Wednesday 29 May 2019

On the radio - May 2019

In my monthly spot on RNZ's Nine to Noon programme, this month I reviewed "The Room" exhibition at Objectspace in Auckland, photographer Edith Amituanai's new survey exhibition at the Adam Art Gallery in Wellington, and proposals from around the world to replace Notre Dame's spire.

Sunday 19 May 2019

Reading list, 19 May 2019

"on occasion, we feel it’s necessary to step away from gifts that are not in the public interest, or in our institution’s interest" - the Met turns down Sackler moneyAnand Giridharadas opinion piece.

There's something nice about seeing a director interviewed four years in about their philosophy & changes they've made, rather than at the time of their appointment: ‘There Were Women Working Then, Too’: How Dia Director Jessica Morgan Is Breaking Open the (Male) Canon of Postwar Art

Interesting for museum interpretation: the Guardian is changing the language it uses when reporting on the environment to be more emphatic. “We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue. ... The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity.”

In a similar vein - Erin Banks' guide to trans-inclusive design, which has a lot to share about communicating with people across all media.

Julia Halperin for Artnet: Borrow, Barter, Crowdsource: How Small Countries Bootstrap Their Way to the Venice Biennale

Still open in my tabs: a reflection, 30 years on, on the importance of the 1989 exhibition Magiciens de la Terre

Saturday 11 May 2019

Reading list, 11 May 2019

Stagecoach South East, the bus company, was brought onboard by Turner Contemporary in Margate, host of this year's Turner Prize: the company and the gallery have parted company one day after the announcement, due to protest over Stagecoach's boss's anti-gay views.

Marc A. Thiessen's column for the Washington Post on Jenny Holzer's installation: A museum has turned itself into an instrument of anti-U.S. propaganda:

It’s no surprise that the art world is left wing. But the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — an institution owned by an American foundation, in the heart of Spain — has turned itself into something worse: an instrument of anti-American propaganda. The museum is spreading calumnies against the men and women of the U.S. military and fueling hatred of America in a foreign land.

Linking to Rebecca Solnit's writing is so passé, and yet: When the Hero is the Problem

teamlab and Meow Wolf are taking over the world: here's Rachel Monroe on the latter for the New York Times - Can an Art Collective Become the Disney of the Experience Economy?

The papers from the 2019 Museums and the Web conference are available online

A useful history of art / artists / arts communities on the internet by Kelsey Ables for Artsy: The Rise and Fall of Internet Art Communities

Canadian Heritage has allocated $680,000 Canadian i to the Canadian Museums Association to undertake a national review of museum policies with Indigenous communities, to ensure alignment with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People and make recommendations for best practice.

The New York Times Magazine documented the development of its cover designs for a year


Saturday 4 May 2019

Reading list, 4 May 2019

Still chewing this over with a lot of discomfort: Is this ‘Common’ Language? A College’s Misguided Guide by Rand Richards Cooper on Commonweal and a copy of the Amherst common language guide referred to in the opinion piece, since redacted by the university.

Recent writing by Nathan “Mudyi” Sentance: Queering [the museum] needs to be anti-colonial

Three pieces of catch-up reading from the Pantograph Punch:

Speaking of which, the Pantograph Punch is looking for a new director: a 0.5 role working alongside the Editor in Chief to run the platform

I'm sure I've linked to this before, but an extract & link to the full statement: Germany reveals Framework Principles for Dealing with Collections from Colonial Contexts

Recently from Nina Simon: evaluating and ranking potential risks of failure, to get organised & reduce stress

NPR's guide to saying "foreign" names on air

Thousands of articles of everyday women’s clothing are being preserved in lockers in a college basement. But where, exactly, does their value lie?