The Parliament’s Post

The history of colonial art restitution is often marred by inaction. According to experts, more than 90 per cent of sub-Saharan artistic heritage is currently housed outside the continent as a result of colonial occupation during the 19th and 20th centuries.   But calls for restitution of stolen cultural objects are growing. Could they mark a change for Europe’s museums?

The history of colonial art restitution is often marred by inaction. According to experts, more than 90 per cent of sub-Saharan artistic heritage is currently housed outside the continent as a result of colonial occupation during the 19th and 20th centuries.   But calls for restitution of stolen cultural objects are growing. Could they mark a change for Europe’s museums?

The history of colonial art restitution is often marred by inaction. According to experts, more than 90 per cent of sub-Saharan artistic heritage is currently housed outside the continent as a result of colonial occupation during the 19th and 20th centuries.   But calls for restitution of stolen cultural objects are growing. Could they mark a change for Europe’s museums?

The Hispanic Society Museum and Library's exhibition, showcasing masterworks by artists like El Greco, Velázquez, and Goya, highlights the historical and classical importance of Spanish art. This art form, with its deep roots in cultural, religious, and social contexts, provides a rich tapestry of history and tradition. The exhibition, which spans 4,000 years of art and culture, offers a comprehensive panorama of the Hispanic Society's collections, emphasizing the unparalleled scope and quality of these works outside of Spain. In the era of emerging artificial intelligence, the significance of such exhibitions becomes twofold. Firstly, it bridges the gap between traditional art and modern technology, offering new perspectives and appreciation methods. AI can assist in analyzing, preserving, and presenting these artworks, enhancing their accessibility and understanding. Secondly, in a time where AI-generated art is gaining prominence, exhibitions like this remind us of the irreplaceable value of human creativity and expression inherent in classical art forms. The exhibition arrives at a crucial moment when there is a need to reassess traditional art historical and aesthetic hierarchies, making way for more inclusive and diverse perspectives. The rediscovery and showcasing of these treasures in New York City serve not only as a celebration of Spanish art but also as a dialogue between the past and the modern Hispanic American, where AI plays an increasingly significant role in how we interact with and interpret art. #artificialintelligenceart #hispanicamerican #elgreco #velazquez #goya #withoutborders

"The Russian Art Archive Network (RAAN) was initiated by Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow. The project goes beyond a single institution, aiming toward virtual integration of Soviet and contemporary art documentation from the late 20th century until the present, gathered by local experts, institutions, and collectors and stored in Russia and abroad (in particular the USA and Germany. ... As an archive-based research infrastructure, RAAN helps to analyze the diversity and resilience of various alternative artistic practices in an international context and beyond temporal and spatial boundaries." Anastasia Tarasova and Manuela Putz, “Between Art Practice and Protest: Russian/Soviet Alternative Art through the Prism of the Russian Art Archive Network”, Critique d’art, 57 | Automne/hiver 2021. doi: 10.4000/critiquedart.85535 I've been using the RAAN a lot recently to fill in $585 blanks and create authority records while cataloging our backlog of exhibition catalogues. https://lnkd.in/e8P66pFF

There is an old Welsh saying: "Nerth gwlad, ei gwybodaeth, the strength of a nation is its knowledge." Museums and galleries are central to the nation, and when they are threatened, we are threatened.   It's not hyperbole to say that if the National Museum, Cardiff closes it will be a tragedy. At the very least big job losses are coming down the track for Wales' National museums, at worst there will be closure for some real cultural gems.   In Higher Education we are seeing Universities ending a swathe of courses in the humanities - in philosophy, anthropology, journalism and the arts more widely. Big job losses at my old University, University of Kent as well as institutions like Goldsmiths University in London. Many more Higher Education providers are under pressure to make cuts too.   In recent years there has been lots of debate about the role of the museum, particularly the British museum where artifacts were stolen from lands far and wide. In Wales's case, our National Museums are places of living history, of cultural preserve and places to celebrate art old and new. They are places to escape to, relax in and enjoy. They are places to commune with the past and imagine the sort of world we would like to see in the future.   A couple of weeks ago I saw a loaned self portrait of Vincent van Gogh. For the museums more widely, Saint Fagan's is a place close to my heart - it's where my partner and I sat under an ancient oak talking about life, and it's where our relationship really started to flourish. It's the place I take all my friends and family to when they visit. It's uniquely Welsh, it's essential to understanding Wales and it's history.   Over its history Wales has often been the victim of machinations from across the border in England. Its language, its natural resources, autonomy and people have often been exploited for the glory of others.   I ask this to the people who say there isn't enough money for the arts, for culture, heritage and the humanities. Who writes the books you read? Who created that painting on your study wall? Who designs and inspired the expensive clothes you wear? Who trained the artist that performs on stage whilst you watch from your box at the opera? Who makes the films and television shows you binge watch at home?   These things don't just magic themselves out of nowhere. They are made, and crafted, designed and brought to life by creative professionals who love what they do. They are not made by the free market, enterprise or through trade and boardroom deals - they are made by artists, thinkers, philosophers, dancers, writers, makers, poets, actors, directors, designers, and preserved by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, conservationists and museum workers.   Cuts like this should scare us. Cuts like this should shock us and make us angry. We should do everything we can to preserve museums. If we lose them, they are gone forever.

A time of change for Spanish museums? In 1634, Rembrandt painted the portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit. As members of one of Amsterdam's richest families, for centuries these works spoke only of prosperity, elegance and exquisite manners. This is how we learned not only to look at art. It was also how many of us learned to see ourselves. If, like me, you came from a colonized country, you were expected to praise your superior and protector. That is, of course, until the perspective shifted. And what we have today, whether because of massive changes in technology, migration or social media, are increasingly multicultural societies where people are re-claiming their own memories and identities. Museums followed suit. This meant questioning traditional narratives. Thanks to Slavery, the unprecedented exhibition organized a few years ago at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, we learned that Marten and Oopjen could boast of their wealth because it was based on the brutal exploitation of thousands of enslaved people on their sugar plantations in Brazil. This show is now considered a milestone in the new way of understanding historical narratives in museums. So, it's good that the Spanish newspaper El País interviewed its chief curator, Valika Smeulders, at a time when museums in Spain have begun the task of revising their collections through the filter of colonization. How will they change? Asking that very question is probably part of the journey. But just as we can't change the past, we can now complete the narratives. #rijksmuseum #decolonization #art #museums #slavery https://lnkd.in/eGy48tMN

I wrote a blog post for Thinking Through the Museum's website! In it, I briefly reflect on my experience in Paris last summer, where I visited two of the world's most famous museums. More specifically, I consider how Blackness is represented in these spaces. If you're interested, you can read it here: https://lnkd.in/eGHFqb_W.

The removal of museum collections, the flooding of the museum, and the so-called 'reconstruction' of cultural monuments are all Russian methods of destroying Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar identities. The Russians are trying to erase the culture and heritage of the temporarily occupied territories to promote their propaganda narratives. Read more about how the Russians are destroying cultural monuments in Crimea (Qırım), plundering the museum in Kherson and flooding the museum in Oleshky, Kherson region.