You’re not too late!
Come throw some hard questions at Martin Sullivan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, and me at our panel discussion tomorrow (Saturday) morning at Rutgers University, Newark, NJ: “Hide/Seek”: Museums, Ethics and the Press. I might even venture to lob some questions at Martin myself, even though Daniel Okrent (author, editor, chairman of the National Portrait Gallery from 2003 to 2008) is the interrogator-in-chief as the panel’s moderator.
To whet your appetite for this, here are some of the topics that Seton Hall University’s Institute of Museum Ethics, an organizer of the program, has asked the panel’s five pundits to think about (with a few of my pithy responses appended):
Where were the places when decisions with ethical implications were made? [Many places.]
Does a museum have an ethical responsibility to take on challenging topics in exhibitions and programs? [Duh, YES! This is America, not China.]
What impact did media coverage have on the controversy? [Uh-oh. I’d better brace myself.] Did the Internet make a difference? If so, how? Is there a way to “manage” media coverage of controversies like this, given the exposure that these issues get on the Internet? [Don’t “manage” me; inform me!]
Did issues related to the rights of artists whose work was exhibited in the exhibition arise? If so, what were they? [David Wojnarovicz‘s posthumous moral rights; AA Bronson‘s debatable assertion of a right to remove his work in protest.] Did the response of artists have a positive or negative impact? Again, is there a way to manage this kind of response? Were there legal issues involved? [Yes. Bronson engaged a lawyer to assert his claim.]
How can curators, museum directors, etc., think about creating exhibitions and programs that challenge their audiences to think in new ways without getting into debates that are counterproductive? How do we establish a process for civil dialogue? [This is a big question. “Debate” can be a good thing.]
With a government shutdown looming, who knows if the Smithsonian’s planned “Hide/Seek” conference (scroll down) is even going to happen? This could be your best opportunity to ask pointed questions and make some constructive suggestions for the future.
For more information about our slugfest…I mean symposium…click the link at the top of the post.
Martin and I hope to greet you there. Admission is free; conversation will be freewheeling!