08/what-can-we-expect-from-museum-director.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>What can we expect from a museum director?</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Maria Vlachou, </span><a href="https://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2022/07/fitted-for-freedom.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Fitted for freedom</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Zachary Small, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/arts/design/museums-unions-labor.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>U.S. Museums See Rise in Unions Even as Labor Movement
Slumps</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. In <i>The New York
Times</i>, 21.02.2022</span></span></p><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-50113907459011488622022-07-18T19:16:00.001+01:002022-07-18T19:16:18.867+01:00Solidarity in action<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxGJnKbgAUfabpuXk1O-dYmeVLLdV1Fm4bEFIpIDhWNEDtAt0jlGPnfSmsq5CmktKpng-IyMgS2l9oCPMkycwzRzAE-BjmdqyzWm9syu3mFC32HPND0z6N0F-2AbIGTQB_N5-SjOA0mF8gmNmjxpMwYC6uSLpOrLGTsZjh9mBbQ4m2QD4esyjqxa3/s500/SiA_key%20challenge_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxGJnKbgAUfabpuXk1O-dYmeVLLdV1Fm4bEFIpIDhWNEDtAt0jlGPnfSmsq5CmktKpng-IyMgS2l9oCPMkycwzRzAE-BjmdqyzWm9syu3mFC32HPND0z6N0F-2AbIGTQB_N5-SjOA0mF8gmNmjxpMwYC6uSLpOrLGTsZjh9mBbQ4m2QD4esyjqxa3/s16000/SiA_key%20challenge_500.png" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the last 18 months,
I have had the privilege of being part of an international network of museum
professionals called “Solidarity in Action”. In the last year, I am also a
member of the network’s advisory board. Together with the lessons taught by the
pandemic, this amazing group of people (led by a tireless and motivating
Bernadette Lynch) has given me the opportunity to go so much deeper into
thinking and practicing solidarity. It has also allowed me to fully understand
the word in my mother language, the language one “feels” the most.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">In Greek, the word for solidarity
is “</span><span lang="EL" style="line-height: 107%;">αλληλεγγύη</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">”, which I had previously understood as “being close
to the other”. Delving deeper into it, after one of the first forums of the
network, I looked for the first time at the etymology: the pledge, the security
one gives to another person; being another person’s guarantee. This new understanding
of the word took me away from notions of philanthropy, charity, paternalism.
The rich discussions in the group helped me see it as a contract to stand by,
support and care for each other. And this contract, the way I perceive it,
expects us to be able to perform such radical acts as listening and
empathising.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Last month, we
commemorated the network’s first 18 months with an online conference. Divided
into four groups, we discussed the following issues:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Group 1 -
Decolonisation and solidarity<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Group 2 - Local
community organising and self-help outside of the museum<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Group 3 - Museum
workers unlearning so at to become 'solidarians'<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Group 4 - Pedagogy of
solidarity<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was part of group 3, <b>Museum
workers unlearning so at to become 'solidarians'</b>. Our task was to come up
with one main challenge and one key action. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the discussion that
followed, participants shared concerns such as feeling powerless, lacking
diverse teams, museums being an unsafe space to challenge the <i>status quo</i>,
facing structural racism and uneven distribution of power, becoming the
“unpopular voice”. We talked about possible ways of bringing about the change
we desire: acknowledging whatever power one has, listening, creating space for
diverse voices, engaging everyone, developing empathy skills. Sometimes, it’s
the small, more flexible organisations that show the way. And then someone said:
“Learning to be vulnerable, exposed”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This got me thinking
about how little prepared or willing we are to come to terms with the feeling
of vulnerability. A vulnerability that emerges when we have to deal with things
we don’t know about, that are new to us, that contradict what we thought we
knew about the world around us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thus, the group managed
to define its one main challenge: <b>unlearning the comfort of knowledge</b>,
letting go of the over-confidence our knowledge gives us, becoming humbler and
understanding that knowledge should not be a base for competition. “Sharing our
vulnerability allows us to build more empathy”, a participant said. Thus, the
group also came up with its one key action: <b>learning to be vulnerable at a
collective level</b>, being able to admit that we don’t know everything,
becoming more, human, supportive, empathetic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">I thought about our
group discussion and what it could mean in practice when I read José Pacheco
Pereira’s article in the newspaper Público. Wishing to give us his opinion
about inclusive language, defining the public discussion around it as a
“controversy”, he entitled his article </span><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2022/07/09/politica/opiniao/todes-nao-2013038"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Porque é que ‘todes’ não é todos, nem todas?”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> [questioning the inclusive adjective for “all”, thus,
there is no direct translation into English]. The title is a question, but not
really, as he has got all the answers. He writes about an “outbreak of
identities”, “supposed identities” which are “acritically accepted, “an
obsessive illness of identity”, he’s being ironic and sarcastic. But, above
all, he makes his ignorance about these matters obvious to us; and, together
with his ignorance, his big discomfort in having to deal with it. I tis OK to
be ignorant, we all are, about so many issues. But what if he listened, what if
he admitted “I don’t know”, what if he tried to find out what he doesn’t know, before
assuming he’s an authority on those matters and sharing his opinion in a big
newspaper? “Oppression is the business of not respecting one’s personhood”,
said Pauli Murray.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YOqNEO3cVsQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="YOqNEO3cVsQ"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Luísa Semedo, another
columnist in the same newspaper, wrote back (</span><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2022/07/14/opiniao/opiniao/chave-armario-orgulho-invisibilidade-2013578"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“A chave do armário e o orgulho da invisibilidade”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> – The key to the closet and the pride of
invisibility). She quoted Ludwig Wittgenstein who in 1921, in his <i>Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus</i>, wrote that “The limits of my language mean the limits
of my world”. Semedo questions: “Now, if there is no word to describe who I am,
who am I? Do I exist? What existence am I allowed for myself, in society, in
democracy?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pacheco Pereira, like
so many other people who feel threatened by the diversity of the world, prefers
to believe that this is just a fashionable issue. It is because he ignores how
far back all these issues go. They didn’t come up when most of us first heard
about them. In her article, Luísa Semedo tells us about Pauli Murry (American, 1910-1985:
civil rights activist, gender equality advocate, lawyer, author); has Pacheco
Pereira heard of her? Or even Virgínia Quaresma (Portuguese, 1882 – 1973: first
Portuguese reporter, feminist, lesbian), among so many other people? The truth
is, we don’t become poorer, as Pacheco Pereira says, when we stop using
offensive terms to refer to others; we become poorer when we don’t question
what we know, when we desperately seek the comfort of our knowledge and prefer
to ignore that the world is full of “other” stories and nuances. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Going back to our “Solidarity
in Action” discussion, why do museum professionals feel that museums are an
unsafe space to challenge the <i>status quo</i>? Because most of them are so
full of answers, so comfortable with the superiority brought by their knowledge,
that they forget to ask questions, they are not able or willing to listen, they
silence the voices that bring nuance into the discussion. Many museums
contribute towards a poorer version of ourselves and that’s a fact that should
bring much more discomfort to us than inclusive language or world diversity.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA21esgNNbTF7Fad1nQWISru6UanM9q88Skn5HFjUxm8x3hFDelX2jqTUPDsnLr0cAuPqYJFeWHpuoXOaxEaaHy-AY-sFBcMVzoJSlY-VfXHIf4IhUkslqK_YQ__qRF_yMmQ37nKjJ7Dsc0u3uy_2p3xLIDQigehkGmEJdmVlzBwEe4aWwdTRuhPJ3/s500/virginia_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA21esgNNbTF7Fad1nQWISru6UanM9q88Skn5HFjUxm8x3hFDelX2jqTUPDsnLr0cAuPqYJFeWHpuoXOaxEaaHy-AY-sFBcMVzoJSlY-VfXHIf4IhUkslqK_YQ__qRF_yMmQ37nKjJ7Dsc0u3uy_2p3xLIDQigehkGmEJdmVlzBwEe4aWwdTRuhPJ3/s16000/virginia_500.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken at the exhibition "For a history of the black movement in Portugal", Library Palácio Galveias, Lisbon.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-15404845006990883032022-06-19T23:37:00.005+01:002022-06-20T16:31:06.690+01:00Who's afraid of decolonisation?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDR9-ltMwY8fd5DytBNZi6wPe9TWPVR34j5CEhVVLOs65OumqfzYXytt96Gvjqg82hZdfNIPaf84bSCPVxt_MDi0MpkZ0nN0KD83YdbXZq01UCFDg9jqxJEaaxan2x-Q9zrUcKcUhK1GHDLqp6UGUMAnEoAYyohuwG_aTJgHM_Svu1GuZ3psegcj8/s500/20220609_111715_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDR9-ltMwY8fd5DytBNZi6wPe9TWPVR34j5CEhVVLOs65OumqfzYXytt96Gvjqg82hZdfNIPaf84bSCPVxt_MDi0MpkZ0nN0KD83YdbXZq01UCFDg9jqxJEaaxan2x-Q9zrUcKcUhK1GHDLqp6UGUMAnEoAYyohuwG_aTJgHM_Svu1GuZ3psegcj8/s16000/20220609_111715_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Humboldt Forum, Berlin (Photo: Maria Vlachou)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">"Who's afraid of decolonisation?" is the title of </span><a href="https://www.ne-mo.org/news/article/nemo/call-for-applications-nemo-training-about-decolonisation-in-museums.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>a training course</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> which will be organised in September by NEMO –
Network of European Museum Organisations, and hosted by the UK Museums
Association, SS Great Britain and Bristol Museums. For those who don’t
remember, Bristol is the city where in June 2020 the statue of transatlantic
slave trader Edward Colston was toppled and later put into display (but lying
down) in the M Shed Museum, the city museum. In January 2022,</span><a href="https://theconversation.com/we-attended-the-trial-of-the-colston-four-heres-why-their-acquittal-should-be-celebrated-174481"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> <b>a jury found four of the people who had helped topple
the statue – the so-called “Colston Four” – not guilty of criminal damage</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The title chosen for
the NEMO workshop sounds like a question we should be asking ourselves in
Portugal, considering how little the public debate has evolved in the last five
years (and museum practice even less). </span><a href="https://leitor.expresso.pt/semanario/semanario2588/html/primeiro-caderno/a-abrir/duelo/portugal-deve-devolver-pecas-de-arte-as-ex-colonias-"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>A
recent “duel” published in the newspaper Expresso</b></span></a><span style="line-height: 107%;">,
between researcher and curator António Pinto Ribeiro and the Palácio Nacional
da Ajuda director José Alberto Ribeiro, brought nothing new. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The palace director repeated the arguments of other
colleagues before him (see, for example, </span><a href="https://www.dn.pt/cultura/devolver-espolio-dos-museus-aos-paises-de-origem-so-vendo-caso-a-caso-diz-especialista-11760072.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>here</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> and </span><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2018/12/07/culturaipsilon/opiniao/legitimo-intoleravel-restituicao-origem-coleccoes-museus-1852818"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>here</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">),
warning us against hasty decisions pushed forward by political correctness, asking
for the revision of museum inventories, stressing the need for ex-colonial
territories and today independent countries to invest in research and
conservation and train their professionals (admitting, at the same time, that
some objects are “better off” in Portugal…). We should also mention the
warnings regarding illicit trade and the insistent argument which aims at
comparing the looting or unethical acquisition of artefacts from ex-colonial
territories to the removal, for instance, of the Parthenon Marbles or of
Portuguese treasures during the French invasions. Sometimes, the way these
arguments are expressed, reveals the persistent arrogance of European curators,
who basically say that, if they were to engage in a discussion regarding
restitution, they would themselves set the rules as to when, where and how,
assuming that they know better and revealing total disrespect for the meaning
certain objects might have for other cultures, the ones that produced them.
Even though, one may ask: considering these arguments and warnings - which do
form, after all, a position - what steps have their authors specifically taken
in that direction in the last 4-5 years? Are we expected to engage in this kind
of repetitive “duels” for ever? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">The case of the director of the National Museum
of Ethnology is rather particular. Paulo Costa has been argumenting that the
museum he’s responsible for </span><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2018/12/07/culturaipsilon/noticia/caso-museu-nacional-etnologia-1853017"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>is a case apart</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">.
The main argument is that it was created quite late (in 1965 – the colonial
wars started in 1961) and had a scientific perspective (hadn’t they all?). </span><a href="https://www.dn.pt/cultura/devolver-espolio-dos-museus-aos-paises-de-origem-so-vendo-caso-a-caso-diz-especialista-11760072.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>In another interview</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">,
Paulo Costa said that “most museums are not made with looted pieces, this is a
misconception that some people have. There is a lot of noise about this subject”
(the interview was given in January 2020; Dan Hicks’ book “The Brutish
Museums”, documenting the instrumental role European museums had in the looting
of objects and construction of racist narratives, was not out yet). What is
most disappointing, though, was that in a conference organised in November 2021
by ICOM Portugal, entitled “Museum with non-European collections”
(“non-European”, indeed…), the director of the National Museum of Ethnology
stated (watch </span><a href="https://youtu.be/TrCYt-2OwoQ?t=20745"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>video recording</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">,
5:45:55) that the so-called “Macron report” (on the restitution of African
cultural heritage) was the initiative of two researchers, not of the French
state, which did not recognise it. As everyone knows that the report was </span><a href="https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2018/11/23/remise-du-rapport-savoy-sarr-sur-la-restitution-du-patrimoine-africain"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>commissioned by the French Presidency
of the Republic</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;"> and that it was based on this report
that the </span><a href="https://www.quaibranly.fr/fr/collections/vie-des-collections/actualites/restitution-de-26-oeuvres-a-la-republique-du-benin/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>Quai Branly Museum returned the first
objects to Benin</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">, it feels deeply disturbing that
this statement went unchallenged in a professional meeting. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">In the meantime, Dan
Hicks’ book “The Brutish Museums” came out in 2020 and mentions that there may
be objects looted from Benin in the collections of Lisbon Geographic Society
and the National Museum Grão Vasco. This reference has created no debate or
questioning whatsoever in the Portuguese museum and heritage field. In the same
year, <span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Kwame
Opoku (former legal advisor to the United Nations office in Vienna), writing
about the Portuguese case in an article entitled </span></span><a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/986892/will-portugal-be-the-last-former-colonialist-state.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>Will Portugal Be The Last Former
Colonialist State To Restitute Looted African Artefacts?</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">,
apart from criticising the arguments of some Portuguese professionals,
questions the origins of objects presented in 1985 in an exhibition at the
National Museum of Ethnology, called “African Sculpture in Portugal”, coming
from a number of public and private Portuguese collections. Again, there was no
reaction whatsoever to his questioning.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">The quality of the public debate in Portugal has
been rather poor and reveals a lack of interest and courage in assuming
responsibilities, an intention to resist any serious thinking regarding the
role of museums in relation to the country’s colonial past and racist present.
