The Headlines
MORAL CODE OF MUSEUMS. “Why write a book about museum ethics?” Gareth Harris, author of Towards the Ethical Art Museum, asks in the Art Newspaper. The answer, he writes, is that “museums are navigating funding challenges, staffing issues and collections management conundrums.” His new book, which is published next month, investigates some of these complicated issues, and delves into how museum bosses can handle them “in the context of an ever critical and evolving society.” He recommends that cultural institutions should develop ethics codes with advisory boards and non-governmental bodies because “museum codes of ethics are often not fit for purpose and insufficient in isolation.” He also argues that museums need to change the mindset of restitution. “The issue of provenance is the most substantive and dominant dilemma faced by many western museums. And, as the discourse around decolonisation and repatriation continues to grow, can museums defend the universality argument?”
Related Articles
RETURN, RESTITUTION, RECOMPENSE. On Wednesday, France’s government on Wednesday introduced a bill aimed at accelerating the return of artworks looted during the colonial era to their countries of origin, France 24 reports. If passed, the legislation would make it easier to restitute cultural objects in France’s national collection that were taken from states “deprived of them through illicit appropriation” between 1815 and 1972, according to the French culture ministry. Although several former colonial powers in Europe have begun returning artifacts acquired during imperial rule, France’s current laws have slowed the process. The proposed law would apply to items acquired through “theft, looting, forced transfers, or donations made under coercion or violence,” or obtained from individuals without legal authority to dispose of them, the ministry said. The bill is set to be debated in the Senate in September.
The Digest
An unidentified 34-year-old man died after jumping from the Whitney Museum on Wednesday evening, shortly before the museum closed. Whitney director Scott Rothkopf informed staff of the event via email that evening, writing, “Authorities have confirmed that an individual jumped from Whitney property onto the plaza below and tragically lost their life.” [ARTnews]
Banksy might steal the headlines when it comes to graffiti, but Lady Pink deserves some of the spotlight for shaking up the “macho men of New York’s graffiti scene,” the Guardian says. [Guardian]
The New York Times visits five newly reopened museums in Istanbul, describing the guide as “both a plunge into the city’s rich history and an exploration of its 21st-century creative scene.” [New York Times]
The county of Somerset in the Southwest of the UK was once known for farming, cider, and cheddar cheese, but it now has a thriving arts scene, thanks to the likes of Hauser & Wirth and CLOSE gallery. [The Art Newspaper]
The Kicker
BEACH PHOTOS. Prominent artists and designers have shared their favorite photos with the FT.Among them are model Sara Blomqvist, curator Fiontán Moran, editor and gallerist Carla Sozzani, artist Felicity Aylieff, and artist Erwin Wurm . They include holiday snaps, silly selfies, grainy Polaroids, floor tiles with captions ranging from satirical, to gushing, to a little pretentious. “This photo gives me the feeling of peaceful vastness and limitless calm that only water can give me. (One fashion detail: I am dreaming myself into a siren, wearing an Alaïa white shirt, which is like wearing a second skin made of light.) I feel both anchored and adrift at once. It was taken in 2007 in Portofino, by the photographer Isabella Balena . During this holiday, I went down to the rocks and, in front of the water, I felt caught between the earth and the endless sky, and started questioning myself and wondering who I was and who I was becoming….,” one caption reads. “I felt I wanted to stay there forever, and be like The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, sitting at the edge of the sea.”