In 2008 I contributed to "The Unexhibitable: A Conversation", Exhibitionist (Vol.27. No.2. Fall 2008, p.7). This was in response to the question: What, if anything, is "unexhibitable"? I based my answer on an article about police museums that I had published in the UK's Museums Journal ("Right to Remain Silent?"). In it I concluded that, "when it comes to the question of policing today, it is clear that the traditional approach of an exhibition open to self-guided museum visitors does not work". By this I meant that museums dealing with policing and dependent on the support of local police forces are unable to address contentious contemporary issues.

Thinking about the limits of exhibitability helps to draw our attention to the often invisible constraints of museum practice. Of course, notions of acceptability are time and place specific: that which might be unproblematic in one museum at one historical moment could be unthinkable in another context. The work and ideas of the Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei springs to mind here.

The Futurist Manifesto of 1909 declared a wish "to demolish museums and libraries". For the Futurists, museums were akin to cemeteries - an idea echoed by Theodor Adorno (1903-69) who equated the museum with the mausoleum: "Museums are like the family sepulchres of works of art" (cited in Hal Foster (ed.) Postmodern Culture. London: Pluto Press, p.43).

But recent events in Edinburgh suggest that these "dead" places are very much alive. Over 22,000 people visited the National Museum of Scotland on the day it reopened following a three-year, £47m refit.

Adorno and Futurists like Filippo Marinetti (1876-1944) must be spinning in their graves!

See: Donnelly, Brian (2011) "Museum's makeover sees visitor numbers rise 10-fold", Herald Scotland, 30/07, accessed 30/07/2011 at, http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/museum-s-makeover-sees-visitor-numbers-rise-10-fold-1.1114857

From 1947 until 1966 Arnold Schwarzenegger lived with his family in an upper floor flat in the Austrian village of Thal, not far from Graz. With no amenities and an outside toilet these humble origins underline the distance the bodybuilder, Hollywood star and governor of California has travelled. His childhood home has now opened as a museum dedicated to the village's most famous son (see http://www.arnieslife.com).

Schwarzenegger remarks in the film, Last Action Hero (1993): "This hero stuff has its limits". This seems to be borne out when it comes to the birthplace museum, which takes a critical stance on Schwarzenegger's support for the death penalty. In addition, the BBC reports that Schwarzenegger's name was once removed from a sports stadium in Graz when he refused to stop the execution of a California gang leader (see Bell, Bethany (2011) "Arnold Schwarzenegger museum opens in Austrian hometown", BBC News, 30/07, accessed 30/07/2011 at, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14352384).

Brian Haw died on 18 June 2011. A former sailor in the Merchant Navy, he came to prominence in 2001 when he decided to establish a peace camp in London's Parliament Square. This was prompted by his opposition to British foreign policy in countries such as Iraq and, later, Afghanistan. The visibility of Haw's protest and its proximity to parliament led to attempts to pass legislation that would enforce his removal. These were largely abortive and he continued his campaign until his death earlier this year.

Should Haw be remembered? If so, how? There have been calls for the raising of a statue or plaque in his memory. Another approach would be to rename the area outside parliament "Brian Haw Square". An alternative form of commemoration might be for a fund to be established in his honour and the proceeds used to further the causes he promoted.

Naming things and places after "famous" people can be problematic - as becomes clear from this interesting article: Spencer, Clare (2011) "The pitfalls of naming places after famous people", BBC News, 29/07, accessed 30/07/2011 at, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14323173.

But what would motivate us to remember Brian Haw? Bear in mind that some - particularly those in power - would no doubt prefer it if we forgot both him and what he stood (or rather crouched) for...