At the same time, mentalities do evolve in other parts of the world. I believe
that what really changes the rules of the game at this point is </span><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/729818/smithsonian-adopts-landmark-policy-on-ethical-restitution/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><b>the new restitution policy of the
Smithsonian</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;"> which “gives its constituent museums
the authority to return items in their collections that were looted or
otherwise acquired under unethical circumstances. (…) Museums will now be able to
initiate returns and enter shared stewardship agreements based on ethical
considerations, even when there is nothing that legally impels them to do so.”
Decolonisation is not only about restitution, it is first of all a state of
mind, gaining awareness of one’s ethical responsibilities, which many times go
beyond legal obligations.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Some European museums
have led the way in this process. In Holland, the work of </span><a href="https://www.tropenmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/afterlives-slavery"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Tropenmuseum</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> and the </span><a href="https://www.materialculture.nl/en"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Research
Center for Material Culture</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> has
been fundamental, as well as Rijksmuseum’s groundbreaking </span><a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/past/slavery"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Slavery exhibition</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b> </b>and the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency’s publication </span><a href="https://english.cultureelerfgoed.nl/publications/publications/2020/01/01/traces-of-slavery-and-colonial-history-in-the-art-collection-edition-2"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Traces of Slavery and Colonial History in the Art
Collection</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. In the UK, </span><a href="https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/research-projects-0"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Pitt Rivers Museum</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> is the first to come to mind and projects such as African
Restitution Research, Labelling Matters, Maasai Living Cultures, etc. Recently,
I also found out about the </span><a href="https://themuseumslab.org/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>MuseumsLab</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> project, a platform that brings together a number of
museums (including only one Portuguese Museum, the Museum of
Lisbon) for joint learning, exchange and continuing education on the future of
museums in both Africa and Europe. I found out about it through the Berlin
Museum of Natural History and their work on </span><a href="https://www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en/about/the-museum/colonial-contexts"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Colonial Contexts</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgYQWYirmSRAuNKwvP_Uxc0fIWV_BAdifj6tTVkBhJGPouZ1iqrsGmwxeu4e9c7eAhJ0x45vAPm-RQjo-JTaunjU5pp-uy33x3vKTsgWQ1Pzjqg6f-1OBqaiyFtsttvu7pWO_thldoyf5GFPKISHAh2B6P3qmMZ3LjbE4jzXI7B9BxstOsPRhhBin/s500/20220609_105306_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgYQWYirmSRAuNKwvP_Uxc0fIWV_BAdifj6tTVkBhJGPouZ1iqrsGmwxeu4e9c7eAhJ0x45vAPm-RQjo-JTaunjU5pp-uy33x3vKTsgWQ1Pzjqg6f-1OBqaiyFtsttvu7pWO_thldoyf5GFPKISHAh2B6P3qmMZ3LjbE4jzXI7B9BxstOsPRhhBin/s16000/20220609_105306_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Humboldt Forum, Berlin (Photo: Maria Vlachou)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">What marked my recent
visit to Berlin was the repeated use of the word “perspective” in museums and
the fact that museums themselves ask questions. I was anxious to see the work
undertaken by Humboldt Forum, which had the courage to invite </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMRv5xhMCo4"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as a keynote speaker</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> at the opening. Entering the very first room of the Ethnological
collection, the museum asks the visitor: When were these objects brought to
Berlin and where were they put? What are the urgent issues? Further down,
commenting on an inventory card regarding an object from Namibia, the museum
asks: What information is not correct on this information sheet? What is
missing from these information sheet? At the same time, it reminds us that
perspectives change and that that part of the exhibition is designed to change
and grow. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1J1kvPelki5KPvzwu9Z8WM6wvPePI7Os0pWQOE0xTH132kSJUAGC0QF6VbYUpi34zYZI2rbps8G3OM8Suy5pmM3M0h6oxtqA5vuliWLacU5AbKZochBNUv_5jiCJCzEP5P37pXJ2RQNyPIaiyzWTz11toEnQ-cWumc_bO0AofdcH93PNKV7hMtTrJ/s500/20220611_132904_s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1J1kvPelki5KPvzwu9Z8WM6wvPePI7Os0pWQOE0xTH132kSJUAGC0QF6VbYUpi34zYZI2rbps8G3OM8Suy5pmM3M0h6oxtqA5vuliWLacU5AbKZochBNUv_5jiCJCzEP5P37pXJ2RQNyPIaiyzWTz11toEnQ-cWumc_bO0AofdcH93PNKV7hMtTrJ/s16000/20220611_132904_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Emil Nolde, "Papuan Youth" (1914), Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Photo: Maria Vlachou)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When the visitor exits
the permanent collection of the Neue Nationalgalerie, there is a space for
visitors called “Perspectives: dialogue and activity area”. Visitors are
reminded that artists also give their perspectives through their work and are
invited to put their heads together and find their own approaches. The museum
also participates in a generalised, more conscious discussion of the German
museum world regarding the country’s colonial past and asks, for example: How
are the Brücke artists connected to Germany’s colonial history? These are not
(were not) separate worlds and no museum is a “case apart”, if it wishes to be
honest with itself and with society at large.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/ITbWfyxq6zwkEf?hostedIn=slideshare&page=upload" width="476"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">Texts from Humboldt Forum and Neue Nationalgalerie</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Also on this blog:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a name="_Hlk106568236"></a><a href="http://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2021/07/and-are-you-going-to-protect-me.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">And
are you going to protect me?</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"></span><a href="http://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2020/10/museums-making-sense-dealing-with.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Museums
making sense: dealing with the discomfort of a multicoloured world</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"></span><a href="http://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-urgency-of-difficult-conversations.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The
urgency of difficult conversations</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"></span><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2020/06/my-responsibilty-for-this-vandalism.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">My
responsibility for this vandalism</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"></span><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2018/06/discussing-decolonisation-of-museums-in.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Discussing
the decolonisation of museums in Portugal</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"></span><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-museum-of-my-discoveries.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">The
museum of (my) discoveries</span></span></a></b><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568236;"></span>
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk106568478"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Suggestions:</span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568478;"></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFD7mwBKVOdX_8BB664ojE1RYFZU139WW"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568478;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Decolonising
museums: this in practice…?</b></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk106568478;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> Recording of the seminar organised in 2019 by Acesso
Cultura | Access Culture. Parts I and II (with Wayne Modest) in English; part
III in Portuguese only.</span></span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-85248259378280636382022-05-18T22:57:00.003+01:002022-05-18T23:03:29.965+01:00Shall we run together? 40th anniversary of Teatro Art'Imagem<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6Cf8GRvXcICv3kUyZ3Cy0celSICjSctJqa24FmHFOy2MZEZYXmK7iEC9NRUDCCOx2thQbPTDVj_sZW_kHxd6NcGxRRRXcwgHGbJHKaDbmM52DAIBaXFfNymasn-MnwEa5MobT2uGW2eUNJ2fGIDsJgigPD9HRODKHGx5J_wG_NFm1Y83inZG7iBV/s500/artimagem%201_nuno%20ribeiro_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6Cf8GRvXcICv3kUyZ3Cy0celSICjSctJqa24FmHFOy2MZEZYXmK7iEC9NRUDCCOx2thQbPTDVj_sZW_kHxd6NcGxRRRXcwgHGbJHKaDbmM52DAIBaXFfNymasn-MnwEa5MobT2uGW2eUNJ2fGIDsJgigPD9HRODKHGx5J_wG_NFm1Y83inZG7iBV/s16000/artimagem%201_nuno%20ribeiro_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Nuno Ribeiro</span> </td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">From 10 to 12 May, I
participated in the meeting</span><a href="https://www.teatroartimagem.org/jornadas-40-anos-de-teatro" style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> <b>40 Years of Theatre: How theatre has developed in the
last 40 years in Portugal</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">,
celebrating the anniversary of Teatro Art’Imagem. On the first day, we attended
the play “Ai o Medo Que (Nós) Temos de Existir”, the company’s 117th creation.
In the following days, we had the opportunity to reflect on four themes:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Panel 1: Theatre and Intervention<br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">with
Sara Barros Leitão, José Leitão, Rita Alves Miranda and José Soeiro</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Panel 2: Theatre: Praxis and the Academia<br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">with Fernando Matos Oliveira
(University of Coimbra), António Capelo (ACE), Manuela Bronze (ESMAE),
Francesca Rayner (University of Minho) and Eugénia Vasques</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Panel 3: Theatrical Decentralisation<br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">with Helena Santos, Jorge
Baião (Dramatic Center of Évora), Rui Madeira (Braga Theater Company), Magda
Henriques (Comédias do Minho) and Américo Rodrigues (DGArtes)</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Panel 4: Minorities and Theatre<br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">with
Flávio Hamilton, Zia Soares, Marta Lança, Francesca Negro, Vanesa Sotelo and
Maria João Vaz</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was up to me to make
the closing comments, sharing my reflections on what was discussed over the two
days. Here they are:<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am not an expert in
History of Theatre, so I felt that I learned so much in these two days. “Newspaper
theatre”, “Forum theatre” are new to me and I want to know more about them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I liked the way Sara
Barros Leitão opened the meeting yesterday. The way she questioned the very
word “theatre”, the genesis of this artistic form, the context in which certain
pieces of the classical repertoire were created and the context in which they
are appreciated today. She reminded me of when, in my first year in university,
in the subject Introduction to Ancient Drama, our professor told us that theatre
was created and could grow in Athens in the 5th century BC thanks to democracy.
It was like a revelation to me at the time, two things I wouldn't have known
how to associate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sara questioned the
theatre’s Greek roots. I think there was a theatre, a certain theatre, which
was actually born in Greece, in Athens, in the 5th century BC, thanks to
democracy. A democracy that put the human being at the centre, as a political being
and a social being. The Assembly belonged to the men, but at the Theatre we could
find everyone, men and women. As Edith Hall said, theatre was the natural
complement of the Assembly. It was an open, common space, where life in common
in the “pólis” was expressed. And where the Chorus, a fundamental element,
represented the collective.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">What we had before that
were events (</span><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">δρώμενα</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">) that followed the calendar, the cycles of nature, which
were repeated every year, always the same, involving mimetics and improvisation.
In the 5th century BC we have poets whose names we know, we have theatre
directors and critical thinking (in addition to the expression of feelings
brought by lyric poetry in the 6th century). Aristophanes' political comedy was
born in the second half of the 5th century, a few decades after tragedy, when
democracy (and freedom of expression) was more consolidated. And it didn't
survive in the 4th century... In fact, democracy lasted (persisted) for a
century. 'That' century that gave us 'that' theatre.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">A political issue is
not political theatre, we said yesterday. And political theatre does not
necessarily happen in democracy. I thought about the Belarus Free Theatre,
whose founding members and others, after years of persecution, now live and
work outside their country. One of the founders, Natalia Kaliada, gave </span><a href="https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/belarus-free-theatres-natalia-kaliada-funding-can-lead-to-self-censorship--speech-in-full"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>a speech in 2015 in the UK during the State of the Arts
Conference No Boundaries</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. In
that speech, Kaliada recalled that the company was founded under a
dictatorship; it did not exist for the authorities, but it existed for the
people and the world. She was surprised at the self-censorship practiced by
British artists in order to secure funding. She warned of the creative
conformism that flourishes in democratic countries. And she asked: “Why is
there so much fear of provocative work?”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitnNQAeQFv56BYcSXrXt8-SLi_VGm1AtI3eAGpiM2F1czFkGiMZjVReSiaYF-Zja8uFir8meSpsSk-QoLGsPbqZjMGTCyNLkjvjv81n0De_0TTyyv83gWY2QTLhzuPgn6kWcBs2UutWzUNodEli_pM1L3nBDaEa0X-KtUvAFSOU2LpbTtOghgTtXH5/s500/artimagem%203_nuno%20ribeiro_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitnNQAeQFv56BYcSXrXt8-SLi_VGm1AtI3eAGpiM2F1czFkGiMZjVReSiaYF-Zja8uFir8meSpsSk-QoLGsPbqZjMGTCyNLkjvjv81n0De_0TTyyv83gWY2QTLhzuPgn6kWcBs2UutWzUNodEli_pM1L3nBDaEa0X-KtUvAFSOU2LpbTtOghgTtXH5/s16000/artimagem%203_nuno%20ribeiro_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Nuno Ribeiro</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">We also talked about
urgent theatre. I was reminded of the piece </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/theater/trump-wall-mexico-play.html" style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>“Building the wall”</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">, which Robert Schenkkan (Pulitzer Prize winner) wrote
in three days during Donald Trump's 2016 campaign (instead of taking months, as
usual). The play was later programmed with equal urgency by a number of
American theatres. I also thought of Rufus Norris, artistic director of the
National Theatre in London, who, after the Brexit referendum, </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37387574" style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>said</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">: “I
don't believe 17.5 million people are racist or idiots. (…) I think we have to
listen.” So, in July-August 2016, a month after the referendum, he sent several
playwrights to different territories of the country to listen. Nine months
later, the first plays, urgent plays, were presented on the stage of the National
Theatre.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">There are other
urgencies in which theatre is involved, those brought by war. One of the first resignations
in the Russian cultural sector, on the very day the invasion of Ukraine began
or the day after, was that of </span><a href="https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/artistic-director-of-moscows-meyerhold-theatre-res_93409.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Elena Kovalskaya</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, artistic director of the Meyerhold Theatre in
Moscow, who said: “It is impossible to work for a murderer and get a salary
from him”. </span><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-few-more-thoughts-on-cultural-boycott.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>I am in favor of the cultural boycott</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> with regards to professional relationships with
Russian state cultural institutions. Out of respect for this and other resignations.
Out of respect for the culture of conscience and individual responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">“Does theatre have an
obligation to be interventionist?”, someone questioned yesterday. I think that,
first of all, we must be able to answer the question “What is our theatre’s mission?”.
