Museum protests, ICOM Italy: we are against this way of protesting

ICOM Italy has also taken a stance on the debate around environmentalist protests at museums, and after misleading readings of the Nov. 11 ICOM statement, in which the main body representing museums internationally, stressed that it shared both the concerns of museums and activists, and that it considered museums to be allies in the fight against climate change, spread across the web in recent hours.

“Recent attacks on works of art in several museums by members of environmental groups,” says ICOM’s national committee, “are an expression of forms of protest against indifference to the risks posed by climate change and the absence of effective measures to mitigate its consequences and prevent its worsening. If the action is not limited to expressing a projected concern about the future of our planet but addresses contemporary times and the urgent need for immediate action, the choice of works of art as the object of protest has caused a stir. To make this clear, we need only quote a slogan they used: ’Why are you outraged about soup on a glass and not about the victims of climate change?’ Indubitably these actions have achieved the goal of raising attention to the issue of the climate crisis and to do so at a time when international politics has been busy discussing these issues at COP 27, but as museum professionals we must set out a position against this way of operating the more than legitimate contestation for climate-environmental purposes.”

“We would like to make it clear that, as the National Committee of the International Council of Museums,” the note from ICOM Italy continues, “we agree with the underlying reasons for these actions, having also spoken out internationally on the global risks of climate change at the G20 and making our own the goals of the UN Agenda 2030. However, without denying the importance of calling collective responsibility to the issues of the climate crisis, first and foremost we recommend avoiding placing environmental demands at odds with art, failing to recognize its value as a fundamental cultural expression of humanity. In addition, while noting the care taken so far not to damage works, for example by choosing glass-protected paintings as targets, we ask that such gestures be discontinued because of the risks involved, not least because they could be emulated with less awareness of the effects on the preservation of unique and unrepeatable cultural assets.”

“That said, we intend to urge museums to consider responses and produce initiatives aimed at countering the climate crisis by leveraging an integrated reading of the notion of sustainable development and to fully consider this task in the cultural mission of museums,” suggests ICOM Italy. “Not only that, in promoting collective awareness of these fundamental commitments and actions to be taken for the future of humanity, we invite them to consider forms of collaboration with the world of active climate contestation as well.”

“Finally, we report,” the national committee concludes, that in order to affirm its commitment to countering the climate crisis and supporting the active stance of young people, ICOM Italy has produced and supported several initiatives including the participatory creation between museum professionals and a number of youth climate-active groups of Guidelines for Engaging Young People in Common Challenges for theenvironment and climate, and a series of webinars called Museums for the Environment and Climate, produced to enliven dialogue between institutions and museum professionals on what museums are already doing in this regard. The ICOM international Declaration, which can be consulted here, in our view, should be interpreted in this spirit."

Museum protests, ICOM Italy: we are against this way of protesting

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