I've just found out about an interesting-sounding exhibition that recently closed. Called ParaDesign it was hosted by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (25/02 - 24/07/2011). It apparently brought together:

"objects from SFMOMA's architecture and design collection that question the norms, habits, and conventions of design. The prefix para (whose meanings include "beyond" and "abnormal") has not previously been applied to design, yet marks a central focus of the museum's architecture and design collection."
Source: http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/427 (accessed 29/07/2011)

This prompts two thoughts:

• Do ParaMuseums exist and, if so, how do they differ from "normal" museums?
• Did SFMOMA's exhibition include items of military design? Conventional accounts of design history tend to focus on aesthetically pleasing, domestic objects to the exclusion of items from other spheres - especially military equipment. This point is well made by Kjetil Fallan in his recent book Design History: Understanding Theory and Method (Oxford & New York, Berg, 2010). The image Fallan uses to visualise this missing aspect is a torpedo boat from Norway called, interestingly enough, ‘Nasty’ (see page 9). This absence of the military sphere from design history is an issue that I intend to take up in my chapter "Banal Nordism: Recomposing an old song of peace" due to be published in Performing Nordic Heritage (Peter Aronsson & Lizette Gradén, eds., Ashgate, c.2012).
  

A monument is currently being erected in the main square of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Entitled "Warrior on a Horse", it is a colossal figurative sculpture by Valentina Stefanovska. The work is scheduled to be inaugurated on 8 September 2011 - the 20th anniversary of Macedonian independence. The Greek authorities are opposed to the work because of its connotations with Alexander the Great. This is part of a wider dispute over territory, national symbols, cultural heritage and collective identity - as explained in articles such as:

Anon (2011) "Greece Criticizes Macedonia Over Alexander The Great Statue", 16/06, Radio Free Europe, accessed 25/07/2011 at, http://www.rferl.org/content/macedonia_alexander_the_great_statue_greece_dispute/24237371.html

Testorides, Konstantin (2011) "Macedonia erects giant warrior on a horse statue", Associated Press, accessed 25/07/2011 at, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015383271_apeumacedoniastatue.html

For another "statue war", see: Burch, Stuart & David J. Smith (2007) "Empty Spaces and the Value of Symbols: Estonia's 'War of Monuments' from Another Angle, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 59 (6), pp. 913-936 -- available here.

Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951) made a fortune in the pharmaceutical industry and used it to establish a museum in his home town of Philadelphia. He first launched a foundation in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts". His collection of primarily 19th and early 20th century European paintings moved to a purpose-built museum in 1925. Access was restricted and it was only really in the 1960s that the general public gained admittance.

Financial problems that arose in the 1990s have now culminated in the closure of the museum in readiness for its relocation from the suburbs of Philadelphia to a new site in the city centre. This goes against the expressed wishes of the founder and will result in the loss of the carefully-considered "wall ensembles" arranged by Barnes and intended to remain untouched in perpetuity. These losses will be offset by increased accessibility and, hopefully, a secure financial future for the collection.

The Barnes Museum therefore raises lots of important questions, including such issues as the nature of collecting; interpretation and display; continuity and change; the role of museums in society plus the ethical and legal debates that can arise as a result.

The new Barnes Museum is due to open in early 2012 - see http://www.barnesfoundation.org

The National Gallery in London has curated an exhibition about its first director, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865): Art for the Nation: Sir Charles Eastlake at the National Gallery (National Gallery, 27 July - 30 October 2011).

It is reviewed in: Bates, Stephen (2011) "National Gallery's pioneering collector celebrated with exhibition", The Guardian, 24/07, accessed 24/07/2011 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jul/24/national-gallerys-pioneering-collector-exhibition

The exhibition and the newspaper coverage remind us of the difficulties that arise when we judge past actions by today's standards. This becomes clear as soon as we compare Eastlake's behaviour with the Museums Association's Code of Ethics for Museums (2007, available at: http://www.museumsassociation.org/ethics/code-of-ethics):

"Essentially the National Gallery we have today is the result of Eastlake" (Bates 2011)
- Avoid behaviour that could be construed as asserting personal ownership or control of collections or any part of them (Code of Ethics, 1.3)

