I am a republican with little interest in the pharmaceutical industry. This summer will therefore be a testing time for me, what with London hosting the Olympic Games and the British monarch celebrating her diamond jubilee.

Fortunately these two events are only temporary. They will, however, leave lasting legacies. One such is the 175,000 m2 Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. Britain’s gold medal haul would really rocket if the "Retail Relay" were to become an Olympic event.

Heaven on earth is now a reality for the shoppers of London.

Meanwhile, another legacy project has yet to be accomplished. And, in an effort to help ensure that it remains that way, I have rushed to my keyboard with the same zeal as a drug-fuelled athlete reacting to the boom of the starting pistol.

For it grieves me to report that a group of cretinous politicians are proposing to turn the Houses of Parliament's "Big Ben" into the "Elizabeth Tower" in honour of our dear old queen.(1)

Now, a number of arguments can be deployed to support this obsequious suggestion.

Firstly, the name change wouldn't really matter. The vast majority of locals and visitors would continue to mistakenly refer to it as "Big Ben". Its proper – and far more mundane title – is simply "the Clock Tower". Big Ben alludes to its great bell, which in turn is probably a reference to the politician and engineer, Sir Benjamin Hall (1802-67).

Secondly, the re-christening would bring this iconic symbol in line with the Victoria Tower on the other side of the building. This erection takes its name from Queen Victoria, Britain's erstwhile longest-serving monarch.

Ditching Ben in favour of Liz would add yet another royal epithet to the Houses of Parliament – or, to give it its formal designation: the New Palace at Westminster. This title reflects the fact that Sir Charles Barry's architectural fantasy arose from the ashes of the old palace. Only Westminster Hall survived the inferno that engulfed this ancient edifice in 1834.

The centuries-old Westminster Hall is skilfully integrated into Barry's neo-gothic design. Earlier this month the queen paid it a visit in order to witness the unveiling of a stained-glass window to mark her jubilee.(2)

As she looked up at this glittering tribute, I wonder if she spared a thought for Charles I? For it was in that very same building way back in January 1649 that this soon-to-be-beheaded monarch was put on trial – and sentenced to death.

Charles's nemesis was Oliver Cromwell.

Cromwell was still causing a right royal rumpus two centuries later. This was in relation to the decorative scheme planned for the New Palace at Westminster. If you look carefully you'll see that parliament's façade is festooned with statues of the various kings and queens that have ruled England and Britain through the ages.

This carved history posed a dilemma to its designers: what should be done about Cromwell?

For the sake of historical accuracy and completeness he ought to have been slotted in between Charles I (executed in 1649) and his son, Charles II (restored to the throne in 1660).

But placing a regicide in a royalist pantheon proved to be a commemorative step too far.(3) Cromwell was sculpturally excised from British history. Not until the very end of the 19th century was the Lord Protector rewarded with a statue. He stands there to this day: at one remove, deep in thought and with his back turned to parliament.(4)

So, whether you like it or not, Cromwell is part of Britain's political and monarchical history. If "Big Ben" must have new nomenclature, then it should from this year on be known as "Cromwell Tower".

What better way to mark Queen Elizabeth's jubilee? A silent admonition not only to this monarch but to all her heirs: they occupy positions of privilege and power not by right but by accidents of birth.

Other, far less anachronistic and slightly more democratic systems are possible.

The Cromwell Tower will remind the House of Windsor and all their subjects that we should not take the status quo for granted.

God Save the Queen!

____
Notes
(1) James Chapman, "Bong! Will Big Ben tower be renamed after the Queen? MPs call for the London landmark to be renamed for the Diamond Jubilee", Daily Mail, 23/03/2012, accessed 25/03/2012 at, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2118999/Big-Ben-renamed-Elizabeth-Tower-Queen.html.
(2) Jon Craig, "Westminster To Honour Queen's Diamond Jubilee", Sky News, 20/03/2012, accessed 25/03/2012 at, http://news.sky.com/home/politics/article/16192187.
(3) The phrase "A regicide in a royalist pantheon" appears in the fifth chapter of my PhD, which concerned the commemorative history and symbolism of parliament and the adjacent square. See Stuart Burch, On Stage at the Theatre of State: The Monuments and Memorials in Parliament Square, London (Nottingham Trent University, 2003).
(4) The stupendous statue of Cromwell - with bible in one hand and sword in the other - was made by Sir William Hamo Thornycroft RA (1850-1925) and completed (without an unveiling ceremony) in 1899. Ever since 1950 he has stood face-to-face with a lead bust of Charles I inserted into a niche on the façade of St. Margaret's Church opposite...
     ... as can be seen below:

We're all copyright criminals.

