Are European cultural institutions immune to political pressure?

A year and a half ago, I moderated a discussion with the then director of the American Library Association (ALA), Emily Drabinski, and with Julia Lesser, from the project CHAPTER - Challenging Populist Truth-Making in Europe: The Role of Museums in a Digital ‘Post-Truth’ European Society. I will come back to Julia below, I would like first discuss what Emily shared with us on that occasion.

In 2024, when we spoke, pressure groups in the US, such as Moms for Liberty, had tried to remove 2452 books from school and public libraries (according to ALA, which also reported that between 2001-2020, the average was 273). The books mainly refer to LGBTQIA+ characters or themes, as well as racism, equality, social justice, the American Civil War or religion. Many reports referred threats against librarians and layoffs, as well as the serious mental health problems that these professionals faced. I then asked Emily if we are exaggerating when we react in our countries to the slightest sign of censorship, intolerance, verbal violence in the cultural sphere. “Absolutely not,” she replied. “We got where we are because we kept giving space.”

Is Culture responding...?

Público journalists Daniel Dias and Mariana Duarte wrote an article entitled "Is culture in Portugal responding to what's happening in Palestine?" I don't recall the Portuguese media ever questioning the response that culture is giving to contemporary political issues. The two journalists claim that their piece is written on the occasion of Joana Craveiro's new work on Palestine. However, being familiar with the political work of Joana Craveiro/Teatro do Vestido and other artists, I don't recall this type of questioning on other occasions. Therefore, I suspect that this is one of the results of the National Theater D. Maria II (TNDMII) statement on Gaza and the reactions it provoked.

What does the National Theatre have to do with this?

Today's article in the Portuguese newspaper Público, in English.

Afrogreeks, Lithuanian Roma and the first women of Zagreb museums (take 2)

I wanted to write about these exhibitions for some time. These treats museums in different countries offered me in the last months took my mind away from the gruesome reality we are living. They gave me energy and good spirits, not to forget or ignore, but to stubbornly focus on something better in the horizon. 

(Note: All photos on this blogpost by Maria Vlachou)

My speech at Wool festival

 

Here's the link to my talk at Wool Festival, Covilhã. I discussed the rise of the far-right, democracy, culture and public space.

Staying true to our values

 

My keynote speech at the annual conference of the Balkan Museum Network in Zagreb. Can we stay true to our values? Read here

Freedom requires virtue and boldness

Let those who heavy feel
The cupreous hand of fear
Under slavery’s yoke live;
Mettle and virtue is what
Freedom wants.
“Fourth Ode, To Samos” by Andreas Kalvos
(translated by Neni Panourgiá)

 

I read Lonnie Bunch’s “A fool’s errand” as if it was a fascinating novel. With the same urgency, with the same pleasure and emotion. I had the honour of meeting Lonnie Bunch in Lisbon, a bit more than two years ago. Apart from his intelligence, another thing that made a lasting impression on me was his humbleness. I found the combination of both these qualities also in the book. And I admired his generosity in sharing with all of us the endeavour of creating a museum, starting with a team of two and without a collection: the dreams and ambitions, the values and principles, the misjudgements, the failures, the planned and unplanned successes. And also the underlying vision of “making America better”. As Lonnie Bunch put it, this was not only about “what kind of museum I wanted, but also what kind of America I believed in” (p. 183). All this together gives us one of the most significant manuals on museum/cultural leadership.