"Eastlake... became used to waiting for, and then haggling with, Italian art owners - and to clambering up ladders, or hauling pictures into the light to see whether they were worth buying" (Bates 2011)
- Acquire items honestly and responsibly (Code of Ethics, 5.0)

"He was not above using subterfuge to get round bureaucracy" (Bates 2011)
- Use agreed procedures for taking the final decision to acquire an item (Code of Ethics, 5.21)

"Eastlake would write letters to colleagues about his acquisitions to their home addresses, rather than to the gallery, so as not to alert foreign authorities to what he had bought."
- Make information publicly accessible (Code of Ethics, 9.3)

For the past few years I have been involved in a research initiative entitled, "Nordic Spaces". Some of the outputs from this scheme are listed under 02 Articles. More information can be found here: http://nordicspaces.com.

Recent tragic events in Norway put lots of things into perspective - including our responsibilities as informed social commentators. This point was driven home to me by this media comment:

"While police continued to interrogate Breivik, who was charged with the mass killings, evidence of his increasingly far right world view emerged from an article he had posted on several Scandinavian websites, including Nordisk – a site frequented by neo-Nazis, far right radicals and Islamophobes since 2009."
Townsend, Mark et al (2011) "Norway attacks: Utøya gunman boasted of links to UK far right", The Guardian, 23/07, accessed 23/07/2011, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/23/norway-attacks-utoya-gunman

The fact that the word Nordisk has been invoked in association with something so utterly repugnant exposes a very depressing "Nordic space".

On 17th July, a visitor to the National Gallery vandalised a painting by Poussin. Jonathan Jones used this as an opportunity to call for the abolition of free entry to museums (see my post "Poussin vandalised", 19/07/2011). There is, however, no logical connection between these two attacks (one physical the other conceptual). This is also the case when it comes to entrance charges and the question of deaccessioning, i.e. the sale or disposal of museum collections - an issue that Jones took up here:

Jones, Jonathan (2011) "Museums should feel free to charge admission", The Guardian, 21/07, accessed 23/07/2011 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/jul/21/museums-charging-admission-entry-fees

Jones has therefore sought to mask his preconceived, subjective point of view behind what appears to be a reasoned response to two current events (namely vandalism and cuts to state funding).

Attitudes towards the financing and management of museums vary. This is why we need to aim for consensus based on genuine debate. However, for this to succeed we must be on the lookout for poorly argued, prejudiced dogma masquerading as balanced journalism. For an excellent example of this we need look no further than Jonathan Jones's thoughts on whether or not we should pay to enter our national museums.

The American artist, John Seward Johnson II (born 1930) is famed for his gargantuan bronze statues. His latest effort is a 26ft tall representation of Marilyn Monroe. She strikes a pose made famous from the film The Seven Year Itch. The work has been placed on a temporary basis on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The response has been mixed to say the least:

See, for example, Ritchie, Abraham (2011) "Marilyn Monroe sculpture is 'creepy, sexist'", Chicago Tribune, 13/07, accessed 21/07/2011 at, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-13/entertainment/chi-marilyn-monroe-sculpture-creepy-sexist-20110713_1_sculpture-marilyn-monroe-sculptor

Perhaps Seward Johnson's Forever Marilyn should be proposed as a temporary resident for Trafalgar Square's "empty plinth" (http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth)? The response of the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson would surely make the effort worthwhile.

Illicit trade is a global threat to cultural heritage. It is also closely linked to other criminal activities such as people and drugs trafficking plus the illegal trade in arms. A case in point is the arrest in Serbia of Goran Hadžić, a man suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in the former Yugoslavia. He was apprehended in July 2011 thanks to his botched attempt to sell a painting purported to be by the Italian artist, Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920). (See Tanner, Adam & Aleksandar Vasovic (2011) "Stolen art held clue to Serbia war crimes arrest", Reuters, 20/07, accessed 20/07/2011 at, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/us-finearts-serbia-modigliani-idUSTRE76J41920110720.)