I can't imagine anyone reading this blog could put hand on heart and claim to be completely innocent of contravening the laws governing intellectual property. How many of us can say with any confidence that they actually understand what the rules are anyway? What percentage of the material on this website is unlawful? Am I at risk of being dragged off to the United States like Mr Dotcom, the founder of the now deceased Megaupload?

The rise of an entity such as Megaupload must make the publishing industry look back longingly to the lost innocence of the analogue age. Yet even those more tranquil times were plagued by dastardly pirates. As a young boy I spent many hours recording my brother's LPs onto audio cassettes. Occasionally I would come across the dire warning that "home taping is killing music". This struck me as absurd then. It sounds even more contemptible today.

Nevertheless, copyright has always been a deeply contentious issue. A recent case reported in The Art Newspaper captures this perfectly. A British judge has apparently ruled that a photograph used on packs of a certain brand of delicious tea has broken the law. The guilty illustration shows a red London bus driving harmlessly across Westminster Bridge with a desaturated black and white image of the Houses of Parliament in the background. This is similar yet really very different to an existing photograph that uses the same sort of effect.

The Art Newspaper has been quick to criticise this judgement "for moving into the realm of protecting ideas, rather than the expression of ideas" and fears that "[t]he ruling could have serious implications for artists who reproduce parts of other photographs."(1)

I am indeed fearful for my namesake, Stewie Griffin who adopts a similar technique in the gorgeous video accompanying his quite stunning cover of Bryan Adams' power ballad, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"(2).

                                                             *

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on the popularity of Pinterest, a resource that allows its nearly 18 million users to "pin" web images to their own virtual scrapbook. This, as the newspaper rightly points out, is a legal minefield.

The newspaper characterises how Pinterest works as follows:

        Each subscriber [to Pinterest] curates a board or boards of photos, and then other users can
        click on the links to the original source and choose to re-pin the image on boards of their own.(3)

This has very strong echoes of John Berger's Ways of Seeing, in particular Berger's thoughts on children and adults "curating" museum postcards on a bedroom or office wall.(4) Berger argued provocatively and persuasively that, "[l]ogically, these boards should replace museums"(5).

And so, forty years after the publication of Ways of Seeing, technology now allows Berger's vision to become a reality.

Let's just hope that none of the resulting collages of "curated" collections feature iconic red objects set prominently against a familiar black-and-white background. Otherwise the copyright cops will be kicking down bedroom doors in search of seditious scrapbooks, curatorial criminals and the occasional tea leaf.(6)

More tea, Stewie?

____
Notes

(1) Anny Shaw, "Landmark ruling to be challenged: Why a British judge decided that an image of a bus on Westminster Bridge infringed copyright", The Art Newspaper, Issue 233, 14 March 2012, accessed 18/03/2012 at, http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/-Landmark-ruling-to-be-challenged/25891.
(2) Family Guy, "Ocean's Three and a Half", season 7, episode 7, first broadcast 15 February 2009. See http://familyguy.wikia.com/wiki/Ocean%27s_Three_and_a_Half, accessed 18/03/2012.
(3) Therese Poletti, "Is Pinterest Like Napster on Copyrights?",  The Wall Street Journal, 15 March 2012, p. 19.
(4) See Emily McEwan's synopsis of Berger's Ways of Seeing at, http://emilymay.wordpress.com/research-papers/john-bergers-ways-of-seeing/, accessed 18/03/2012.
(5) John Berger, Ways of Seeing, BBC & Penguin, 1972/2008, p. 30.
(6) With this in mind, Sweden's Moderna Museet ought to watch out when it comes to its black, white and red photography collection. See Stuart Burch, "Seeing red", 25/09/2011, accessed 18/03/2012 at, http://www.stuartburch.com/1/post/2011/09/seeing-red.html.

_Over a hundred years ago H.G. Wells imagined "a modern substitute for books" in his futuristic novel The Sleeper Awakes (1899/1910).

After downloading this fascinating novel for free from Project Gutenberg I added it to my newly acquired Sony eBook Reader PRS-T1 using the open source Calibre programme. And, stylus in hand, I found myself doodling Wells' prophetic words on the touchscreen.