I often complain because cultural institutions cannot distinguish between their
mission (the reason they exist, the reason they do what they do) and what they
do. </span><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2021/10/national-theatres-mission-impossible.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>In a meeting organised by Teatro Nacional de S. João
last October</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, most of the
invited artistic directors answered the question by informing us about what
their theatres do (which is more or less the same…). We need to know our
purpose, who we are, what our values are. Then we can answer the question “Do
we have an obligation to be interventionist?” with conscience, with coherence
and without resorting to opportunistic actions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbiUkIzAdRhbXNHqBFJeDM1Jaa_pHhbZAtmklHpqD5sascIINBYB4tPQYclxJWsUuyPKcOOkyXeqNXvXT4cFtTFKf7WqFtbf8MnEWUZ4NpN338TEIEKhlr7NU1MOVmPxLRuY27jS7qhBDL_pTHF5dFCyEKcm9n9rJaCg6f6suE31KBEDjtXKTytfX/s500/artimagem%204_nuno%20_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbiUkIzAdRhbXNHqBFJeDM1Jaa_pHhbZAtmklHpqD5sascIINBYB4tPQYclxJWsUuyPKcOOkyXeqNXvXT4cFtTFKf7WqFtbf8MnEWUZ4NpN338TEIEKhlr7NU1MOVmPxLRuY27jS7qhBDL_pTHF5dFCyEKcm9n9rJaCg6f6suE31KBEDjtXKTytfX/s16000/artimagem%204_nuno%20_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Nuno Ribeiro</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We also talked about
theatre courses. “How can I deal with a blind student? I don’t know… What will
happen if I tell them 'Run!'? Will the other students be conditioned, thinking
about their colleague?”. We are unaware of so many things and this results in
fear and discomfort. What if before saying "Run!" we did a
recognition of the room? And what's wrong if other students are aware or
concerned about their blind peer's presence and participation? Isn't that what
we should be doing out there too, in the street, in society? Are we aware of
the presence of others? Do we work together in sharing the common space?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Today, the question of
“who is in charge” came up once again, criticising the role of programmers. But
let's be clear: Whoever programmes according to their personal taste, as it was
mentioned, is not a good programmer. Whoever copies programmes is not a good
programmer. Who is a (good) programmer? Someone who programmes in a given
territory aware of the people who inhabit it, asking: What is useful, what is
relevant, what is urgent for these people? In other words, how are we going to
run together?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We reacted with ironic
laughter to the statement that theatres and movie theatres in Portugal are
programmed by professionals (because they said so in their application for the
Network of Theatres). I don't want to imply that there were people who lied
when they signed those applications. I would rather ask: How many of these
people know what it really means to be an artistic director or what it is to
programme?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Still in relation to
this point, it does not seem to me that renting a theatre in Lisbon (the
Armando Cortês Theatre) to present the work of companies from other cities is
the answer to the need and desire to see this work circulating around the
country and being seen in the capital. Let's think: Who will see a play because
the company is from Braga or Évora? “Theatre people”, let's be honest. The fact
that it is a company from another city is not reason enough for many other
people to attend. Plays by these companies must be programmed by Lisbon theatres
because they make sense, because they are relevant to the mission these theatres
assume.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-cAuC7U7vwd7V6i3pJt0KjrYhc9Nfncj55J0b06J5bdBBVO7feALNQga-YoCveRj5vDfI69EFpStwS3DM4LyPFsMjZtNmoOoj6kDm8ZR4budFNBvSqYg71FW9N6QVcEb17x68yuC70rSEkLxzUWffpwE6bvc0RQ_qH2Sf9A9woo3M1mc0gq7BYVy/s500/artimagem%202_nuno%20ribeiro_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-cAuC7U7vwd7V6i3pJt0KjrYhc9Nfncj55J0b06J5bdBBVO7feALNQga-YoCveRj5vDfI69EFpStwS3DM4LyPFsMjZtNmoOoj6kDm8ZR4budFNBvSqYg71FW9N6QVcEb17x68yuC70rSEkLxzUWffpwE6bvc0RQ_qH2Sf9A9woo3M1mc0gq7BYVy/s16000/artimagem%202_nuno%20ribeiro_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Nuno Ribeiro</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let’s take a look at
the mission of Comédias do Minho, for example: “Endowing the Minho Valley with a
cultural project of its own, adapted to its socio-economic reality and,
therefore, with a special focus on the involvement of the populations, from the
construction of proposals of effective participatory and symbolic value, for
the communities to which they are addressed.” The Bons Sons festival was
created, in the first place, to serve the needs of the population of the
village of Cem Soldos. I remembered an article by Joana Villaverde, from August
2020, entitled “The lives of the interior matter!” and where Joana says that
there is no “interior” in Portugal, there are “interiorised” people.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">This morning we also mentioned
audience surveys (those of Gulbenkian or Braga 2027), their disappointing conclusions,
the need to democratise culture. The idea of the democratisation of culture sounds
patronising today. Arts Council England’s new strategy for 2020-2030, </span><a href="https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/letscreate"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Let’s Create</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, advocates the need to give every citizen, regardless
of where they live, the opportunity to be creative and to participate. They
realised, through an audience survey, that people feel uncomfortable with the
so-called “high culture”, but that, at the same time, they have active cultural
lives. Deborah Cullinan, former director of the Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts, </span><a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/civic_engagement_why_cultural_institutions_must_lead_the_way"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>wrote in 2017</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, after Trump’s election: “The basis of our democracy
is individual creativity and collective imagination.” It took the British
decades to realise that this would not happen if they continued to fund mainly
the capital's major mainstream cultural institutions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In this last panel, on “minorities”
and theatre, I thought that we should talk about “minorised” people, as we
talked about racialised people. We talked about representation: What stories?
Written by whom? Staged by whom? Interpreted by whom?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">We mentioned the movie
“Danish Girl”, interpreted by a cisgender actor. "At least those roles
should be played by trans actors." Not “at least those roles”, whatever
roles a person wants to play. However, what opportunities are there for trans
artists to make their work known? Of being called for a casting? </span><a href="https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/national-theatre-to-host-casting-event-for-transgender-actors"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>The National Theatre in London did a casting just to get
to know trans actors</b></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">. To
say that “We are all human beings” is true and at the same time it sounds a bit
like “I don't see color”… If I don't see color, I also don't see the absence of
color. And I can even question whether “voice has got a color”, when actor
Marco Mendonça criticises the casting for the dubbing of the Disney film
“Soul”. We are all human beings, yes, but we are not all at the places where we
want (and have the right) to be. How many black, trans, disabled artists do we
know by name?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I also remembered that
in the play “Sempre que acordo”, by Lara Mesquita, which won the Cepa Torta
Women's Dramaturgy Prize in 2021, one reads that in an interview for the
financing of a theatre project, a programmer, member of the jury, asks the black
playwright: “Is your play going in the same direction as that other play we saw
recently?” (we suppose he refers to "Aurora Negra"). Has this
question ever been asked to a white playwright? Was it enough to see one play
written by black playwrights for us not to need to see any more? To question whether
they all go in the “same direction”? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">In a debate I attended in
the beginning of the year, Iranian gender non-conforming artist </span><a href="https://www.maralbolouri.com/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Maral
Bolouri</b></span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">,</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> based in Paris, talked to us about the constant
performance of oppression. But it has to be the right kind of oppression, otherwise
one might be silenced. For example, regarding LGBT refugees, only gay men have something
to say; or women from an oppressive family context. And these are the only
stories of interest. We need to understand that people, artists, don’t wish to
reproduce themselves in a certain way and they should be free to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">José Leitão said
yesterday that revolutions in Portugal happen (paradoxically) at the national
theatres. I kept thinking about it and in some “revolutionary moments” that I
believe have taken place at the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, which is the one I
know best:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2016: Presentation of the play “Uma menina perdida no
seu século à procura do pai” by Teatro Crinabel, in the year it celebrated its
30th anniversary. At the end of one of the performances, a couple asks for the
complaints book. “Those” people shouldn’t be on that stage…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2020: Premiere of “Aurora Negra” at Sala-Estúdio
(2022: a black face on the canvas of the theatre's facade).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2021: Teresa Coutinho prepares the Caryl Churchill
cycle. In the casting announcement it is said that they are looking for
actresses, cisgender or trans. At the same time, “Top Girls”, by Cristina
Carvalhal, is presented at Sala Garrett.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2021: “Caligula morreu. Eu não". In the casting
announcement it is said that they are looking for actors, with or without
disabilities. In Lisbon, around 40 people with disabilities show up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2022: “Mãos a dentro”, a training course for D/deaf
artists.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">"What has changed?
And tomorrow, after this conversation, what will change?” Zia Soares rightly
questioned her presence on the panel. There have been so many conversations
like this. The same things have been repeated over and over again. And then?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These are not “fashionable”
issues and each one of us must walk one’s walk. We have to become more knowledgeable
about things we don't know, we have to educate ourselves. There are people who
feel tired, exhausted, people who, for a long time, have tried to “educate” us
on a series of subjects. They don't want to have that role anymore, they don't
want to be the ones to have to explain. On the one hand, we seem to agree that
nothing new was said in this last panel. For me, no, nothing new was said. But
if I go back five or six years, much of what was said here today was unknown to
me. So, I believe that at least some things may have been new to some people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think about
everything I didn't know a few years ago and about the time and money I've
invested in educating myself on a range of issues. Can we expect every citizen
to be able to do the same? And what is our role as cultural professionals in
this sense? There will always be a need to explain, to repeat ourselves. And
when one gets tired, another should take their place. This concerns us all,
this is a common responsibility. Shall we run together?</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-52842545767963062332022-05-07T22:41:00.006+01:002022-05-08T09:38:01.278+01:00Whose story is it to tell?<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNj6mIUBap1Hhk1cF8scxigiJyatafiGeilXfbwduPB6e0dZhoHOwWyRqVlNXbKJuDhcM6bYJiSCqWw86ydXoF29HHFj-LuDew1nv0zOWcLV-mYjOb9vLGkur5YSnWHFihDLjvNoG58My3cWPx3P0oX9zw2e0jfOEbOl2qL8wfPmOXHB6_gIUh6a0/s500/emmets%20coffin_Justin%20T%20Gellerson_NYT.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNj6mIUBap1Hhk1cF8scxigiJyatafiGeilXfbwduPB6e0dZhoHOwWyRqVlNXbKJuDhcM6bYJiSCqWw86ydXoF29HHFj-LuDew1nv0zOWcLV-mYjOb9vLGkur5YSnWHFihDLjvNoG58My3cWPx3P0oX9zw2e0jfOEbOl2qL8wfPmOXHB6_gIUh6a0/s16000/emmets%20coffin_Justin%20T%20Gellerson_NYT.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Washington D.C. (Photo: Justin T. Gellerson / NYT)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I first
heard of Emmet Till in 2017, when Dana Schutz’s painting “Open Casket”, on
display at the Whitney Biennale, sparked a huge controversy. Emmet Till was
brutally murdered, lynched, in 1955, after being accused of having offended a
white woman in her grocery store. This murder boosted the Civil Rights Movement
in the US. Emmet's mother, Mamie Till, asked that the coffin remain open during
her son's funeral for people to see. Her words welcome visitors to the National
Museum of African American History and Culture: “Let the people see what I have
seen. I think everybody needs to know what had happened to Emmet Till.”<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">In the past,
I wrote about this and other cases in a post entitled <a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2018/05/cultural-appropriation-less-gatekeepers_20.html"><b>“Cultural
Appropriation: Less Gatekeepers, More Critical Thinkers”</b></a>. In 2017, there
were critics who argued that Schutz, being white, shouldn't address this story,
it wasn't hers to tell. Activists stood in front of the painting, to obstruct
the view, and there were people who asked the painting to be destroyed. On the
other hand, Cuban art historian Coco Fusco warned: “<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Presuming that calls for censorship
and destruction constitute a legitimate response to perceived injustice leads
us down a very dark path</span></span>. (…) <span style="background: white; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The authority
to speak for or about black culture is not guaranteed by skin color or lineage,
and it can be undermined by untruths. My 25 years of teaching art have shown me
that a combination of ignorance about history and the supremacy of formalism in
art education — more than overt racism — underlie the failure of most artists </span><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">of any ethnicity</em><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> to address racial issues effectively.”</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I came
across this story again when I recently read Laura Raicovich's book <i>Culture
strike: Art and museums in an age of protest</i>. The author quotes different
critics. Artist Pastiche Lumumba argued that “It is insensitive and gratuitous
for the artist, primarily – then the curators and the museum – to willingly
participate in the long tradition of white people sharing and circulating
images of anti-Black violence.” Artist Hannah Black stated that “Non-Black people
must accept that they will never embody and cannot understand this gesture [Mamie
Till asking for the coffin to be left open]. (…) If Black people are telling
her [Dana Schutz] that the painting has caused unnecessary hurt, she and you
must accept the truth of this. The painting must go.” Raicovich further cites
Coco Fusco who, in response to Hannah Black, said, “She presumes an ability to
speak for all black people that smacks of a cultural nationalism that has
rarely served black women, and that once upon a time was levied to keep black British
out of conversations about black culture America.” Raicovich aligns with critics
of the painting's exhibition. To Dana Schutz's statement ("I don't know
what it is like to be black in America, but I do know what it is like to be a
mother. Emmett was Mamie Till's only son. The thought of anything happening to
your child is beyond comprehension. Their pain is your pain. My engagement with
this image was through empathy with his mother.”) Raicovich responded: “The
objections to this sentiment are clear; as a white woman, she has no idea what
it means to be a mother of a Black child.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhgk59lBZMWS8bA1cCTOZsaz7HhtrVPttrF0JOCqN8TIMYZuRbTnh_4yKGmNSyoJjGZq6IpjCHu7w2QzY8OJi1rIhpmFV9zLYyGwxQZThzoOfdRNR5OPiH2nPsow2I5KdegdI8t6KMULactHhN9YA29iyNK90fYWpyhdfSqtsyUCtM_adjX2vqE3_/s500/emmet.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhgk59lBZMWS8bA1cCTOZsaz7HhtrVPttrF0JOCqN8TIMYZuRbTnh_4yKGmNSyoJjGZq6IpjCHu7w2QzY8OJi1rIhpmFV9zLYyGwxQZThzoOfdRNR5OPiH2nPsow2I5KdegdI8t6KMULactHhN9YA29iyNK90fYWpyhdfSqtsyUCtM_adjX2vqE3_/s16000/emmet.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protest at the Whitney Museum (Image taken from <a href="https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/35219/1/black-artists-protest-emmett-till-painting-by-white-artist" target="_blank">Dazed</a>) </td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I learned
from Raicovich's book that there are those who argue that stories of violence
against black people belong to black artists; that white artists should portray
the perpetrators. I still don't agree with the idea that one can dictate the subjects
with which any artist can get involved or not. Therefore, I found the
discussion around the work itself much more necessary and relevant. Christina
Sharpe, professor of English Literature and Black Studies, says the abstracted surface
of Schutz’s painting nullifies, contains or indeed abandons the unobscured
violence relayed by the photograph Mamie Till-Mobley gave permission to
reproduce. Artist Lyle Ashton Harris said that “Any redemptive horror that is
in the original photograph has been silenced or muted by what is, in effect, an
abstract painterly rendering of otherwise disturbingly uncompromising image.”
These analyses allowed me to look at Schutz's work in a different way, to
understand in a different way the pain and anger that it caused, without,
however, refusing her the right to approach this story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Emmet Till's
story was the subject of further controversy recently, when in March a petition
signed by thousands of people demanded the cancellation of <i>Emmet Till, A New
American Opera</i> (read <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/petition-calls-cancel-disgraceful-opera-based-murder-emmett-till-1689652"><b>here</b></a>).