This affair reminds us that museums must at all times conduct themselves in an ethical manner. ICOM's Code of Ethics for Museums (2006) explains why:

4.5 Display of Unprovenanced Material
Museums should avoid displaying or otherwise using material of questionable origin or lacking provenance. They should be
aware that such displays or usage can be seen to condone and contribute to the illicit trade in cultural property.
- available at: http://archives.icom.museum/ethics.html

But more than that, in accepting items of questionable provenance, museums would be helping the likes of Goran Hadžić to evade justice.

The Impact of Cuts on UK Museums is the title of a report published by the Museums Association. It documents the extent of financial cuts occurring in local authority funded museums and the negative impact this has had on their programme of activities, opening hours and staff levels. These are short-term repercussions, but what will the long-term legacy of this be? Can the sector recover? What strategies might be adopted to deal with this radically changing landscape?

On Tuesday 19th April, Rupert Murdoch - the Chief Executive of News Corporation - gave evidence to a select committee of the British House of Commons. His appearance was in response to the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed his organisation. During his evidence he described the now defunct News of the World - once Britain's best selling newspaper - as "small" in the context of his global business. This is an admission that News Corp is too large. The failings of oversight are therefore due to its size and scope. Mr Murdoch has made the perfect case for the breaking up of his media empire.

On Sunday 17th July 2011, two oil paintings by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) were sprayed with red paint by a visitor to the National Gallery in London. This could and almost certainly should be condemned as an act of mindless vandalism. But it can be framed in others ways too.

Compare it, for example, with the exhibition Banksy versus Bristol Museum (2009). The museum apparently allowed the anonymous Banksy to do whatever he liked in the galleries, even to the extent of displaying fakes and introducing graffiti into the hallowed environment of the institution. The museum management explained to the visitors that:

"This exhibition presents work by a local graffiti artist called Banksy. Everything on display has been produced legitimately for the purpose of exhibition. The museum does not support or condone any form of illegal activity, regardless of its artistic merit."

From this we can conclude that definitions of what is and what isn't art are not fixed; and that the issue of "artistic merit" is not the sole criteria. Anything can qualify as "Art", so long as it is sanctioned and legitimised by the art world, i.e. museums, directors, dealers, art critics - and individuals purporting to be Artists.

In addition, consider the way in which the Poussin story has been framed by the Daily Telegraph:

Waters, Florence (2011) "Poussin vandalism sparks museum fee debate", Daily Telegraph, 19/07, accessed 19/07/2011 at, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8647250/Poussin-vandalism-sparks-museum-fee-debate.html

Why bring the issue of entrance fees to the fore here? Is the newspaper reporting a connection or seeking to make that association for its own purposes?

The framing of the incident - e.g. the parallels I draw with Banksy or the Daily Telegraph's mentioning of entrance charges - frame the story just as decisively as the ornate golden border that circumscribes Poussin's The Adoration of the Golden Calf, as can be seen here in its vandalised state:

Jones, Jonathan (2011) "Why Poussin's Golden Calf was a sitting duck at the National Gallery", The Guardian, 18/07, accessed 19/07/2011 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/jul/18/poussin-golden-calf-national-gallery-security

The house in which the writer J.G. Ballard lived from 1960 until his death is for sale, reports The Guardian:

Leith, Sam (2011) "If we can't buy J.G. Ballard's former home, then we should at least erect a statue to him", The Guardian, 18/07, G2, p.22, accessed 18/07/2011 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/17/j-g-ballard-former-home

It would be marvellous if it were museumified. Visitors would be able to join Ballardian guided tours and then go "shopping for the memories of his childhood" in the museum store. By the way, that quote is from Ballard's The Drowned World (1962). One of the book's protagonists is Strangman. He and his fellow pirates strip the world's flooded museums of their "objets d'art" and "bric-à-brac: votive urns, goblets, shields and salvers, pieces of decorative armour, ceremonial inkstands and the like". The Ballard Museum in submerged Shepperton filled to the brim with Ballardian bric-à-brac would surely be high on Strangman's shopping list...