Goodness me, what a joy and a privilege it is to live in an affluent part of the world at the dawn of the 21st century...

_ Today is the day of Václav Havel's funeral. To mark this occasion I have been reading his remarkable "Letter to Dr Gustáv Husák, General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party". This is dated 8th April 1975, shortly before Husák assumed the presidency of Czechoslovakia. He held this post until 1989. His successor was Václav Havel. This is a remarkable turn of events given that the Husák regime imprisoned Havel for his political beliefs.

In his letter of 1975, Havel makes a number of fascinating comments about history.(1) For Havel, "true" or "real" history is chaotic. It comprises a whole series of unique, unrepeatable events. It follows, therefore, that only a truly vibrant society – "a society that is really alive" – is capable of appreciating and generating true / real history.

The antithesis of this authentic history is what Havel calls "pseudo-history", the author of which is "not the life of society, but an official planner." These apparatchiks substitute "the disquieting dimension of history" with a remorseless succession of "non-events": stilted, stifling and repetitive anniversaries, celebrations, parades, congresses. These are used by governments to maintain the pretence that "history is moving". The result is that,

    thanks to this substitution for history, we are able to review everything that is happening in society,
    past and future, by simply glancing at the calendar. And the notoriously familiar character of the
    recurrent rituals makes such information quite as adequate as if we had been present at the
    events themselves.

This raises a slightly tricky dilemma, however. Václav Havel is likely to be commemorated by a phalanx of "recurrent rituals", including anniversaries, celebrations and perhaps even the occasional congress or two. Maybe his birthday – 5 October – will become "Václav Havel Day". But wouldn't it be awful if this became just another "non-event" in the commemorative calendar? Surely the worst possible way of remembering Havel would be to enlist him to the cause of pseudo-history; to trap him in all the "trappings of state"?(2)

With this in mind, any incipient "Václav Havel Day" must be a madcap mix of "the continuous and the changing, the regular and the random, the foreseen and the unexpected". It should be a moment of radical reflection – as much about the present and future as about the past. A true "Václav Havel Day" would be an occasion to bring our societies to account in all sorts of innovative and satirical ways. Put simply: to create true history. This would safeguard us from falling into a nostalgic yearning for a pseudo-past and succumbing to the dead hand of pseudo-history.

Václav Havel is sadly no longer alive. It is up to us to ensure that he goes on living in the realm of true history.

____
Notes

(1) The following quotations are derived from Václav Havel's "Letter to Dr Gustáv Husák, General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party", pp. 3-35 in Living in Truth (Jan Vladislav, ed.) (London: Faber & Faber, 1989).
(2) Stuart Hughes, "Vaclav Havel funeral: World leaders pay respects", BBC News, 23/12/2011, accessed, 23/12/2011 at, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16304858.

__Earlier this month it was announced that a series of London-based museums would be renewing their £10m sponsorship deals with BP.(1) These initials - BP - are derived from "British Petroleum", the name the company adopted in 1954.

Some people feel that it is inappropriate for institutions like Tate or the British Museum to accept money from an oil company responsible for such environmental disasters as the Sea Gem oil rig collapse (1965), the Texas City Refinery explosion (2005) and the Deepwater Horizon well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico (2010).

However, as the firm is keen to stress, BP means "Beyond Petroleum". Associating itself with art and culture is therefore good for business.

But is it good for society?

Recipients of financial support - be it in the form of public grants or private sponsorship - need to guard against undue influence or censorship. A cautionary tale is provided by this year's Lacoste Prize at the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland. Despite claims to the contrary, it appears that pressure from the sponsor has led to the cancellation of the award.(2) This seems to have been triggered by the Jerusalem-born artist Larissa Sansour and her artwork, Nation Estate (2011-12). Inspired by Palestine's bid for nation status at the UN, Sansour has opted to imagine a dystopian vision of a future world in which the

    Palestinians have their state in the form of a single skyscraper: the Nation Estate.
    Surrounded by a concrete wall, this colossal hi-rise houses the entire Palestinian
    population - finally living the high life. Each city has its own floor: Jerusalem, third floor;
    Ramallah, fourth floor. Intercity trips previously marred by checkpoints are now made
    by elevator.