The opera is based on a 2013 play, <i>Down in My Heart</i>, written by white
playwright Clare Coss and black composer Mary D. Watkins. Mya Bishop, the
student who started the petition, wrote: <span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">"If we are going to tell the story of Emmett
Till, it should only be from a Black perspective, a Black writer, and
permission and approval from Till's family. Clare Coss is out of line for
taking it upon herself to turn Black trauma into entertainment and for
exploiting a Black tragedy to propel her career and relieve her of her guilt
about her whiteness."</span></span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Clare Coss
(86 years old) and Mary D. Watkins (83 years old) both have memories of Emmet
Till´s lynching. Watkins' involvement in the play is not mentioned in the
petition, which focuses on the fact that there is a white creative in the team.
Watkins issued a statement saying that she <span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">finds it "very disturbing" that people
are condemning the piece without having "seen or heard it."</span></span>
(which reminds me of the way many people, in Portugal and in other countries,
reacted to <i>Catarina and the beauty of killing fascists</i>, by Tiago Rodrigues).
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">"They
have jumped on the fact that the playwright is white, and assumed all kinds of
things about the content of the play. Even though there are many artists of
color involved in this project, the critics are assuming that we have had no
impact on the final shape of the piece and that the playwright has somehow
forced all of us to tell her story. It is an insult to me as a Black woman and
to the company members who are African-American</span>." A
spokeswoman for the production company said in a statement that "<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The opera also
addresses other themes and character POVs including the bravery of Till's uncle
Mose Wright, the failure of the justice system, and the quandary of the white schoolteacher
who represents the concepts of white silence and white supremacy</span>."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We look at
communities as if they were homogeneous, as if all white or black people or
others thought, felt and positioned themselves in the same way in the face of
different issues and dilemmas. We need to be open to different points of view,
only in this way will we have the opportunity to know and better understand the
nuances that these issues and life experiences present. I still think that this
will not happen if we aim at controlling the narratives, defining what an
artist or anyone else can and cannot talk about and, worse, if we consider it
legitimate to obstruct access to a work of art or ask for its destruction.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Suggested readings:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Siddhartha Mitter, </span><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/368012/what-does-it-mean-to-be-black-and-look-at-this-a-scholar-reflects-on-the-dana-schutz-controversy/" target="_blank"><b>“What Does It Mean to Be Black and Look at This?” A Scholar Reflects on the Dana Schutz Controversy</b></a><span style="background-color: white;">, in </span><i>Hyperallergic</i><span style="background-color: white;">, 24.3.2017</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Coco Fusco, </span><b><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/368290/censorship-not-the-painting-must-go-on-dana-schutzs-image-of-emmett-till/" target="_blank">Censorship, not the painting, must go: On Dana Schutz's image of Emmet Till</a></b><span style="background-color: white;">, in </span><i>Hyperallergic</i><span style="background-color: white;">, 27.3.2017</span></span></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-88458315357814497832022-03-07T13:47:00.005+00:002022-04-18T16:24:34.273+01:00A few more thoughts on the cultural boycott<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUM5s3LxjvFVeWSxUVCd7SlTgCpFZ-_UZX75NaVKYaMFGO8QX4wFy_zyy0nUV0ro1DUksFTgIzWBzfXYOJw6kQ4WkgduCQTokezvvkc_fphwXa3MDKRLVunJ5znbSDBbfl8_21zqDLv-bHQ6aur1cJb104YwLvA5xXix4eeet3W19VBJM9fuyjWknO=s500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUM5s3LxjvFVeWSxUVCd7SlTgCpFZ-_UZX75NaVKYaMFGO8QX4wFy_zyy0nUV0ro1DUksFTgIzWBzfXYOJw6kQ4WkgduCQTokezvvkc_fphwXa3MDKRLVunJ5znbSDBbfl8_21zqDLv-bHQ6aur1cJb104YwLvA5xXix4eeet3W19VBJM9fuyjWknO=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">State Hermitage Museum</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I follow intensely the
news about the invasion in Ukraine, thinking of ways in which we could
contribute and be useful, both as individuals and as professionals in the
cultural sector. My starting point is that Culture is anything but apolitical
and, within this context, one of the most controversial topics is that of the cultural
boycott.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Things are moving fast.
Just three days ago, <b><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2022/03/cultural-boycott.html" target="_blank">I wrote that</a></b></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><b><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2022/03/cultural-boycott.html" target="_blank"> I wasn’t aware of any formal action to cancel Russian
artists just because they were Russian</a></b> <span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">or to remove Russian composers from concert programmes.
Then, on Saturday <b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/05/arts/music/russian-artists-putin.html" target="_blank">I read <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Javier C. Hernández’s article in The New York
Times</span></a></b></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; line-height: 107%; padding: 0cm;"> about
Russian artists being expected to “clarify their position” regarding Putin;
about young pianist Alexander Malofeev’s concert being cancelled in Vancouver
“for his own safety”; or the Polish National Opera dropping a production of
Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov… This is definitely how things can get out of hand.
Malofeev himself wrote on Facebook that “The truth is that every Russian will
feel guilty for decades because of the terrible and bloody decision that none
of us could influence and predict.” I wonder whether it was “satisfactory”
enough…<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; line-height: 107%; padding: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; line-height: 107%; padding: 0cm;">At the same time, </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">a colleague brought to my attention the appeal of the
<b><a href="https://ucf.in.ua/en/news/boycott_russia" target="_blank">Ukrainian Cultural Foundation</a></b></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">, asking us, among other things, to “Cancel any
cooperation with russian artists, no matter how great or famous, as long as
they openly support putin’s regime, silence its crimes, or do not publicly and
directly oppose it.” I won't be insensitive to the suffering and anger of all
Ukrainians, and especially our colleagues in the cultural field. But we need to
pursue ways of pressuring that will not indiscriminately target “anything Russian".
This wouldn't be fair, respectful or efficient. We shouldn't also demand of
other people, cultural professionals and everyone else, that they do things
that we don't do ourselves, namely calling out on bad, corrupt or useless
political leaders - we all have them and, if we did, we wouldn't face the kind
of repression the Russians face. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Another point my
colleague brought up is that, at the time of the war in Yugoslavia, nothing
reinforced Milosevic in his crazy war frenzy as much as the cultural boycott
and the total isolation of Serbia. "It nourished and encouraged
nationalism and made it OK for normal people to just hate, fear and distrust
anything coming from the West, even until today." This is a real
possibility, of course, especially if we consider that Putin’s regime is
exercising an absolute control on media. Many, too many Russians have no idea
about what’s going on, because “it wasn’t on TV” and I´ve read more than one
report about older people getting upset with their children who are telling
them a different story. At the same time, even at this point, before the
consequences of BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) are actually felt by common
Russians and before the bodies of Russian soldiers start coming back to be
buried, fueling anger against Ukrainians, many, too many Russians come out to
defend their President’s decisions and to show that they trust his judgment. <b><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/7/russia-kuliak-faces-disciplinary-action-after-showing-z-symbol" target="_blank">I felt outraged when I read that Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak placed the letter “Z” on the front of his outfit </a></b>(a symbol of support for Russia’s invasion ) as he stood on the podium next
to Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun, who won the gold. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thus, we need to think
carefully about ways of not indiscriminately ostracising Russian artists and
other cultural professionals just because they’re Russian, of keeping channels
of collaboration and support open, of helping spreading the news and also of
pressuring the regime in whatever way we can. And one option is BDS (Boycott,
Divestment, Sanctions), currently used against Israel and before that in South
Africa. Its aims should be explained publicly and widely in the clearest
possible way. Last year, journalist Chris McGreal, who served both in South Africa
and Israel, <b><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/israel-apartheid-boycotts-sanctions-south-africa" target="_blank">wrote in The Guardian</a></b> about how BDS helped raise awareness worldwide and pressure the Apartheid
regime, until South Africans managed to get rid of it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Some colleagues believe
that, in front of a strong and generalised BDS movement against Putin’s regime,
culture, and especially the arts, are exceptional. They say that culture is about
collaboration, respect, values and understanding between people. <span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Jacques Marquis, from
the Cliburn Foundation, <b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/05/arts/music/russian-artists-putin.html" target="_blank">was quoted in the New York Times article</a></b></span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; line-height: 107%; padding: 0cm;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">saying
that his organisation felt it was important to speak out as it watched Russian
artists come under scrutiny. “We can help the world by standing our ground and
focusing on the music and on the artists”, he said. I wonder, isn’t this what
we´ve been doing all along? Is he suggesting we should carry on as if nothing
happened? Is he prepared to collaborate with an organisation funded by Putin’s
regime as if this was all very civilised, for the sake of art and the artists? And
what kind of art would that be when artists and everyone else in Russia are not
even allowed to speak in favour of peace or to mention the word “war”?</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There was one more
point in<span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-color-alt: windowtext; padding: 0cm;"> Hernández’s New
York Times article that reminded me of how unprepared we are to acknowledge
that culture and the arts have a political role and discourse, even when
claiming neutrality. One reads that “</span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The tensions pose a dilemma for
cultural institutions and those who support them. Many have long tried to stay
above the fray of current events and have a deep belief in the role the arts
can play in bridging divides. Now arts administrators, who have scant
geopolitical expertise, find themselves in the midst of one of the most
politically charged issues in recent decades, with little in the way of
experience to draw on.” Really? Aren’t arts administrators citizens as well? Do
they live on a remote island, cut off from the world? What are their
organisations for then?</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">Another point we shouldn’t forget is that Culture
has always been important for dictators and autocrats. They use it in their
propaganda of normality and civility. In her article <b><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/715271/how-the-hermitage-museum-artwashes-russian-aggression/" target="_blank">How the Hermitage Museum Artwashes Russian Aggression</a></b>,
Rachel Spence reminds us that “long before the Ukrainian invasion, there were
reasons to query foreign partnerships, most of which are utterly uncritical,
with Russian state institutions.” She specifically refers to the Morozov collection
being currently on display at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, exhibiting works on
loan from the State Hermitage Museum, as well as the State Tretyakov Museum and
the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Although this is a private foundation, both
Macron and Putin contribute texts to the catalogue and Putin writes eloquently
about the power of cultural diplomacy. The Hermitage director, Mikhail Piotrovski,
is proud to be Putin’s man in this “cultural offensive” (Putin’s words) and vice-versa.<br />
<br />
Where do I stand and what do I suggest at this point? </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">I believe we all need to be very careful and
vigilant and not to allow for any acts of discrimination against Russian
cultural professionals or artists (dead or alive) on the basis of their
nationality.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 107%;">Russian cultural professionals must not be
forced to express their political views or clarifying their position in order
to participate in international projects. <br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At this point, we must not
collaborate with Russian state cultural organisations or present works that
have received funding from it. This is not about individuals, although they
will be affected (like many more good people in other professional areas). This
is about who these organisations represent and get their money from, this is
about the way they use culture in order to minimise or even cover their brutal actions,
both within Russia and in Ukraine. </span></span></li></ul><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This cannot be
irrelevant to us, otherwise what culture are we talking about? And what values?
Where do we draw the line? And what are we supposed to say to Ukrainian artists
and cultural professionals who won’t be attending any conferences or artistic
residencies any time soon because they are fighting a war defending their
country, either because they have been conscribed or because they volunteered? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">BDS can help raise
awareness worldwide and within Russia. It can send a message of support and
solidarity to Russians who find the courage to confront a regime that punishes
dissent. It can send a message of support and solidarity to the Ukrainian
people, fighting a brutal war defending their country. And, finally, it may
send a message and perhaps pressure the silent majority, those who often feel
impotent and rightfully scared when dealing with a totalitarian regime. Noone
is in a position to ask for or expect heroic acts, it wouldn’t be decent. But
we all need to understand that, although we are not to blame for the brutal or immoral
acts of our rulers or governors, we have a responsibility towards our country,
our fellow citizens and to the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Read also</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Pjotr Sauer and Andrew Roth, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/17/ges-2-moscow-empty-gallery-fleeing-artist-russia-cultural-uncoupling-from-west" target="_blank"><b>Empty galleries and fleeing artists: Russia’s cultural uncoupling from the west</b></a>. In The Guardian, 17.4.2022</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Still in the blog
regarding the political role of cultural organisations:</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2021/04/power-to-act.html" target="_blank">Power to act</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2020/09/our-tea-and-sympathy-values.html" target="_blank">Our “tea and sympathy” values</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2013/07/just-museum-just-artist.html" target="_blank">“Just” a museum, “just” an artist?</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2014/03/being-just.html" target="_blank">Being “just”</a></b></span></span></p><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-53966630527834710722022-03-04T16:53:00.006+00:002022-03-04T17:08:56.660+00:00Cultural boycott<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7T7WVopGlqliHOL-9Aozk0xikC96Bw8V_5KdVS9OKwBBqSGluKNncDq5hY-srnoKHFr6FzDFiisN9hTlG-asmkoCp1aQnAExnj55CVVJg_q7gGk-i3_Fphs6mEKImqnur_Noie4XX0SMdKTI-DcVEUnwp_Rob-VOuljekzPolFyo-CnPwqsHGQqzA=s500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7T7WVopGlqliHOL-9Aozk0xikC96Bw8V_5KdVS9OKwBBqSGluKNncDq5hY-srnoKHFr6FzDFiisN9hTlG-asmkoCp1aQnAExnj55CVVJg_q7gGk-i3_Fphs6mEKImqnur_Noie4XX0SMdKTI-DcVEUnwp_Rob-VOuljekzPolFyo-CnPwqsHGQqzA=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elena Kovalskaya. Screenshot from Facebook.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">A few days ago, <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/714636/thousands-of-russian-artists-denounce-invasion-in-open-letter/" target="_blank"><b>thousands of Russian artists signed an open letter</b></a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> denouncing the invasion in Ukraine. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white;">“On
behalf of our professional community, it is important to say that further
escalation of the war will result in irreversible consequences for workers in
culture and the arts. Engagement with culture and the arts will be almost impossible
in these conditions.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">It is impossible, for
people on both sides and beyond; for all of us. It is impossible in the sense that
the show can’t simply go on and it cannot be business as usual. It just cannot.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">People, colleagues in the
cultural sector and other concerned citizens, have started expressing their
disagreement in what concerns what they call the “cancelling of Russian artists”
or “censorship” or… or…. From what I´ve seen, the only two artists that we may
say that they, personally, have been cancelled are maestro Valery Gergiev (a
big and shameless Putin ally) and opera singer Anna Netrebko (whom I think is a
rather unconscious citizen and for me, despite her excellence, a rather
irrelevant artist). As far as I know, there hasn’t been a demand that <span style="background: white; color: black;">“every Russian should have to repudiate
Putin before being allowed to perform in America or Europe”, as Alex Ross stated
in an otherwise very good <b><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/valery-gergiev-and-the-nightmare-of-music-under-putin" target="_blank">article in The New Yorker</a></b></span>. Neither am I aware on any formal “talk of removing Russian composers from
programs”. Maybe these are not official proposals yet, they are just “talk”, so
we should make sure that they don’t turn into official proposals or practice.
