Every week, Bor Beekman, Robert van Gijssel, Merlijn Kerkhof, Anna van Leeuwen or Herien Wensink take a stand in the world of film, music, theater or visual arts.
Have you heard of that protest in that museum? Probably not. I’ll catch up with you. On Saturday, an anonymous collective of Iranian artists entered the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The red cloths they hung in the round hall of the Guggenheim depicted Mahsa Amini and the words ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’. The artists wanted attention for human rights violations in Iran. The red strips of cloth made it seem like blood was dripping from the floors. A wake-up call for the “sleepy art world,” the statement was made online.
But unfortunately when I wrote ‘that protest in that museum’ you were thinking of something else. You thought a piece of pie against the Mona Lisa, a can of tomato soup against a Van Gogh, mashed potatoes against a Monet, and Thursday afternoon: canned tomato (or something) against Vermeer. Those actions received much more attention. And that leads to repetition. A shame, because throwing food on art damages museums and art.
The Mauritshuis closed immediately on Thursday. The hope is that the girl will be back in the hall soon. Museum Barberini, of the Monet on which soaked mashed potatoes were thrown, has been closed this whole week. Been here since Saturday one of the most beautiful exhibitions of the year: Surrealism and Magic, which I saw in Venice. This week, the director of the Barberini is in talks with other museums, as the attacks show “that the high international security standards to protect works of art from activist attacks are insufficient and need to be revised.”
Soon must The girl with the pearl in some sort of vault with glass in front, like that other girl in the Louvre. A visit to the Mona Lisa in her glass case feels like she’s a dangerous TBS in a high-security prison. But we are the danger. So the insurance costs go up, there are fences everywhere. Art owners will think ten times before lending their masterpieces for public display. Wealthy collectors will lock their safes for fear of food stains.
It just doesn’t make sense, throwing food at art. I was reminded of those farmers who suddenly started cutting down pollard willows ‘in protest against the nitrogen policy’. Totally insane. What the activists do realize: museums are suitable places for protest. And then I think of the protest action by Iranian artists in the Guggenheim, or previous actions against the sponsorship of museums by the fossil industry or the pharmaceutical family Sacklers. They were effective, well organised, looked striking and were in the right place. Nothing broke. Because something has definitely broken with these actions: art no longer seems safe in museums.
A museum is a good place for protest. And a very, very bad place for vandalism. So leave campaigning in museums to artists. Then we just don’t talk about these silly actions anymore. Remember: pie + art = Wayne Thiebaud, tomato soup + art = Andy Warhol, potatoes + art = Vincent van Gogh. And that’s it.