Category: visual

Museums – What To Do With The Excess?

Museums generally have many more objects than they can exhibit. So there have been proposals to “use it or lose it” whereby museums could divest themselves of objects they may no longer want, or might profitably sell. But “the fate of artefacts should be kept away from the demands of the purse or politics. That way they are free from being manipulated by politicians or by threats to a collection in a funding crisis. Museums are not shops or businesses. They were founded in order to ensure the survival of and research into artefacts, manuscripts and works of art. Short-term financial gain would be achieved at the expense of the fundamental purpose of the institution. It is not always predictable in the present what will be regarded as interesting in the future.”

Russian Buys Faberge Collection

Before the Forbes collection of Faberge eggs was able to go on auction, they were bought by a Russian industrialist. “None of the parties would disclose the price of the private sale, which includes nine imperial Fabergé eggs — the second largest collection after the 10 in the Kremlin — along with some 180 other Fabergé objects. But experts familiar with the Fabergé market estimate that Mr. Vekselberg paid about $100 million for the collection, which Sotheby’s had predicted would bring at least $90 million at auction.”

The Art Of Looking Good (Conceptually)

At Toronto’s flagship Holt Renfrew store, high-style fashionistas can now pick up a bit of high-concept art with their upper-end shoes and dresses. “We want to intrigue and challenge people, and add a conceptual texture to their lives. I’m offering luxe for the mind, an intellectual indulgence.” All this may sound a little rich, but the list of artists involved is startlingly good. Plans are afoot to sell Louise Bourgeois jewellery, lamps by Parisian installation artist Pierre Huyghe, and pottery by Turner Prize-winner Grayson Parry.”

Are Private Museum Collections Dead?

“The dominance of today’s attendance-driven encyclopedic museums has endangered the single-collector jewel box. The founders often unwittingly thwart their own desires, failing to create enduring plans for professional management and outside financial support. Too often, the administrators and board members entrusted with the collection’s postmortem stewardship are impelled less by the founder’s vision than by fiscal and administrative expedience.”

Saving Angkor Wat

A huge campaign to save Cambodia’s Angkor Wat is being hailed as a model for other preservation. “Involving some 40 major monuments and hundreds of smaller sites spread over 160 square miles, the restoration work in the region may take another 25 years or more. Yet an initiative — led by France and Japan and coordinated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — has demonstrated a rare commitment to preserving a miracle of human ingenuity in a country too poor to do so itself.”

What Is It About Architects?

“In general, architects are not appealing characters in movies or other fiction. That’s because in reality they seem to be darn difficult people. I searched recently for architect jokes and found, well, none. Apparently the phrase “architect humour” is an oxymoron. Yet they dominate the news sometimes and dominate our city landscapes.”