Cancelling a living or dead Russian artist <u>because</u> they are Russian would
be absurd and unacceptable. But is this what is happening at this moment?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;"><b><a href="https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/statement-from-the-festival-de-cannes-on-the-situation-in-ukraine" target="_blank">The Cannes Film Festival issued a statement</a></b> saying that “Unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the
Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian
delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government.”
At the same time, they “salute the courage of all those in Russia who have
taken risks to protest against the assault and invasion of Ukraine. Among them
are artists and film professionals who have never ceased to fight against the
contemporary regime, who cannot be associated with these unbearable actions,
and those who are bombing Ukraine.” And they add: “Loyal to its history that
started in 1939 in resistance to the fascist and Nazi dictatorship, the
Festival de Cannes will always serve artists and industry professionals that
raise their voices to denounce violence, repression, and injustices, for the
main purpose to defend peace and liberty.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">Russian-born conductor
<b><a href="https://www.semyonbychkov.com/news/withdrawal-from-russian-engagements/" target="_blank">Semyon Bychkov cancelled his concerts</a></b> this summer with the Russian Youth
Orchestra.
“I want the spirit of this decision to be unmistakably clear: it is in no way
directed at the orchestra or its public. The emotional suffering of ordinary
Russian people at this time, the feeling of shame and economic losses they
experience are real. So is a sense of helplessness in face of repression
inflicted by the regime. Those individuals who dare to oppose this war put
their own life in danger. They need us who are free to take a stand and say:
‘The guns must fall silent, so that we can celebrate life over death’.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">More cases of cancelled
performances and collaborations were reported by <b><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/01/the-show-cant-go-on-russian-arts-cancelled-worldwide" target="_blank">The Guardian</a></b> and other media (<b><a href="https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/pressure-arts-sector-cut-russian-ties" target="_blank">here</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/movies/film-boycott-russia-ukraine.html" target="_blank">here</a></b>).
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as I can see, they refer to a
boycott to professional (business) relations with state-funded cultural
organisations or state-funded works. This is not new. It has repeatedly happened
in the past regarding Israeli state-funded cultural organisations and works of
art (here’s more on <b><a href="https://bdsmovement.net/cultural-boycott" target="_blank">Cultural BDS</a></b>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Those who oppose the
boycott <b><a href="https://c7nema.net/producoes/item/110449-apos-criticas-de-sergei-loznitsa-academia-europeia-de-cinema-junta-se-no-boicote-ao-cinema-russo.html" target="_blank">express concerns</a></b> that “By banning these people from international
events, Europe is silencing the Russian voice of protest, isolating people who
want to stop the war from those who want to intensify it.” They say that “Hundreds
and thousands of Russian cultural workers openly disagreed with the
government's decision to start a war: they condemn their actions, go to
protests, support Ukraine, and risk being convicted of treason. Almost all of
them did not vote for Putin.”</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;"> <span lang="EN-GB">My good friend and colleague <b><a href="https://exame.com/colunistas/cultura-e-sociedade/cancelar-artistas-e-atletas-russos-nao-leva-a-lugar-nenhum/" target="_blank">Marta Porto questions</a></b>:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If cultural institutions in times of
crisis are unable to protect artists and defend freedom of creation, mobility
and artistic work, what is the essence of your work?” She even posed a more
difficult question on Facebook: “After all, should they [the artists] be
punished [or be held responsible] for the extreme decisions of their rulers?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">And this is the point I
believe we need to think a bit better.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">Should people (and not
just artists) be punished for the extreme decisions and actions of their
rulers? No, they shouldn’t. Are people (artists included) responsible for the
decisions and actions of their rulers? I think yes, we all are responsible and
the issue here is if and how we understand this responsibility and what we do about
it. In this sense, culture, in my view, is not exceptional, people working in
this sector (artists and others) are not exceptional. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">In every economic
activity that will be hit by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) we will
find people who speak up against Putin and condemn his actions, go to protests,
support Ukraine and risk their freedom or even their physical integrity. At the
same time, in Culture and every other field, we’ll find people who remain
silent, for all sorts of reasons. I don’t wish to judge anybody or demand any
acts of heroism. This is just how it is. My main point here is that Culture is
not exceptional. In moments of crisis and ethical dilemmas, people in Culture and
business in Culture aren’t any different.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">So, what are we to do?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">Culture is not apolitical.
Thus, it is only natural that in grave political moments, like the one we are
currently going through, Culture will be involved. As I said before, cancelling
artists because they are Russian is both absurd and unacceptable. Boycotting
state cultural organisations and state-funded works, though, is a whole
different matter. The BDS movement has shown us that it is a way of pressuring
and also of breaking the silence and raising awareness. It is not a movement
against individual artists and cultural professionals (although it does affect
them), but against what these organisations represent, who they get their money
from and to do what. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 107%;">This brings me to a
second point: on the very first day of the war, the artistic director of the Meyerhold
Theatre and Cultural Centre, <b><a href="https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/artistic-director-of-moscows-meyerhold-theatre-res_93409.html" target="_blank">Elena Kovalskaya, resigned in protest over the invasion in Ukraine</a></b> saying that “It is impossible to work for a murderer and
get a salary from him”.
More Russian artistic directors, artists and cultural professionals resigned from
their posts or left projects and many-many more signed the open letter mentioned
in the beginning of this post. These are the people on the Russian side that should be of greatest concern
to us now. These are the people (and <b><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-russias-nobel-winning-newspaper-is-covering-ukraine" target="_blank">we shouldn’t also forget the journalists</a></b> and many others) that usually form the minority that is not afraid to speak up,
to take risks and which is ultimately responsible for the much desired change.
These are the people whom, as Marta Porto would say, we should protect and
support. But this will not happen, should not happen, by carrying on with
business as usual with certain cultural organisations. I feel that this would not
be responsible or respectful, it would simply cancel their acts of courage and
decency.</span></p><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-74405675860065411262022-02-23T10:44:00.005+00:002022-02-23T12:59:29.131+00:00The cultural habits… of the Portuguese cultural organisations<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY1eyd6K-xZDzDyLs3H10ddp6K7qYSnSNn-nZUNGM6Nn2nujqbsi3Tl-vSmfT77oGxh7NalJFbV-7_LQcCVhk1OEbPQlLKc91_BwexTyH1OMng1vgb-nyfRw3LkBeVR5GoeAS2fI5bQTplRu2_IWmlAlwYluGIY6E3CHbnUJxcr80LLxO-vqEcOCbR=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY1eyd6K-xZDzDyLs3H10ddp6K7qYSnSNn-nZUNGM6Nn2nujqbsi3Tl-vSmfT77oGxh7NalJFbV-7_LQcCVhk1OEbPQlLKc91_BwexTyH1OMng1vgb-nyfRw3LkBeVR5GoeAS2fI5bQTplRu2_IWmlAlwYluGIY6E3CHbnUJxcr80LLxO-vqEcOCbR=s16000" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“Many people are
uncomfortable with the label ‘the arts’ and associate it only with either the
visual arts or ‘high art’, such as ballet or opera. (…) At the same time, most
people in this country have active cultural lives and value opportunities to be
creative.” These two sentences were not taken from the Gulbenkian Foundation's
study on the cultural habits of the Portuguese. They were taken from Arts
Council England´s <b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2020/02/where-are-opportunities-regarding-aces.html" target="_blank"><i>Let's Create</i> document, which presents its strategy for
the 2020-2030 decade</a></b>. In the Portuguese context, the former sentence sounds very familiar; the Gulbenkian
study does not confirm the latter, but it could be a wish. Will it…?<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the United Kingdom,
and specifically in England, it didn’t remain a simple wish. In the 1950s,
academic Raymond Williams, when advocating for greater investment in the arts
(and also in adult learning), clarified that this should not only serve to preserve
and extend the great national institutions, but also to welcome, encourage and
foster the tendencies to regional recreation, which were beginning to show
themselves, “for culture is ordinary, you should not have to go to London to
find it”. Many years later, in the 21st century, cultural projects are being developed
and focus on the citizen, any citizen, wherever he or she is. <b><a href="https://www.creativepeopleplaces.org.uk/" target="_blank">Creative People and Places</a></b> (supported by Arts Council England) aims to create conditions for people to
choose, create and take part in brilliant art experiences in the places where
they live. <b><a href="https://funpalaces.co.uk/" target="_blank">Fun Palaces</a></b> (whose founder Stella Duffy we had the opportunity to meet in 2020 at the
Gulbenkian Foundation's <i>This is Partis </i>event) works in different
territories so that everyone can have an opinion on what counts as culture,
where it happens, who makes it and who enjoys it. This is precisely what the
2017 King's College London study <i><b><a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/cultural/resources/reports/towards-cultural-democracy-2017-kcl.pdf" target="_blank">Towards cultural democracy advocated:promoting cultural capabilities for everyone</a></b></i> advocated: “...substantial social freedom to create versions of culture; (...)
real, concrete freedom to choose what culture to make, as well as what culture
to appreciate; (…) opportunities to see and hear things; new things, old
things, strange things, beautiful things, fun things and fericious things;
things that mobilize, confuse and move; things that comfort and things that
inspire.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thus, we reached the
year 2020, for the Arts Council England to define as one of the objectives of
its strategy for the next decade “to value the creative potential in each of
us, provide communities in every corner of the country with more opportunities
to enjoy culture, and celebrate greatness of every kind.” It took a long time
(a really long time) and we still have to wait to see what will happen in concrete
terms. But the country, its cultural sector, understood the need to go beyond
the “democratisation of culture” and focus on cultural democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I like the so-called “visitor
studies” in our field. I don’t think we have enough of them. We tend to be
guided by our intuitions, empirical convictions, exchanges of opinions with
colleagues. I do not undervalue these factors, but we also need more concrete
and objective data, more detailed, associated to different parametres, which would
allow us to think better about our work and make more informed decisions. In
this sense, I am very happy with <b><a href="https://gulbenkian.pt/publication/inquerito-as-praticas-culturais-dos-portugueses/" target="_blank">the study commissioned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation on the cultural habits of the Portuguese</a></b>.
It didn't hold any surprises for me, though; unfortunately, neither in what
concerns many of the first reactions to the results presented.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 2013, the situation
was very similar with the Eurobarometre results on access and cultural
participation of EU citizens (I wrote about it <b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2013/11/self-barometer.html" target="_blank">here</a></b>).
I felt that some of our reactions, reactions from those who work in the cultural
sector, were as worrying (or perhaps even more) than the results themselves.
Now, the same thing is happening.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Some commentators, disappointed
or even angry with the uncultured, uninterested or ignorant Portuguese,
question whether we should go out to the streets to get people and bring them
in. Others defend the opposite, that we should take what we have and go out
into the streets. Few question what it is that we really want to share? Why?
What relevance do the Portuguese see in it? In fact, the word “relevance” appears
twice in the Gulbenkian study, but never associated with the cultural offer
(it appears once associated with education and once with sociability). However,
it should be a central point when analysing the results of the study (and for
those who have some difficulty in defining “relevance”, Nina Simon's book <i>The
art of relevance</i> is a good starting point).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I get the feeling that
we want to foist something on the Portuguese. It doesn't matter who they are,
where they live, what they think about, what they yearn to do or discuss. We
plan, and programme, “in spite” of them. We pout when they say they have no
interest in what we propose (or, worse, do not have the knowledge to appreciate
what we propose…). Ticket prices are seen as a lifeline (“they don't come because
it's expensive”). Anything but questioning what we do, how and why.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The media makes its
interpretations and chooses titles such as <b><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2022/02/16/culturaipsilon/noticia/televisao-telemovel-livros-museus-1995624" target="_blank">“A lot of television and cell phone, few books and museums”</a></b>.
So prejudiced, so limiting and with so much impact on the simplified
conclusions that many people will draw from the results. I remember Access
Culture organising a debate in 2020 with colleagues, cultural professionals,
who grew up in rural areas. All of them spoke of the importance of television
in their lives, in everything they got to know, in everything they were able to
imagine. The problem is not the medium itself (and that goes for the cell phone
too). Our questioning has to go a little further.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The authors of the
study state that, in order to understand the roots of poor attendance in
cultural practices, they also asked respondents about the reasons they stay
away from them. However, “lack of time”, “lack of money”, “lack of interest”,
just like that, do not reveal what lies often behind these statements. The
“it's expensive” can hide something like “it's so big, so beautiful, it's not
for me” (I'm quoting a real person). The “I have no interest” or “I don't have
the knowledge to understand” are references that we must look into, that is, if
we have the courage to confront what they reveal about the way we communicate.