    Aiming for a sense of belonging, the lobby of each floor re-enacts iconic squares and
    landmarks - elevator doors on the Jerusalem floor opening onto a full-scale
    Dome of the Rock. Built outside the actual city of Jerusalem, the building also has
    views of the original golden dome from the top floors.(3)

Executives at Lacoste felt that all this was a far cry from the competition's theme of happiness ("joie de vivre"). Lacoste's sweet little "green crocodile logo" was clearly about to lose its cheeky grin.(4) So the company sought to close the elevator doors on Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate.

If this was their intention, then the opposite has transpired. I would never have heard of Larissa Sansour or her thought-provoking sci-fi skyscraper without the helpful intervention of Lacoste.

So perhaps private sponsorship isn't such a bad thing after all?

____
Notes

(1) Mark Brown, "Galleries renew £10m BP deal despite environmental protests", Guardian, 19/12/2012, accessed 22/12/2012 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/dec/19/galleries-renew-bp-deal-protests.
(2) "Lacoste Prize cancelled amid censorship row", BBC News, 22/12/2012, accessed 22/12/2012 at, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16299688.
(3) "Nation Estate", accessed 22/12/2012 at, http://www.larissasansour.com/nation_estate.html.
(4) "Lacoste logo", accessed 22/12/2012 at, http://www.famouslogos.us/lacoste-logo.

__"Revolt... steps out of living within the lie... [and] is an attempt to live within the truth...
    "When I speak of living within the truth, I naturally do not have in mind only products of conceptual thought, such as a protest or a letter written by a group of intellectuals. It can be any means by which a person or a group revolts against manipulation".

Václav Havel (1936-2011), The Power of the Powerless, 1985

The sound of silence...

"Today We Remember Martin Luther King
 – Tomorrow We Don't"

The quotation above doesn't come from some highbrow History book or academic article exploring collective memory. Instead it's from a newspaper. The New York Times, perhaps? Or the Sydney Herald? No, the actual source was The Springfield Shopper.(1) Homer Simpson's local paper is an odd place to study history. Yet this fleeting, one-line gag in The Simpsons is in fact a witty and perceptive appreciation of how societies remember and forget.

The annals of past events are limitless. This gives rise to whole calendars of commemorations – like Martin Luther King Day. An event such as this is one of the mechanisms necessary to filter, rank and arrange the past; to make it manageable and to put it to use. To turn the past into History.

Anniversaries help supply the present with their historical fix. No matter how insatiable we are, there is always a ready supply of past pleasures and pains for us to use and abuse. One anniversary leads to another and another in a bulimic spewing up of the past.(2) And by comparing multiple commemorations of the same event we get an insight into the ways in which the past is put into the service of the present.(3)

Take today, for example. It is Armistice Day. Ninety-three years have passed since the end of the "Great War". This gives rise to the intoning of that familiar mantra:

        On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918,
        the guns fell silent and the First World War came to an end. Today on
        11th November, we remember, in silence, all those who have given
        their lives in war in the cause of peace and freedom.(4)

This moment is marked by repetition. The observing of silences; the laying of wreaths; the tolling of bells; the playing of music. These recurring performances have been re-enacted following a score set down by the Royal British Legion exactly 90 years ago.

Such rituals are intended to interrupt the haphazard unfolding of day-to-day events by inserting a familiar pause – a link in time connecting our present with our past, secure in the knowledge that this will happen again in our future. This is how the chain of history is constructed. Shared memory is deployed to forge collectivities.

Repetition and sameness are emphasised. But, if we look carefully, what they actually highlight is that which is different or new. Thus, whilst we are remembering past wars, we are also encouraged to reflect on current conflicts. Those that observe silences or gather around memorials in the UK are made aware that British soldiers in Afghanistan are doing just what their forebears did, namely giving "their lives in war in the cause of peace and freedom."

Not everyone agrees with this, of course. Certain members of the now-illegal "Muslims Against Crusades" were planning a counter demonstration today. They too wished to observe this memorial occasion and its associated symbolism. Yet they would prefer to burn a plastic poppy rather than place it at the foot of an old war memorial. Such behaviour is distasteful and disrespectful – but should it be punishable by imprisonment?

The potency of the poppy confirms the sense in which 'the flower has become an iconic symbol of remembrance and sacrifice.'(5) Its importance and that of the November ritual as a whole appears to be increasing rather than diminishing as the years go by. This explains the seemingly disproportionate amount of attention the media devotes to reports of a war memorial being vandalised or dishonoured. A steadily rising number of plaques listing the names of the dead have been stolen from such monuments. The high value of scrap metal makes an uncomfortable parallel with the high value of the sacrifice inscribed in each and every liquefied name.

