"An unfair working environment that promotes racism, white supremacy and other discriminatory practices" . Here is in a few words the atmosphere that would be that of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, described by several curators in a letter sent Monday, June 22 to the management. Soberly signed "The Department of Conservation", the missive, on which the authors did not wish to affix their names individually for fear of reprisals, requires in particular important and urgent reforms within the institution, and above all, more diversity.
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In detail, the signatories call in particular to "put an end to the culture of favoritism, silence and retribution" , and to "review the recruitment practices and guarantee the hiring of color conservatives" , reports the New York Times . According to the daily, the museum of modern art currently employs 276 full-time employees, 26 of whom are black, 24 Latino and 20 Asian. And of the museum's 25 administrators, 23 are white.
"The most racist experience of my life"
Other demands, that "to reconsider the exhibitions and past acquisition practices of the museum, mainly white and masculine" , as well as the opening of an independent investigation into the controversial management of the Basquiat exhibition in 2019. Black curator invited by the museum to organize the event and produce its catalog, Chaédria LaBouvier had been excluded from a round table closing the exhibition.
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Refusing not to take part, the curator and historian confronted the institution and the museum's chief curator, Nancy Spector, accusing them of wanting to silence her while enjoying her work. "Working at the Guggenheim with Nancy Spector and the management was the most racist professional experience of my life," she said in a tweet published in early June.
A few months after this incident, whether by accident or by way of absolving themselves, the Fifth Avenue museum recruited Ashley James, the first full-time black curator in 80 years of Guggenheim history. Faced with accusations from Chaédria LaBouvier, the establishment also wanted to explain itself, arguing that "the exhibition was one of the first efforts within the museum's programming to confront its role in the patterns of inequality of the country ” . An effort that the Guggenheim of New York claims to want to lead in the future by carrying out "a critical examination of the prejudices inherent in the workplace and in History".
Self-examination
Insufficient for museum employees, who sent a first letter on June 20 to the management of several New York cultural institutions, including the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Opera. These establishments are currently carrying out an examination of conscience of their system, encouraged by the demonstrations which followed the death of the black American George Floyd.
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"Our conservation staff are essential to the Guggenheim and we are listening," said Richard Armstrong, the director of the museum, in a statement. "Their efforts [...] are an opportunity for us to initiate a beneficial dialogue in order to become a more diversified, fair and welcoming organization for all".
According to a spokeswoman for the museum, the dialogue was started when the letter was received on Monday. Chief Curator Nancy Spector has taken three months 'sabbatical, but there is no evidence that her decision was linked to the Conservatives' letter, the New York Times said .