The “I am not well dressed to visit the exhibition” is a real, very real,
factor. We also have the “lack of time”, also invoked by those who work in
Culture. A reality that the pandemic allowed us to question intensely, but…
it's over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Once again, it is clear
to me that we are not willing to question ourselves. Why carry out studies if
we are not prepared to act on them? Why carry out studies if we are going to
spend a few days fuming, only to go back to what we’ve always done, as we’ve
always done it, blaming the Portuguese, Salazar (unavoidable reference in these
discussions), the school…?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“All cultural policy is
centred on the supply, that is, on artists and the structures that support
them. But we didn't know the consequences of this in terms of demand”, said
Miguel Lobo Antunes at the press conference. It’s true, but I believe we also
knew the consequence. In fact, this same cultural policy, when thinking about
the “recipients” of the offer, does not go beyond the “digital” and free
admissions, the so-called “democratisation” - or “foisting” (<b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2016/06/government-reflections-on-access-to.html" target="_blank">in this 2016 post</a></b>,
I reflected on the government’s programme for culture).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The day before the
study was presented, our Brazilian colleague Marta Porto shared with me an
article from a newspaper in her country entitled '<b><a href="https://diariodonordeste.verdesmares.com.br/opiniao/colunistas/lira-neto/volta-pra-tua-terra-nossa-cor-ea-branca-dizem-os-racistas-em-portugal-1.3192677" target="_blank">Go back where you came from’,‘Our colour is white’, racists say in Portugal</a></b>,
which began with a reference to the beating of an 11-year-old Brazilian student
in her school courtyard in Portugal. Marta asked me: "How are Portuguese
museums and programs dealing with the growing xenophobia in Portugal?" My
answer was direct and short: they don't. As they do not deal with many other
matters, small and large, serious and also happy. You could tell me “But don't
you know project a, b, c…?”. I know some and, of course, I don't know many
others. But what is at stake here is the positioning of an entire sector in
relation to life and people, this land and the world. If we want to question
the relationship of the Portuguese with “Culture”, we must start with an honest
self-questioning. Try to answer the uncomfortable question “Why do we do what
we do?”; and also “What is our relevance?”. What we would really need now is a
study on the cultural habits of cultural organisations themselves. What can the
Portuguese expect of them? Of us?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Further readings<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2021/02/curating-discomfort.html">Curating
the discomfort</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>Still on this blog<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2020/02/where-are-opportunities-regarding-aces.html">Where
are the opportunities? About the Arts Council England's new strategy</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2013/11/self-barometer.html">Self-barometre</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2017/02/on-sandy-ground.html">Looking
for sandy ground</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2016/06/government-reflections-on-access-to.html">Government
reflections on access to culture</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-national-tragedy-what-does-culture.html">A
national tragedy: what does “Culture” have to do with it?</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2013/10/the-louvre-my-son-and-i.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none;">The Louvre, my son and I</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2013/09/opera-and-city.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Opera and the City</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2013/01/dont-shush-me.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Don’t shush me!</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2012/11/image-taken-from-website-long-tail.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The industry of the vast minorities</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2012/09/on-public-value.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">On public value</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2012/05/we-are-for-people-or-are-we.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">We are for people. Or... are we?</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2012/04/ministry-of-culture-which-culture-whose.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Ministry of Culture: Which culture? Whose culture?</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2012/01/what-can-make-difference.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">What can make the difference?</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="FR" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2011/12/la-crise-oblige-ii-programming.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Crise oblige?(ii) Programming challenges</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2011/10/to-be-or-not-to-be-free-that-is-not.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">To be or not to be (free on Sundays)? That’s not the question</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2011/06/difference-between-more-and-diverse.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The difference between ‘more’ and ‘diverse’</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.pt/2011/02/changes-are-we-paying-enough-attention.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Changes: are we paying enough attention?</span></a></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #444444; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-82942008681961898282022-02-10T00:07:00.010+00:002022-02-13T09:02:28.195+00:00Having time, sparing time<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEin-ya3qga5JsOEmCv-c7lBP5YCW7SYO56-ef6hVXY8KB4QX6_qOGD5ZUjeZFvoP5ibwcRm-vbtDHiI6oQ-GY9-fpx7JQpGeG-EQa5QMdAVh0BVk8xn1qcCD-85AVgNEkd_5RngoJT4NYP6i48xrMlHXWpM_ce-dCgJ1vFtPzdOIVRsb6qjz2ha5nuf=s500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEin-ya3qga5JsOEmCv-c7lBP5YCW7SYO56-ef6hVXY8KB4QX6_qOGD5ZUjeZFvoP5ibwcRm-vbtDHiI6oQ-GY9-fpx7JQpGeG-EQa5QMdAVh0BVk8xn1qcCD-85AVgNEkd_5RngoJT4NYP6i48xrMlHXWpM_ce-dCgJ1vFtPzdOIVRsb6qjz2ha5nuf=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">S. Miguel, Azores (Photo: Maria Vlachou)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A few days ago, I read
<b><a href="https://www.kathimerini.gr/k/k-magazine/561695314/" target="_blank">an interview with Greek film director Sotiris Tsafoulias</a></b>, in which he said:
“Being an artist is not a profession. A woman who has five children, no
husband, cleans stairs and still puts a bowl of water for a stray dog or
looks at us and says 'good morning', to me she is an artist. A person does not
become an artist when they pick up a microphone, a brush or a pen. The way a
person deals with ugliness, the way they metabolise it and give it back as
goodness or light, the way they position themselves in the darkest moments of their
life, for me, this is what makes a person an artist, regardless of profession."<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">I shared this excerpt in
a meeting with colleagues from <b><a href="https://www.redecultura2027.pt/en" target="_blank">Rede Cultura 2027</a></b></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">,
responsible for Leiria's candidacy for European City of Culture, because we
tend to make the terms “culture” and “the arts” coincide and Tsafoulias
reorientates us. Marta Porto has also been insisting on this point. In her book
<b><a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2020/02/beauty-will-prevail.html" target="_blank">“Imagination: reinventing culture”</a></b>,
she reminds us that the policies that embody culture must “stimulate sensitive
mentalities capable of structuring societies where the fulfillment of rights is
not an act of mercy, but a conscious act that responds to a democratic
imperative.” And she adds: “When the examples are exceptions, we can speak of
lack or need for education. When they are the majority, we talk about social
culture, an imaginary of how we manifest, perceive and act as a social body.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">How to build a majority
of people capable of saying “good morning”, less suspicious of the other, more
available care for the commons, with more time to reflect and to talk, not
being scared to love?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Before the meeting in
Leiria, I had the privilege of carrying out seminars in four different parts of
the country and reflect on barriers to cultural participation. It was within
the scope of the new edition of the <b><a href="https://gulbenkian.pt/partisartforchange/en/" target="_blank">PARTIS & Art for Change</a></b> project,
promoted by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the La Caixa Foundation. We
were in Beja, Espinho, Ponta Delgada and Guarda and it felt good: because we
were together, among colleagues we already knew and other we just met; because
there was time to talk, find inspiration and imagine possibilities; because we
became more aware of the different realities experienced on the ground. I
continue to think and try to put my ideas in order after the intense experience
we had.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I realised once again
that we know each other little, even when we work closely together. Something
that was also observed in 2017, when Acesso Cultura held the journeys <b><a href="https://accessculture-portugal.org/beyond-the-physical-report/" target="_blank">Beyondthe physical: barriers to cultural participation</a></b>.
Then these moments of seminars come, we spend a few hours together, complicity
is created, there is a desire (rather a need) to keep in touch. And then…
everyone goes back to their daily lives, without making the effort to give more
time to those moments, to give themselves more time for a break, a meeting, a
conversation, a reading, a reflection in the company of others. Thus, everyone
stays in their “corner”, doing good and beautiful things, facing (very common
and very known) difficulties and anxieties. There is hope and despair, and
there is a feeling of isolation and, at times, even loneliness. Are we really
so lonely? Will we have time to find out that… maybe not?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At the same time, there
are factors that force us to abrupt landings and which we cannot ignore. As
when colleagues from the so-called “interior” (an “interior” which, in this
case, also includes the Algarve) tell us that in their regions only those who
have a car can do or participate in projects… What to say about this? Looking
for guidance, I return to Joana Villaverde’s 2020 article, <b><a href="https://www.publico.pt/2020/08/21/culturaipsilon/noticia/vidas-interior-importam-1928572" target="_blank">“As vidas do interior importam”</a></b> (Lives of the Interior Matter), where she questioned us: “What is it that really delimits and names this
interiority? It certainly can’t be the distance to the sea, because it is
short. What delimits and names the interior are the policies implemented for
centuries, and for centuries without major changes. This country has no
interior. This country has people who have been interiorised and pushed into
oblivion.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In one of the seminars,
I had the opportunity to have lunch with a young colleague. Her interventions
during the session conveyed curiosity and a pleasant restlessness. Then, over
lunch, she told us that she left the “safe” and “prestigious” place where she
had worked for the last few years. She said that she learned a lot, she grew
up, but that, at a certain point, she felt that she was no longer doing anything
relevant and that she had no private life. She resigned. Her desire is to get
to know the country, its different corners, and to be useful. Her confidence
and optimism were contagious. A new window of hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">After the seminars, we
had another “This is PARTIS & Art for Change” weekend. I was left thinking:
what makes me feel so full, so light, so peaceful, so hopeful when this weekend
is over? Perhaps the fact that we are in an environment where you feel love and
humanity; a space where we come across people until recently unknown, but who
end up becoming close in so many different ways; a moment when we have time, we
spare time. That weekend is like a big tight hug given by many people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Also on this blog:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2018/01/ts-elliot-terrible-hip-hop-artist.html" target="_blank">TS Elliot, a terrible hip hop artist</a></b> (written after a “This is PARTIS” weekend in 2018).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-53911646543838147422021-10-31T19:44:00.005+00:002021-11-07T10:24:55.913+00:00National theatres: mission (im)possible?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCCed2iLl3D86Ie9kM1rtXnsJSgExwbxAd3RFvBLEQA6dvwRx8e5TJv1fxV2gp372DBXrFeljOtlgoXBtL_SO1y7cLvx3B6f4nb-oTgJIcq_CTWtuO9rvz4xGFOl0_aOZzmhUnjUNNMQ/s500/tnsj_en_500.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCCed2iLl3D86Ie9kM1rtXnsJSgExwbxAd3RFvBLEQA6dvwRx8e5TJv1fxV2gp372DBXrFeljOtlgoXBtL_SO1y7cLvx3B6f4nb-oTgJIcq_CTWtuO9rvz4xGFOl0_aOZzmhUnjUNNMQ/s16000/tnsj_en_500.png" /></a></div><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;">On the occasion of its
reopening to the public, after renovation works, the National Theatre S. João (NTSJ)
organised a promising international colloquium on the theme “National Theatres:
missions, tensions, transformations”. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.tnsj.pt/en/espetaculos/6269/teatros-nacionais-missoes-tensoes-transformacoes"><b>In
its own words</b></a>, this would be “an event of multiple-voiced reflection that
is also intended as a self-questioning gesture: an international conference in
which we will provide an inter pares diagnosis and prognosis for an institution
that, though somewhat ancient, remains very much alive.”</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With his opening
speech, Pedro Sobrado, Chairman of the Board, reinforced our expectations
through an extensive questioning:<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana; font-style: italic;">Can the repertoire
be more than a cliché, or a cramped catalogued of the same plays by the very
same authors?</span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">What is the place
of the proclaimed “excellence” in National Theatres, a piece of wood where we
sometimes cling to like shipwrecked when the vessel has broken up?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">How to reconcile
the principle of exigency and the imperative of accessibility?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">And how to ensure
that intellectual accessibility does not slip into condescension, a virus fatal
to art?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is it possible
that the stage continues to be a place for taking political positions without
converting it into a school of morality and civility, according to the old and
coarse romantic formula of the National Theatre?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">How to reconcile
the commitment to experimentation and artistic risk and the principles of
effectiveness and efficiency which a public organisation must necessarily guarantee?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">How to reconcile
the flexibility that artistic creation requires with rigid legal and
administrative procedures, typical of a state organisation?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is there a way to
guarantee that the fixed costs of the structure that involve the internal
remuneration policy do not take the breath away from artistic creation?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">How to provide
exceptional financial, technical and logistical conditions to companies and
other structures without implying a smaller number of co-production projects?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is it possible to
establish a real language policy in a National Theatre?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">How to maintain
the transgressive charm or congenial insubordination of the Theatre, ensuring
institutional credibility with patrons and investors?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">What is the role
of a National Theatre in the international validation of the culture of a
country and its artists?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">How to capture and
form an audience for the theatre, responding to such culturally diverse
interests?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">How many work
fronts can a National Theatre open – educational project and connection to the
community, editorial and documental programme, management and promotion of
classified heritage, digital programming, connection to universities and
research centres, structured partnership with artistic schools, accessibility
programme – how many work fronts can a National Theatre open without ceasing to
be, first and foremost, a stage, that is, a place that deepens and exceeds its
own talent?<o:p></o:p></span></i></blockquote><p></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">(text kindly provided
by the author and translated by myself)</span></span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thinking about the
colloquium as a whole, unfortunately, it did not come to “favor and expand”
this questioning, as expected. In my opinion, there are two main reasons for
this:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Firstly, the vast
majority of guests spoke, essentially, about what their theatre does,
regardless of whether the panel's theme was missions, tensions or
transformations. In other words, there was not exactly a questioning, a critical
reflection, which would allow us to look at the “what” in terms of the general theme
proposed by the session. This is a very common problem in our sector, that is,
the inability to go beyond the “what” and think about the “why”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Then, on two of the
three panels, the people who moderated were journalists. Having, undoubtedly
and thanks to their profession, the ability to moderate a debate that is
intended to be effective and dynamic, they do not necessarily have the specific
knowledge needed in order to insist and try to deepen references that remain on
the surface or to confront them with the current discussions taking place in
the sector, both nationally and internationally. It should also be noted that
the second panel was not moderated at all: the second speaker was allowed to
speak for about an hour on various topics (I can't say which) and the third, to
speak for half an hour about the indifference and ingratitude of young people
in his country – my desperation and discomfort made me leave before the panel
was concluded, when we were already close to three hours in duration…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbW5tEs064V_BgQ4rklkWWfQgB2TDbw9lTcRiJzR2FHELCidpRngbXFy8q09ZIKCB0yGjAORkZ4fgDSAh3INpO0Ny1KmR-hv5ihKoYXCYfcxLWBrmrqJKAUEeuj-a0E3sH50oR3UVHAas/s500/20211023_114941_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbW5tEs064V_BgQ4rklkWWfQgB2TDbw9lTcRiJzR2FHELCidpRngbXFy8q09ZIKCB0yGjAORkZ4fgDSAh3INpO0Ny1KmR-hv5ihKoYXCYfcxLWBrmrqJKAUEeuj-a0E3sH50oR3UVHAas/s16000/20211023_114941_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Maria Vlachou</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That said, there were
two communications that stood out and that determined, for me, my overall
positive opinion about the colloquium:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mark O'Brien,
co-director and executive director of <a href="https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/"><b>Abbey
Theater</b></a> (Ireland), participated in the first panel, which discussed the
missions of national theatres. He was joined by two other directors, Cláudio
Longhi (<a href="https://www.piccoloteatro.org/en/"><b>Piccolo Teatro di Milano</b></a>)
and Sebastián Blutrach (<a href="https://www.teatrocervantes.gob.ar/"><b>Teatro
Nacional Cervantes</b></a>, where he works as art and production advisor, as well
as artistic director of <a href="https://www.teatropicadero.com.ar/"><b>Teatro
Picadero</b></a>), and also Ricardo Pais, former director of the NTSJ (and, in my
opinion, a small casting error on this panel).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I listened to the
speakers, I searched the websites of the institutions that represented for their
mission statements. Not surprisingly, the Italian and Argentine theatres do not
have a defined and publicly communicated mission. Perhaps that was also why the
speakers did not go beyond a description of their functions and why they
confused these functions with the mission or the mission with statements such
“a theatre for all”. Ricardo Pais reinforced this confusion when he said that
the mission/function of the NTSJ is defined by law and that the rest depends on
the personality of whoever is directing it… It would be worth thinking about
this: the law says the same in relation to TNSJ and the National Theatre D.