The heat required to melt these metal sheets is matched by the temperature rising in commemorative terms. This is due to the imminent arrival of the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Will 2014 represent a high-water mark of remembrance? We can't know the answer to this because we simply don't know what the future holds or what future generations will choose to remember and forget.

So it seems fair to say that The Springfield Shopper headline got it right and wrong: "Today We Remember Armistice Day – Tomorrow We Don't". But the day after that we will: it's Remembrance Sunday. And the wreath-laying rituals will be repeated all over again – for some people at least.

_____
Notes

(1) 'The Springfield Shopper', The Simpsons 18/9 (2006).
(2) Pierre Nora, Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past. Vol. III: Symbols, New York, Columbia University Press, 1998, p. 609.
(3) Stuart Burch, 'The Texture of Heritage: A Reading of the 750th Anniversary of Stockholm', International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 11 (3), 2005, pp. 211-233.
(4) BBC Radio 4 News, 11:00, 11/11/2011.
(5) Angus Crawford, The World at One, BBC Radio 4, 11/11/2011.

__________
Supplemental
18/11/2011

One American citizen who does not observe Martin Luther King Day is George Orr, the principal protagonist in Ursula K. Le Guin's superb book, The Lathe of Heaven (1971). He is able to alter the world by having what he terms "effective" dreams (p.13). Orr's unconscious solution to racism is to dream into existence a globe populated solely by grey-skinned people. But in so doing he erases the woman he loves: Heather Lelache's "color of brown was an essential part of her, not an accident... She could not exist in the gray (sic) people's world. She had not been born." (p. 129) And that is not all: this is also now a world that "found in it no address that had been delivered on a battlefield in Gettysburg, nor any man known to history named Martin Luther King." (p. 129) All this might seem like "a small price to pay for the complete retroactive abolition of racial prejudice". But George Orr finds the situation "intolerable. That every soul on earth should have a body the color of a battleship: no!" (p. 129).

Source:
Le Guin, Ursula K. (1971/2001) The Lathe of Heaven (London: Orion)

    
 
    For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
    we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven,
    not built by human hands.
            2 Corinthians 5 (New International Version)

The quotation above is from Paul the Apostle's Second Epistle to the Corinthians. It currently has a special resonance given the makeshift anti-capitalist protest camp that has appeared outside St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The continuing presence of these tents has today led to the resignation of the dean of St Paul's, the Rt Rev Graeme Knowles. He stepped down from his post on the grounds that "criticism of the cathedral has mounted in the press, media and in public opinion" to such an extent that his position was "becoming untenable."(1) The dean's departure follows the resignation last week of the canon chancellor, Giles Fraser.

Toby Young has argued that it was Fraser who prevented the Metropolitan Police from dispersing the "Occupy London" protesters who gathered outside the cathedral following their abortive attempt to target the London Stock Exchange. Young condemned Fraser for actions that had forced St Paul’s cathedral "to shut its doors to the public, resulting in losses of £20,000 a day."(2)

Whether accurate or not, Young's reference to lost income underlines the fact that St Paul's Cathedral is a heritage enterprise. Should you happen to be a doubting Thomas when it comes to the heritagisation of the cathedral, then I suggest you pay a visit to its online shop (3).

In happier circumstances, visitors to the cathedral are able to hire a touchscreen multimedia device before climbing the dome or exploring the crypt. They can then "travel back in time in an immersive film experience" before quenching their thirst with a nice cup of tea. After all, "[t]here's probably nothing more uniquely British than afternoon tea" (to quote "The Restaurant at St Paul’s", which inevitably has its own dedicated website).(4).

All this comes at a cost, of course. A six year old child would need to find £5.50 to enter this house of God (this includes the multimedia guide but not a cup of tea). Adults have to part with £14.50.(5)

Those with a little less cash might decide to visit the National Gallery where they can genuflect for free in front of all manner of altar panels ripped from various churches.

Alternatively, frustrated visitors to St Paul's might seek shelter in the tents clustered around its grand entrance. They'd probably be more likely to learn about the teaching of Christ in a protest camp than at the ticket desk of the cathedral.

