For the past week, I’ve been paralyzed by blogger’s block, unable to focus on artworld controversies that seemed inconsequential in the context of what’s been happening in Ukraine. I’ve been transfixed by Ukrainian news on my Twitter feed, particularly the posts of the Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent)—a good on-the-ground English-language source of breaking news that reports on the setbacks but emphasizes developments favorable to Ukraine’s defenders.
I recoil at every report of bombardments, which have barraged us with jarring frequency:
⚡️Air raid alerts in Odesa, Bila Tserkva, and Volyn Oblast.
Residents should go to the nearest shelter.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 4, 2022
It was this tweet today by Phillips auction house that finally prompted me to pound my keyboard again:
“This concludes our London 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale….100% of of the buyer’s premium & vendor’s commission…will be donated to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.”
In other words, Phillips is giving up its entire take from its major auction (some £5.8 million, its spokesperson told me) to help support the embattled people of Ukraine in their struggle to defend their homeland:
The auction house’s spokesperson today told me: “Of course, no financial donation is going to rectify this terrible situation, but we feel we are taking the lead in the art market in making a significant donation in expressing our solidarity with the people of Ukraine in a meaningful and practical way,”
I have contacted Phillips’ more prominent competitors, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, to seek their input for my post on how the artworld is responding, but have so far received no reply. If I learn more, you’ll learn more (in an update to this post).
That said, Christie’s CEO did tweet this on Tuesday:
What’s the rest of the artworld doing, other than giving lip service to “standing with Ukraine”? Here’s what I’ve been able to glean from my email harvest:
—Statement by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), in which it “strongly condemn[s] this violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. ICOM is especially concerned about the risks faced by museum professionals as well as the threats to cultural heritage because of this armed conflict. ICOM expects both countries, as States Parties of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict and its First Protocol, to abide by their international legal obligations to protect heritage….In addition, ICOM invites members of civil society to reach out to their local museums to assist them, if possible, with the ways and means to protect their buildings and collections. As important centers for education, study and enjoyment in local communities, it is important that museums—crucial reference points for local communities—are supported by their local communities.” (MUCH MORE IS AT ICOM’S LINK, ABOVE.)
—Tweet by American Alliance of Museums (AAM): “We stand with ICOM and the global cultural heritage community in condemning the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Risks facing civilians—including museum professionals—and threats to cultural heritage because of this armed conflict are deeply alarming.”
—Statement by the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC), in which it “strongly condemns the violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. We are concerned for all people affected by the invasion, and have our colleagues, across the art, historical, and cultural sector living and working in Ukraine, at the forefront of our minds and hearts. As the situation continues to unfold, we also hope that any deliberate targeting of art, architectural, archaeological and cultural sites does not occur as it is against international treaties to which the United States Government is a signatory, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2347 (2017), and 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
—Statement by the Museum of Russian Art, Minneapolis, in which it “stands with the people of Ukraine and urges Russia to cease hostilities immediately and withdraw….The Museum upholds an independent voice and the freedom of expression to carry out its mission unconstrained by influence from foreign governments, political actors and/or corporate or individual interests.”
—Two statements by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC: In Condemning the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the USHMM “strongly condemns Russia’s outrageous attack on Ukraine and is deeply concerned about threats to civilians and loss of life. In justifying this attack, Vladimir Putin has misrepresented and misappropriated Holocaust history by claiming falsely that democratic Ukraine needs to be ‘denazified.’ Equally groundless and egregious are his claims that Ukrainian authorities are committing ‘genocide’ as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine.”
In USHMM’s Statement on Damage to Babyn Yar, it “strongly condemns the continued Russian attacks on the Ukrainian people and loss of innocent lives, the exploitation of the Holocaust as a pretext for these attacks, the blatant disregard for historical truth, and the attack today at one of the most important memorial sites of the Holocaust. At Babyn Yar, outside of Kyiv, in just two days in September 1941, over 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children were shot by Nazi Germany’s forces with assistance from their local collaborators. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is so bravely leading the Ukrainian people at this time, visited the Museum last fall to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre and emphasize his country’s commitment to preserving Holocaust sites, remembering the victims, and securing historical truth. We stand with him and the Ukrainian people during these critical times.
—Statement by James Cuno, CEO of the Getty Trust, “condemn[ing] the destruction of cultural Heritage in Ukraine….News reports indicate that among the many atrocities being committed in Ukraine over the past few days of Putin’s War, Russian forces have begun destroying Ukrainian cultural heritage. Russia has deliberately burned to the ground the Ivankiv Museum [my links, not Cuno’s] north of Kyiv, which housed precious Ukrainian folk art, in what Ukrainian scholars call ‘an unfolding cultural catastrophe.’ At risk in Ukraine are millions of artworks and monuments, including monuments representing centuries of history from the Byzantine to the Baroque periods, as well as UNESCO World Heritage sites….What precious little remains in the world of our ancient heritage is already suffering from wanton destruction, looting, neglect, reckless over-development, and climate change. To have even more lost to senseless war is unconscionable.”
Even my local community in suburban New Jersey has responded. Our Croatian-American mayor, Mark Sokolich, expressing solidarity with Ukraine, posted a video showing three municipal buildings lit in the colors of Ukraine’s flag. Here’s one:
Fort Lee will also be acquiring a Ukrainian flag, to be hoisted in a flag-raising ceremony. To these well-meaning symbolic acts, I suspect Zelensky might counter: “I need ammo, not a light show!”—a riff on his famous rebuke to those who have offered to help him safely flee Ukraine:
Perhaps more to the point is the response of my synagogue, which has provided congregants with a link to the Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund of the Jewish Federation of Northern NJ, as well as to organizations that help Ukrainian refugees. Also, at the end of the above-quoted statement by the Museum of Russian Art are links to four organizations that are accepting donations to help the people of Ukraine.
The plight of this Rabbi, fighting back tears as he takes leave of his temple in Odessa, asking people to pray for his congregation who have evacuated during the Jewish Sabbath, is particularly heartrending:
Particularly heartwarming was a video of Berliners meeting Ukrainian refugees at a train station and offering them a place to stay.
NOTE: I am posting this late Thursday night, well aware that when I awaken tomorrow, the whole volatile situation may have changed.