Maria II, but their activity (what) does not appear to have the same mission
(why); will it not be something more than what is described in the law? Should
we, at the same time, conclude that the director of Piccolo Teatro goes to work
every day without a purpose because Italian law does not define, as he would
like, the mission of the theatre he directs?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On the other hand, Mark
O'Brien told us that the Abbey Theatre's ambition is to bring upon the stage Ireland's
deepest thoughts; to confront its own paradigm; to make people reflect on their
relationship with the <i>status quo</i> (“if you don’t think it exists, you´re
probably part of it”) and to question normality. With the year of 2021 marking
100 years after the partition of Ireland, Mark further told us that the Abbey
Theatre was not born to reflect the State, but to make the State; he criticised
the “democratic dictatorships” that some theatres have become; he questioned
who is on stage (he also referred to the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/abbey-theatre-uproar-300-actors-and-directors-complain-to-minister-1.3750135"><b>open
letter against the production model adopted by the theatre</b></a>, signed in 2019
by more than 300 theatre professionals, as the greatest love letter); he highlighted
the relevance not only of the past, but of the contemporary, the present and
the future (“who writes the future?”); he drew the image of a place where
people are invited to build something together (“ban outreach”) and stated that
we should try to bring people together based on their values rather than
their beliefs. In everything Mark said we see reflected <a href="https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/about/about-the-abbey/"><b>what the Abbey Theater
assumes to be its mission</b></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1ZqcGyHTEJc1ni3UxTwD7q6OmwpAQmV3jP1oCLafpS-ZM2T7eoXe5_TVXI-63pD8dXx_zp8FDaJWmCYWSJneYjU5EAv9vFXWTOwsophiYqpY9RsFExRiuD8hUSaU4vfYwxCjWSCRrfk/s500/abbey_mission_500.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1ZqcGyHTEJc1ni3UxTwD7q6OmwpAQmV3jP1oCLafpS-ZM2T7eoXe5_TVXI-63pD8dXx_zp8FDaJWmCYWSJneYjU5EAv9vFXWTOwsophiYqpY9RsFExRiuD8hUSaU4vfYwxCjWSCRrfk/s16000/abbey_mission_500.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jackie Wylie is the artistic
and executive director of the </span><a href="https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>National
Theatre of Scotland</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. She participated in the panel on transformations,
along with Anna Bergman (director of </span><a href="https://www.staatstheater.karlsruhe.de/" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Badisches Staatstheater
Karlshrue</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">) and Michael de Cock (artistic director of </span><a href="https://www.kvs.be/en/" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>KVS</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, Brussels). Jackie's communication stood
out for several reasons. First, because the National Theatre of Scotland is a
theater without walls (“a natural step in the process”) and presents its
programming in other theatres, pubs, in the mountains, in submarines; it does
not create hierarchies between different forms of theatre (professional,
community, etc.), it seeks to enable anyone's ambition and does not put
excellence first (“defined by the privilege of white cisgender men”). The
National Theatre of Scotland believes that there is not a stable national
identity and it follows changes in values assumed as “Scottish”, highlighting
at this point tolerance, care and well-being (especially, in the face of
Brexit, which most Scots opposed). “You don’t get to be national because it’s
in your name,” Jackie said. It is a never-finished project in constant
development, daily. She questioned how a national theatre reflects the nation
today and, above all, what its future will be, and not just past identities.
“Let us tr a utopian version of what the future might look like and take
responsibility for taking the nation through a debate. Let's look for stories
that are untold or undertold.” Again, it is worth confronting this positioning
with </span><a href="https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/about/who-we-are" style="font-family: verdana;"><b>what
the National Theatre of Scotland assumes to be its identity</b></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfc-MfhAZosaQjfC42XZ8dQBMU7MsLUw7xlmjSY_z6j4SaMOQQz0e1eXJxBo1h6m-hPggxGkiLyHnRAqy25BzwGB_Kr1uPb3B-U9LkqYWlTN9u8lUVj0nidv71psQEPKBpbLqZ_6F6uyA/s644/nns_.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfc-MfhAZosaQjfC42XZ8dQBMU7MsLUw7xlmjSY_z6j4SaMOQQz0e1eXJxBo1h6m-hPggxGkiLyHnRAqy25BzwGB_Kr1uPb3B-U9LkqYWlTN9u8lUVj0nidv71psQEPKBpbLqZ_6F6uyA/s16000/nns_.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">What distinguished
these two communications was clarity of thought and purpose; a conscious
action, anchored in the mission and in specific values; a concrete notion of
what constitutes “community” and the service that should be rendered to it. The
management of most cultural organisations continues to fail in this regard.
Without a defined mission, and often confusing it with specific functions or
activities, they lack the guidance and consistency that this instrument brings
to an organisation. And they also lack accountability. Perhaps, this is really
why we avoid defining it…</span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Further reading:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mark Fisher, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jan/15/national-theatre-england-scotland-wales-ireland" target="_blank"><b>Stage of the nation: what does it mean to be a national theatre?</b></a>, in The Guardian, 15.1.2019</span></span></p></span></div>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-38580850015420425832021-10-17T18:41:00.004+01:002021-10-17T18:41:50.003+01:00Visions of the empire<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYOEuwMC9rLlL7itWe7vBzMFxGZh9qSHL2Yq-xPPGxScG9wPZv5B_mjvzZhcATH7zOSu0s87KKhkFa-J3ynZWnkuJOkNBQCwVE1DhPKrcY7BHlzWzynm3VVnNm6UohqTG01hbMYMBhp0/s500/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYOEuwMC9rLlL7itWe7vBzMFxGZh9qSHL2Yq-xPPGxScG9wPZv5B_mjvzZhcATH7zOSu0s87KKhkFa-J3ynZWnkuJOkNBQCwVE1DhPKrcY7BHlzWzynm3VVnNm6UohqTG01hbMYMBhp0/s16000/cover.jpg" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">Visions of the Empire</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"> is an exhibition of photography and about photography.
One more exhibition in the programme of Padrão dos Descobrimentos (the Monument
to the Discoveries in Lisbon), which is one of the cultural institutions that
most questiones (itself and us) about the country's colonial past and about slavery.
<a href="https://padraodosdescobrimentos.pt/en/event/visions-of-empire/"><b>On the
website of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos</b></a>, one reads that “Photographic
images were staged and commercialised with numerous goals. They changed hands,
both officially and secretly, they were forgotten or destroyed. They documented
individual and collective dreams and memories. They fuelled the imagination
around colonial domination, helping to make it come true. They contributed to a
vision of the “other” as essentially different ‒ regarding ways of life,
customs and mentality ‒ and to the establishment and maintenance of laws and
practices founded on political, social, economic and cultural discrimination
and drawn along racial lines. Moreover, they served to denounce the iniquity
and violence of colonisation, encouraging aspirations for a more humane and
egalitarian future that spanned various political hues and orientations. Their
uses in the past and their legacy in the present were ‒ still are ‒ vast,
heterogeneous and long-lasting.”<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I would like to begin
by saying that I find it very significant, from a symbolic point of view, that
it is in this monument, which <a href="https://padraodosdescobrimentos.pt/en/monument-to-the-discoveries/"><b>“evokes
the Portuguese overseas expansion, recalls the country’s glorious past and
symbolises the enormity of the work carried out by the Infante, the driving
force behind the Discoveries”</b></a>, that we are invited not to revise history,
but to critically revisit it (as Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio would say).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In recent years, I had
the opportunity to visit <i>Return – Traces of Memory</i> in 2016 (I wrote
about it <a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2016/03/recent-past.html"><b>here</b></a>),
<i>Racism and Citizenship</i> and <i>Red Atlantic</i> in 2017, <i>About Africa!</i>
in 2018. What I felt with this latest exhibition, <i>Visions of the Empire</i>,
is that, even without completely meeting my expectations, it strengthens a
conscious, committed and coherent intention to deepen the debate, to go a bit
further every time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">An <a href="https://leitor.expresso.pt/semanario/semanario2540/html/revista-e/culturas/uma-bandeira-nao-veste-um-pais"><b>interview
in the newspaper Expresso</b></a>, which I read after visiting the exhibition,
raised some questions for me. Joana Pontes, one of the exhibition coordinators,
“is keen to underline that 'the objective of the exhibition was not to criticise
the colonialist model adopted by Portugal', not least because both
[coordinators – Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo and Joana Pontes] disagree with the
'polarised and moral form' how the debate has developed. What is urgent is to
inform, they say. ‘This exhibition tries to show that it is possible to think
beyond accusation or collaboration. There was no filter of criticism, but the
intention to show the diversity of points of view of the photographs and the
uses it had.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The entire exhibition
is a critical appreciation of the colonialist model adopted by Portugal. How could
it not be? (I don't even question, of course, if this should be desirable…). Do
the coordinators consider the result to be a “neutral” or “balanced” proposal?
Some concrete examples that occurred to me when I read the interview on
Expresso:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">How should the visitor
interpret the extensive use of quotation marks in words and expressions
included in the texts? (see photos 1 and 2 below). I interpreted most of it as criticism.</span></span></p></blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">How should the visitor
interpret the phrase “The 'moral obligation to work', applicable only to
Africans, sometimes 'under conditions analogous to slavery', predominated in
political speeches, in legislative texts, in administrative practices.” (photo 1)? We can
attribute the first, on the “moral obligation to work, to the colonial
administration, but who is being quoted in the second (“under conditions
analogous to slavery”)? It is not clear nor does it allow us to better
understand which sources were consulted.</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYhQIBopjijmCbeMY2z5R7MNduILJ2-kyVGwTjxWqxpLhg2cyInWmGHzEErYg7Q8EY9q7oT8Czz_lji0zJAvIzt0tNr2qptUJdBA1NUFIGCmjl87_YLZvyNU0XOmFbKlpaAzaXK-wIJA/s500/foto+1_en.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYhQIBopjijmCbeMY2z5R7MNduILJ2-kyVGwTjxWqxpLhg2cyInWmGHzEErYg7Q8EY9q7oT8Czz_lji0zJAvIzt0tNr2qptUJdBA1NUFIGCmjl87_YLZvyNU0XOmFbKlpaAzaXK-wIJA/s16000/foto+1_en.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo 1</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtF-Lf95cttCV0yxzdp6UHWP2B0YmI3lbd-mnU2Np-97TyJ-C5nQn5ALKHHdjm0ovEk0jLa063fOBRrdOsooTTyqQx32vPdgc5PHHGzNaXsO73NOFk9i9V7Q8Wtq2WtHYxNF-G45FSkM/s500/foto+2_en.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtF-Lf95cttCV0yxzdp6UHWP2B0YmI3lbd-mnU2Np-97TyJ-C5nQn5ALKHHdjm0ovEk0jLa063fOBRrdOsooTTyqQx32vPdgc5PHHGzNaXsO73NOFk9i9V7Q8Wtq2WtHYxNF-G45FSkM/s16000/foto+2_en.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo 2</td></tr></tbody></table>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In a part of the
exhibition entitled “The workshops of the soul”, we see photograph 3 (below)
and we read in the caption that it is a “Student learning to be a teacher” and
that it belongs to the collection “Methodist Missionaries Photographing
Angola”. The image raised several questions for me, being a black student teaching
a class of white children. There is no other information about it and my
questions were not answered at all. Further on, in a section on state propaganda,
we see another similar photograph (Photo 4), of “A coloured Portuguese teaching
a white Portuguese” (caption on the photo itself). Here, the exhibition caption
reads that it is a “Photo sent by Angolans to the Secretary General of the
United Nations”. Therefore, here we understand that we are invited to see this photo
in the context of propaganda; and we are left confused as to who, in this
context, were the “Angolans” who sent it to the United Nations.</span></span></p></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEius86QZBG4nStc5jPB2K9CLfQPUrqe-RSsy97efKbTm-cuC0pGNMXVoAVJEl_Zv91UbzHeG-0Dx7pPfI0l2HQYGrg67TRvIP0LPMXnZY-_HAGwBWR34EVku8m_GJwqyG-pfd8zmkyhgX4/s500/foto+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEius86QZBG4nStc5jPB2K9CLfQPUrqe-RSsy97efKbTm-cuC0pGNMXVoAVJEl_Zv91UbzHeG-0Dx7pPfI0l2HQYGrg67TRvIP0LPMXnZY-_HAGwBWR34EVku8m_GJwqyG-pfd8zmkyhgX4/s16000/foto+3.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo 3</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfTpvRvsQxBxSy34RdAd2wwzq6e9hvz6NCU9qWL8TQYzdTOx4GB3v0unWtvy9KpUO2dPyioGx4wL329c7P6p0EkTjVOMCVEjIuWiROTUwUGsjm90IETWMEpfuTFQImfmYHsNvmFcFu_A/s500/Foto+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfTpvRvsQxBxSy34RdAd2wwzq6e9hvz6NCU9qWL8TQYzdTOx4GB3v0unWtvy9KpUO2dPyioGx4wL329c7P6p0EkTjVOMCVEjIuWiROTUwUGsjm90IETWMEpfuTFQImfmYHsNvmFcFu_A/s16000/Foto+4.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo 4</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Also in this section on
propaganda, and considering it is an exhibition whose coordinators say that
“There was no filter of criticism, but the intention to show the diversity of
points of view of the photographs and the uses it had”: how is the voice of the
man who said “I lived there, it was like this, this was not propaganda at all!”,
regarding the photo on the bus (Photo 5), integrated in the exhibition?</span></span></p></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgcLgUE06RpRqaemiUnpNE2sJWJEX9LD8b4jr40CXGzHoIqLg3HjqtTmi67sXozdj_INYVPI64tIDZ-GXX-ps4gA5yKuwvJvt6rmv257DXS8fbEMjlV6gOTQ5Z3Ge-UORhtWq4VzYNJM/s500/foto+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgcLgUE06RpRqaemiUnpNE2sJWJEX9LD8b4jr40CXGzHoIqLg3HjqtTmi67sXozdj_INYVPI64tIDZ-GXX-ps4gA5yKuwvJvt6rmv257DXS8fbEMjlV6gOTQ5Z3Ge-UORhtWq4VzYNJM/s16000/foto+5.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo 5</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Given these examples
(which make me question the intended lack of criticism, but also the combination
of different voices and experiences in the exhibition), I must also say that I
liked the fact that responsibility was taken for these texts. By this I mean
texts were signed by someone (I imagine researchers connected to the
exhibition?), whose name we see at the top of the panel, contrary to the common
practice in museums and exhibitions of presenting opinions without saying who
they belong to. Likewise, I liked the panels entitled “From my point of view”
(Photo 6), which seem to bring other voices, although I kept thinking: Who are
these people? What is the context from which they give us their vision? Why was
their point of view included in the exhibition?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoavkx5LJlg7eT22HI3AJYnzfRl1CchDEbkE4oQt5n4cz34zuRep55E0eI8mKABqVu3D_ngBpCGbyRrG5OBXYfhTjiDcZKPCKsIP8zVZmeOcJjkOO1BH59CHEqKNpntHKd_mG2dWj5-o/s500/foto+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoavkx5LJlg7eT22HI3AJYnzfRl1CchDEbkE4oQt5n4cz34zuRep55E0eI8mKABqVu3D_ngBpCGbyRrG5OBXYfhTjiDcZKPCKsIP8zVZmeOcJjkOO1BH59CHEqKNpntHKd_mG2dWj5-o/s16000/foto+6.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo 6</td></tr></tbody></table></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">One last comment I
would like to make has to do with several references in the labels which, if
there was no translation into English, I would not know what they meant (photo
7). In an exhibition, open to the general public, prior knowledge should not be
assumed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQsERMwL-O65FeSq8jQXsA_5ShwxBzYxypnSKSn_WHgLSJOKp-tgZFILh_1N7jCaygw9w1BJq4kkD3kA8EoToROmQcZKICpPAEwLihsvZVzYd-qurh-QkIfLkgH2g81XGgz2t21cY03o/s541/Foto+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQsERMwL-O65FeSq8jQXsA_5ShwxBzYxypnSKSn_WHgLSJOKp-tgZFILh_1N7jCaygw9w1BJq4kkD3kA8EoToROmQcZKICpPAEwLihsvZVzYd-qurh-QkIfLkgH2g81XGgz2t21cY03o/s16000/Foto+7.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo 7</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In sum, I would say
that I liked the exhibition, it brought me information and images that I didn't
know and a critical view which allowed me to question and reflect better on
what I will expect from the next exhibition of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos,
considering the path it has been following. The exhibition </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Visions of the
Empire</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> continues until the 30th of December. It is accompanied by a programme
of events and activities, in which I highlight the cinema cycle </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Other Empires,
Other Visions</i><span style="font-family: verdana;">, which began on October 13th and continues until November
26th.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It goes without saying
how necessary and urgent this questioning, this reflection is. Or perhaps not?