The church authorities should consider downloading and digesting the words of the Rev Billy. In so doing they will be "delighted to discover the difference" between "consumerism" and "freedom". Because those protesters who "disturb the customers" from shopping at St Paul's Cathedral just might be loving their neighbour. After all, these "ordinary citizen[s]" holding onto that "patch of public commons... are the New World." (6) And that New World is taking shape at the gates to St Paul's Cathedral, much to the Church of England's annoyance.

The cash tills of St Paul’s Cathedral are silent. Only once each and every "earthly tent" is cleared away will they be able to open their coffers once more.

Hallelujah for the Church of England!

____
Notes

(1) "Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral announces intention to resign", 31/10/2011, accessed 31/10/2011 at, http://www.stpauls.co.uk/News-Press/Latest-News/Dean-of-St-Pauls-Cathedral-announces-intention-to-resign-31-October-2011.
(2) Toby Young, "Canon Giles Fraser resigns from St Paul's Cathedral on Twitter, having single-handedly cost the Cathedral hundreds of thousands in lost revenue", 27/10/2011, accessed 31/10/2011 at, http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100113964/canon-giles-fraser-resigns-from-st-pauls-cathedral-on-twitter-having-single-handedly-cost-the-cathedral-hundreds-of-thousands-in-lost-revenue/
(3) Shop at St Paul's Cathedral, http://www.stpaulsshop.org.uk.
(4) The Restaurant at St Paul's, http://www.restaurantatstpauls.co.uk/afternoon-tea.
(5) "Sightseeing Times & Prices", accessed 31/10/2011 at, http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Visits-Events/Sightseeing-Times-Prices.
(6) Talen, Bill (2008) "Beatitudes of Buylessness", The Shopocalypse, stopshopping music (see my "Life without products" posting, 23/08/2011).

The association between museums and "sacred" or "consecrated" places has long been understood (Elliott 2002). This overlap has now been rendered complete by the National Gallery's temporary exhibition Devotion by Design: Italian Altarpieces before 1500 (6 July – 2 October 2011). One of its rooms recreates the interior of a Tuscan church from around 1500 complete with candlesticks and candle light, altar crucifix and religious music.

The exhibition explores altarpieces - their construction, commission and construal. It also tackles "the business of altarpiece design". It has far less to say about the business of altarpiece acquisition.

This silence is achieved by a careful process of exclusion, as is apparent in the room entitled "Dislocation". It is introduced as follows:

        The objects in this room are all fragments of different altarpieces. Some altarpieces were
    modified or updated quite early in their history to appeal to the prevailing tastes of the time.
    The majority, however, were dismantled following the suppression of religious institutions
    across Italy during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
        Altarpieces that were not directly transferred to art galleries in Italy appeared on the art market,
    encouraging the attention of scholars and collectors. This room examines the various methods
    used by art historians, conservators and scientists to reconstruct and recontextualize these
    altarpiece fragments.

This seemingly unremarkable statement of facts neglects to mention something that is raised in the accompanying catalogue. The chapter "Dislocation, dismembering and dismantling" begins with a reproduction of Niccolò di Liberatore's Christ on the Cross, and Other Scenes (1487). It was purchased by the National Gallery in 1881. Rumours that it had been stolen prior to its acquisition were "somewhat mysteriously" dropped (Nethersole 2011: 93). This example is used to illustrate "the potentially dubious machinations that sometimes characterised the sale of Italian pictures in the nineteenth century." The catalogue's author continues: "The art market responded to the demand for Italian "primitives" by ruthlessly hacking them up, extracting saleable elements and discarding the rest" (Nethersole 2011: 93).

So, instead of a backdrop of sacred music, might it not be more appropriate if the National Gallery's hallowed halls reverberated to the sound of saws cutting wood?

How do we account for the difference between the interpretation in the gallery and in the book? Well, opting to overlook the "dubious machinations" of the art market minimises the risk of gallery-goers asking awkward questions. Any critical reactions arise at a safe distance: namely when the interested visitor sits down at home to flick through the glossy new addition to their library.

Is this deception by interpretive design acceptable for a museum that markets itself under the mantra: "EXPLORE & REFLECT"? It is questionable whether the dissimulation evident in Devotion by Design accords with the museum's own Research code of conduct: "Good conduct in the context of research practice at the Gallery includes... [a]pplying the highest possible standards of integrity and professionalism, including observing relevant legal and ethical requirements."(1)

By marginalising legal and ethical questions the museum has presumably sought to safeguard the sacred aura of the museum. The realisation that the National Gallery has played a decidedly dubious role in the dislocation, dismembering and dismantling of religious artefacts is disturbing. But that should not make it a taboo topic for a museum visit.

The museum's curators clearly need to worship at the altar of the Church of Earthalujah and heed the words of the Rev Billy: "Blessed are you who disturb the customers, for you might be loving your neighbor."

The National Gallery ought to reward its visitors with just such disturbing love.

___
Note

(1) National Gallery Code of Practice and Good Conduct in Research, accessed 17/09/2011 at, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/research-code-of-conduct

_________
References

Elliott, Mark (2002) "Magic House: Sacred Space and Profane Behaviour in the Indian Museum, Calcutta",
    World Art Symposium, School of World Art Studies and Museology at the University of East Anglia,
    19/01, accessed 17/09/2011 at, http://www.uea.ac.uk/~t013/Sacred%20Places/Magic_house.htm
Nethersole, Scott (2011) Devotion by Design: Italian Altarpieces before 1500, London, National Gallery Company

Wolfgang Wagner of Vienna University of Technology was, until recently, editor-in-chief of the open access journal, Remote Sensing. He has now resigned from that post for reasons set out in an editorial statement (Wagner 2011). It focuses on a "controversial paper" that sought to question the science of climate change and which appeared in the July 2011 issue of Remote Sensing (Spencer & Braswell 2011). Subsequent criticism of the article has convinced Wagner that it contains both "methodological errors" and "false claims" (Wagner 2011: 2002). As such he now regrets allowing it to be published. His resulting resignation was intended "to make clear that the journal Remote Sensing takes the review process very seriously" (Wagner 2011: 2004).

It is that "review process" that has failed. Remote Sensing is not primarily a journal concerned with climate change. Be that as it may, the three unidentified reviewers of the paper were well-published "senior scientists from renowned US universities". However, it now appears that all three "probably share some climate sceptic notions of the authors" (Wagner 2011: 2003). Wagner is at pains to stress that climate change scepticism is not in itself a reason to deny publication. Indeed, "minority views" make an important contribution to debate, ensuring that science progresses through argument and even controversy. Instead, what made the paper in question unacceptable was the fact that it "essentially ignored the scientific arguments of its opponents" (Wagner 2011: 2003). It was this "fundamental flaw" that was missed by the reviewers. Their failings and Wagner's own lack of oversight prompted the editor's resignation.

This affair is the latest in a series of cases in which the nature of academic peer review has come into question (Burch 2011b: 11). One such example concerns a paper I had published in the open access journal, Museum and Society (Burch 2011a). This was approved through the usual system of "double blind" review. However, following its publication the editor of the journal - Professor Richard Sandell of the University of Leicester - received complaints from fellow members of the board. This led Sandell to delete the article. I have since republished the work in its original form and supplied an introduction setting out the background to its "withdrawal" (Burch 2011a; Burch 2011b).

The Remote Sensing and Museum and Society cases differ in a number of respects. However, one thing that connects them is the protection granted to the "go-betweens", i.e. the peer reviewers. The identities of the people who forced my paper's removal are hidden. So too are the names of the three biased reviewers who saw to it that a "fundamentally flawed" piece of research appeared in Remote Sensing. Anonymity is central to the practice of peer review. Yet those who undermine this system should surely be identified and asked to account for their actions. They should have the courage and professionalism of Wolfgang Wagner - a man who deserves credit for "taking responsibility", admitting to a mistake and resigning for the sake of the academic system and its contribution to scholarship and to knowledge.

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References

Burch, Stuart (2011a) "A Museum Director and His Go-Betweens: Lars Nittve's Patronage of Neil Cummings and Marysia Lewandowska", Museum and Society, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 34-48, accessed 17 May 2011 at, http://www.le.ac.uk/ms/m&s/Issue%2025/burch.pdf

Burch, Stuart (2011b) "A Journal Editor and His Go-Betweens: Richard Sandell and the University of Leicester’s Museum and Society", uploaded 05/08 at http://www.stuartburch.com

Spencer, Roy W. & Braswell, William D. (2011) "On the Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedbacks from Variations in Earth’s Radiant Energy Balance", Remote Sensing, Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. 1603-1613, accessed 03/09/2011 at, http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/3/8/1603