Looking at other initiatives by some cultural institutions and having attended
several debates in recent months, we repeatedly see the delayed this debate is in
Portugal. At the annual conference of Acesso Cultura | Access Culture, on
October 11th, some black colleagues shared with us their impatience with the
state of affairs or the exhaustion caused by it (recordings <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FuWWtqzVs4&list=PLFD7mwBKVOdVcZVefTnA-zV2-A9VbCAJg"><b>here</b></a>
in Portuguese). They are right, and we must take responsibility for this
impatience and exhaustion. We have to do our part. In recent years I have
invested a lot (time and money) in readings and debates to educate myself in
relation to what was never present in my path (in school and beyond).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm lucky to work in
this sector, where I'm exposed to different references, I can hear colleagues
in the first person. But not everyone will have the time and money to do it.
And for many more it is not an issue or a priority among the various issues.
Formal education will be fundamental, in the long term, for the education of
those who will enter primary school. But for those who are already more
advanced in their school path (as it is now) and for the adults in this country,
where will this self-education take place? In museums, theatres, libraries,
cinemas. Through us, culture professionals; if we are part of people's lives.
Our relationship with people is a whole other chapter, discussed several times on
this blog.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-35954219290618330432021-10-10T16:40:00.006+01:002021-10-10T17:45:55.881+01:00To provoke a sigh<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZTgoqcCRnmqjiURcHE8DHZd1lgbaaWmTkjPhyT_nrViJgVe_iOHfdi4s0OfFnlzwoQb0j6xze0IkdP5aC9hHZcDD8mVoV2BNjrR6K8GY49sjh5lKp61NRG3wf9gMWbgUI464c7i9DiJ0/s500/20211007_102632.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZTgoqcCRnmqjiURcHE8DHZd1lgbaaWmTkjPhyT_nrViJgVe_iOHfdi4s0OfFnlzwoQb0j6xze0IkdP5aC9hHZcDD8mVoV2BNjrR6K8GY49sjh5lKp61NRG3wf9gMWbgUI464c7i9DiJ0/s16000/20211007_102632.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p>This week, I participated in <a href="https://www.23milhas.pt/ciclo/territorios-publicos-2021/"><b>Territórios
Públicos</b></a> (Public Territories), the national meeting of services of education
and mediation organised by 23 Miles, the cultural project of the Municipality
of Ílhavo. I like the name of this initiative, which makes me think of words
like “community” and “communication” – communication that creates community –
the connection created by a shared task (to remember the speech “What is to
love a country” by Tolentino Mendonça).</p><p>The beginning of the
meeting was marked by the participation of Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio, by the worlds
he brings along and generously shares in his public interventions, with a
mixture of charming seriousness and captivating lightness. I could highlight
several points, but, considering the theme of this post, what seems to me most
relevant is to refer to the way he encouraged us to follow the impulse of our
constant ignorance, which takes us from the stereotypes, to the interrogation, the
questioning, the doubt…<span></span></p><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">That same afternoon, we
had the opportunity to listen to Nuno Faria (Artistic Director) and Marta
Bernardes (Educational Projects Manager) from the City Museum of Porto. They
presented an idea of a city museum that intrigues, an intention to question,
to go deeper, to look at the museum-institution as an institution also in
crisis, with the need to look at itself, to question and to change.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirv1nQQmAXWLt8ySzHjQofxm7kSVWMWnOxnp4B5Z9FxAgQMHlwYWZt9DUr-RcLCbThidgL0Fsbdjulc9UjVXsO8j6zvFE5jWkcOtRil0gBlKbdagzsgfOt3dnuYNAMt3MnEBPyBWmEzbU/s500/20211002_113541.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirv1nQQmAXWLt8ySzHjQofxm7kSVWMWnOxnp4B5Z9FxAgQMHlwYWZt9DUr-RcLCbThidgL0Fsbdjulc9UjVXsO8j6zvFE5jWkcOtRil0gBlKbdagzsgfOt3dnuYNAMt3MnEBPyBWmEzbU/s16000/20211002_113541.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p class="MsoNormal">With Laborinho Lúcio's
words about our constant ignorance still echoing in my head, I felt that this
project was presented based on too many certainties, too many convictions about
what people may or may not feel, may or may not want, may or may not need. I
also think that the presentation did not go beyond theory, there was no
intention or ability to speak in a more concrete way. In fact, I felt there was
some arrogance involved, which became stronger (and, for me, even uncomfortable)
when a young colleague asked how people get to the museum. It seemed to me to
be a question in the literal sense (how do they find out, how do they get
information, how do they get there), but it was also seen in a metaphorical
sense: how do people reach the content, how do they relate to it.</p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Marta Bernardes spoke
of people's lack of artistic education; the failures of the school in this
regard; the way people demand to understand and demand to understand in the way
they want. She made a comparison with children who enter elementary school to
learn to read and write and for whom what at first appears to be
incomprehensible scribbling begins, with practice, to take on meaning. She
compared it to her own ignorance, and consequent lack of understanding, of a
rugby game, until a friend with more knowledge explained some basic rules to
her. To return to the lack of artistic education.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I visited the former
Romantic Museum (now called the Extension of Romanticism) a few days ago. I
must say that I had only visited it once or twice in the past, both before the
2017 refurbishment. Those visits did not leave any special memories. I found
the name (the main attraction on the first visit – the first also to the city
of Porto) more interesting than the content itself. I must say that I was very
uncomfortable with the violence of the criticisms made on social media regarding
the new project. Most of them, at the time, were based on photographs and
convictions, they didn't reveal any curiosity, they were mostly angry. I
wondered what could be the reasons for this anger and also the criteria of
professionals in the sector when certain museums or collections disappear (I
thought specifically about the <a href="https://musingonculture-en.blogspot.com/2017/06/what-is-happening-to-transport-and.html"><b>continued
silence in relation to what is happening at the Museum of Transport and
Communications</b></a> in the same city).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLpUGKKcjvARf9lJDBqdoW3Ji5Z3L6EZp2a3VoAZ8J9y5K4hep0iE6POOvV9X0K9E-sIZGjrLPnFAxdGJZm16uuMyRaOXjDRZYfK8eUl3ReR9BOYX8himo3P6_m85eVtpwycH_HvedIU/s2608/20211002_Museu+Romantico+intro+en.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2608" data-original-width="1206" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLpUGKKcjvARf9lJDBqdoW3Ji5Z3L6EZp2a3VoAZ8J9y5K4hep0iE6POOvV9X0K9E-sIZGjrLPnFAxdGJZm16uuMyRaOXjDRZYfK8eUl3ReR9BOYX8himo3P6_m85eVtpwycH_HvedIU/w296-h640/20211002_Museu+Romantico+intro+en.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p class="MsoNormal">Feeling no special
connection to the former Romantic Museum, without anger or hurt and with some
curiosity, I wished to get to know the new project; which did not communicate
with me: an introductory text without relevant information, based on various
assumptions regarding the visitors' prior knowledge; and then several objects
and works of art on display, without any context or information, except a leaflet
given at the entrance through which visitors can make a simple correspondence
between what they see on display and the layout presented in the leaflet. The <a href="https://museudacidadeporto.pt/"><b>City Museum’s website</b></a> prepares the
most experienced visitor for this kind of disorientating and despairing experience:
confusing, not at all intuitive, an aesthetic exercise at the expense of
functionality, which results in an inaccessible website.</p><p class="MsoNormal">How was the evaluation
of the former Romantic Museum carried out? What did museum professionals and
visitors think of it? How was this decision for radical change made? For what
purpose? What need was identified? What are this project’s references in what concerns
education and mediation? These are some of the questions I hope to
see clarified in the near future.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Before visiting the
Extension of Romanticism, I visited the Municipal Gallery, where the exhibition
<a href="https://www.galeriamunicipaldoporto.pt/EN/exposicao/os-novos-babiloniosatravessar-a-fronteirapedro-g-romero-2021/"><b>“The
New Babylonians”</b></a> is on display. About 10 minutes later I was on my way out.
Once again, I was confronted with an introductory text that said nothing to me;
better texts, but very extensive, on the walls (which I was able to take with
me and read, sitting down calmly, in a brochure provided by the gallery) and a
constant, deeply tiring, crossover of sounds from different videos.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl6kQIATvnL72bmF2RIsjy7JCXKchZCwCgwjsT4nkFVq3eF_hzQvA7wiTj8x0fxwhWUQT0BP5Wb7h389BSnBW7lOpDtZgiwQC2ebx9qHG87wUwEVnBVqzFwCNhup8C8p-GN9x_fjmTOkk/s1200/20211002_Galeria+Municipal+Porto_Novos+Babil%25C3%25B3nios.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl6kQIATvnL72bmF2RIsjy7JCXKchZCwCgwjsT4nkFVq3eF_hzQvA7wiTj8x0fxwhWUQT0BP5Wb7h389BSnBW7lOpDtZgiwQC2ebx9qHG87wUwEVnBVqzFwCNhup8C8p-GN9x_fjmTOkk/w400-h300/20211002_Galeria+Municipal+Porto_Novos+Babil%25C3%25B3nios.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfP7SLqnISIgZ5RO2V4HGi6X21y-KRU-i5B5lSndWWS1cO05qjdCsnyONUxqFXSySRKk77sgp_kIa2o32A2ESpoRHE7tcISLXwMXcMvPYOIvL-1wAH-waiZkOEWSseRZZoP-HY2PPP7A/s1600/20211002_Galeria+Municipal+Porto_Novos+Babil%25C3%25B3nios+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfP7SLqnISIgZ5RO2V4HGi6X21y-KRU-i5B5lSndWWS1cO05qjdCsnyONUxqFXSySRKk77sgp_kIa2o32A2ESpoRHE7tcISLXwMXcMvPYOIvL-1wAH-waiZkOEWSseRZZoP-HY2PPP7A/w300-h400/20211002_Galeria+Municipal+Porto_Novos+Babil%25C3%25B3nios+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">At times like these, I
always remember Canadian museologist Gail Lord who told us, when she visited
Portugal a few years ago, that the good thing about museums is that you don't
have to take an exam to get in and another one to get out… But it seems that,
in certain museums, this is exactly what is expected of us. We are guilty of
our ignorance, when those responsible for them do not clearly know if they want
to communicate, with whom and why. I visit different types of museum (art,
history, science, archaeology) and I feel that some of their curators or
commissioners expect me to have their knowledge or perhaps to consult the bibliography
in advance in order to have a meaningful, relevant visit. Curators know how to
navigate them with their eyes closed, but they throw the visitor inside without
any guidance or map. This is not a museum (in the current definition, and
perhaps in the future as well). It's not easy to communicate with people who know
nothing or very little (which is the case of most of us, people who visit
museums). But there are professionals capable of recognising their “constant
ignorance” and with a genuine and honest interest in and ability to
communicate: for the pleasure of sharing, of communion, of communication, of
community.</p><p class="MsoNormal">I would like to end up
referring to a person I met yesterday at <a href="https://2021.materiaisdiversos.com/en/como-comunicamos-quando-queremos-falar-de-cultura/"><b>Festival
Materiais Diversos</b></a>, and who I stole from the title for this post. Architect
and visual artist Filipa Morgado is developing, with the support of the
Directorate-General for the Arts, the project CAU – Cortém Aldeia Urbana, in
her village of Cortém, near Caldas da Rainha. She returned to Portugal because
of the pandemic, to spend more time with her father. She wanted to do something
in her village, for and with the residents. A village built on both sides of a
road, without a central square. She spoke to people, who expressed their
satisfaction with what they have, with their way of life. She involves them in
the project by knocking on the door, leaving information in the mailbox,
calling them on the phone. What does Filipa Morgado, also a resident of the
village, wish for? That people may be surprised. “My aim is to provoke a
sigh…”. That's what stayed with me from yesterday's conversation.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOL83AS3filqwv4ZG93_4C_mfggB_KHVnnd0rVMK_wG7wMZpqibYEarXBRrGJ9HVuTYqKjSjsj9UisYw-zkT7kd1TS98rOSrRi0f4am_n_PBY6WaOY88dNd_MVym_HHF6ooHGdXzAVw8/s500/materiais_luisa+baeta.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOL83AS3filqwv4ZG93_4C_mfggB_KHVnnd0rVMK_wG7wMZpqibYEarXBRrGJ9HVuTYqKjSjsj9UisYw-zkT7kd1TS98rOSrRi0f4am_n_PBY6WaOY88dNd_MVym_HHF6ooHGdXzAVw8/s16000/materiais_luisa+baeta.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">Photo: Luísa Baeta | Materiais Diversos</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2863406321717725344.post-9848956684168353112021-08-26T16:31:00.002+01:002021-08-26T16:31:16.051+01:00A distant park, an ocean liner and a truck with rocks: Museum visions and the much-desired change<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9qa322CtCyyvocO3momc1JsAyxN3U_hpFCVdiCBnK-RK2l5MXX-67pmIyhq1rTyRKafQUJ4zsQbPF3OKhWICw2154QAvbZlAb6oD9hCK8k736RVg3gnU8_jL-linb_GjLyvmLr8WB1g/s500/20210826_ICOM+Prague.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9qa322CtCyyvocO3momc1JsAyxN3U_hpFCVdiCBnK-RK2l5MXX-67pmIyhq1rTyRKafQUJ4zsQbPF3OKhWICw2154QAvbZlAb6oD9hCK8k736RVg3gnU8_jL-linb_GjLyvmLr8WB1g/s16000/20210826_ICOM+Prague.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">My presentation today at the International Symposium ICOM 2021 in Prague. <b><a href="http://musingonculturextra.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-distant-park-ocean-liner-and-truck.html">Read here</a></b></span></div><br /> <p></p>Maria Vlachouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00554995071039470430noreply@blogger.com0