Wagner, Wolfgang (2011) "Taking Responsibility on Publishing the Controversial Paper 'On the Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedbacks from Variations in Earth's Radiant Energy Balance' by Spencer and Braswell, Remote Sensing, 2011, Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. 1603-1613", Remote Sensing, Vol. 3, No. 9, pp. 2002-4, accessed 03/09/2011 at, http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/3/9/2002


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Supplemental

The peer review system is clearly a matter of widespread interest and concern, as can be seen from this recent newspaper article:

Colquhoun, David (2011) "Publish-or-perish: Peer review and the corruption of science", The Guardian, 05/09, accessed 06/09/2011 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/05/publish-perish-peer-review-science

Question: What would be the most appropriate way to signal the end of a 42-year dictatorship?
Answer: By targeting those symbols most closely associated with the regime.

This is exactly what has occurred in Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's compound in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Its walls have been breached and its defences overrun. And the dictator's decapitated head lolls beneath the feet of jubilant rebel fighters. But this is not the real thing. It's a golden substitute, hacked from the body of an idolatrous statue. Once the symbol of a despot's supremacy, this obscene portrait is now a simple full stop: the final, clinching proof that the tyrant's rule is over.

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Supplemental
20/10/2011

Events have now reached their inevitable, bloody conclusion. Colonel Gaddafi never did face justice - just the butts of rifles and the barrel of the gun that appears to have ended his life. Yet "[k]illing him is not enough", insists Alaa al-Ameri writing in the Guardian:

    We have to forget him. To do that we have to expunge his
    influence from every aspect of our lives. Only then can we
    be free of him.(1)

The idea of Gaddafi being utterly erased seems remote, not least given the grisly appeal of death and disaster tourism.(2) And would it be sensible to totally forget this monster? Surely the best way of safeguarding against some future Gaddafi would be to remember the terror and despair that he brought both to the people of Libya and to the citizens of other countries, not least the United Kingdom and the United States. Moreover, we would be wise to remember the cancerous influence he exerted on foreign powers - as exemplified by the actions of the former British premier, Tony Blair.(3)

The people of Libya can be forgiven for wishing to forget Gaddafi. But the people of Britain would do well to keep him in mind.

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Notes

(1) al-Ameri, Alaa (2011) "Gaddafi is dead. We must now forget him", The Guardian, 20/10, accessed 20/10/2011 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/20/gaddafi-dead-libya
(2) See my blog posting, "Sites of sickening sights", 26/08/2011.
(3) Brady, Brian (2011) "Evidence grows of Blair's links with Gaddafi", The Independent, 18/09, accessed 20/10/2011 at, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/evidence-grows-of-blairs-links-with-gaddafi-2356576.html.

"One could not learn history from architecture any more than one could learn it from books. Statues, inscriptions, memorial stones, the names of streets – anything that might throw light upon the past had been systematically altered."

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (orig. pub. 1949), Penguin, 1969, p. 82

Today - 19th August - is Afghan Independence Day. This marks the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi of 1919, an event which signalled the end of British control over Afghanistan. In happier times such an occasion might be a trigger for celebration and rapprochement. Alas, today's anniversary is a literal trigger. Militants have stormed the offices of the British Council in Kabul. The timing of the attack was deliberate: Taliban spokesmen made the link between their murderous assault and the events of nearly 100 years ago.

Commemorative events reveal more about the present than they do the past. For proof of this we can look to the year 2019. How will the centenary of Afghan independence be marked? Will it feature musical performances and history assignments written by Afghan schoolgirls? If so, it will be apparent that at least some of the goals of the Western forces have been met. If not, it will probably be because the Taliban have resumed full control. They too will no doubt mark the centenary, but in a manner that will accord with their norms.

We can at least take one positive thing from all this: history matters. For as soon as we begin to explore the past we start to address the issues of the present. That both are equally contested is bloodily apparent to the people of Afghanistan and the soldiers that are waging a war in their midst.

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Supplemental

Listening to the news broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 this morning (20/08/2011) brought home to me just how important anniversaries are when it comes to framing present-day events. Three of the top news stories were given temporal, commemorative frames:

• One month has passed since the terrorist attacks in Norway that left 77 people dead
• It is two years to the day since the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrah, the Libyan accused of placing a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, an aircraft that exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on 21 December 1988 killing 270 people
• Exactly twenty years ago an unsuccessful attempt was made to stage a coup d'état that would seize control from the then Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev