EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY CERTIFICATION FOR ART MUSEUMS, EXHIBITIONS SPACES, AND COLLECTIONS

By David Hinojosa Admann (dhadmann@odbk.tk) Organization for the Democratization of the Visual Arts (ODBK, e.V.) www.odbk.tk

Calls for greater inclusion in terms of diversity, equality, accessibility, and inclusion in museums, art galleries as contemporary art spaces in general, regarding social groups, such as staff, audience, artists, which have recently become hard to ignore: the leadership remains white, well-educated, wealthy (predominantly) men and women, and exhibitions lack in the representation and accuracy of our multicultural times1

Drawing on curatorial practice theory and critical race theory, contemporary museums own these collected, and often stolen artifacts, and in many cases still are, displayed for the benefit of middle- to upper-class, well-educated, and white audiences. Museums that are still working within this exclusive framework are not fulfilling their public roles. Essentially, these museums are maintaining hegemonic structures and perpetuating discriminatory norms that have prevailed in the art world for so long. Indeed, the construction of knowledge in art museums is not neutral; it “is socially produced and reflective of power relations of the society in which it is situated”2. In western countries, knowledge and content displayed in contemporary art spaces have long been constructed by the white upper class, which has held almost exclusive authority over decisions regarding what objects are worthy of being housed and presented in art museum collections3. An art museum exhibition is a statement of the position or perspective of the curator(s) by whom it was created.

“Any museum or exhibition is...a theory: a suggested way of seeing the world. And, like any theory, it may offer insight and illumination. At the same time, it contains certain assumptions, speaks to some matters and ignores others, and is intimately bound up with – and capable of affecting – broader social and cultural relations.”4

Building on research on curatorial practices, critical race theory, queer and feminist studies as well as Crip theory, critiques against the practices of the curation organization have been increasing; what artists it chooses to represent, what objects it chooses to collect, and how it reaches out to marginalized communities. According to a recent study (2019) of the permanent collections of 18 large art museums in the U.S., 87% of the over 10 000 featured artists are male, and 85% are white5. Similarly, in her recent book called Diversity Counts: Gender, Race, and Representations in Canadian Art Galleries (2019), Anne Dymond, a researcher in art history and museum studies, has quantified the gender and race balance of art exhibitions in Canada by examining the gender of contemporary artists, who had solo shows in public contemporary Canadian art spaces between 2000 and 2010. Her choice of focusing particularly on contemporary art relies on the argument that historical biases would be then less persistent. However, her quantitative and qualitative analysis reveals that while some galleries have made some progress and are relatively equitable, many continue to marginalize females and racialize artists6. Although the study does not document every marginalized group, such as LGBTIQ+ communities or people with disabilities, other studies show how they are also excluded from collections and exhibits. This urge to decolonize contemporary art spaces is becoming more at every level (academia, museum staff, state) more present and the process has only accelerated radically in 2020 after a groundswell of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. A few well-known institutions have recently made some bold statements or actions, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in announcing last year that it intended to build a $10 million acquisitions endowment for works by BIPOC artists or the Baltimore Museum of Art, in 2018, sold off a group of works by white male artists to create a fund to acquire examples by women and artists of color7. Museums themselves are experiencing a global awakening to their power and practice as agents of activism. Despite very promising work in these and other greater areas, greater efforts and changes are needed. Contemporary art spaces need to engage in deep critical reflection regarding their practices.

DHAdmann, Barbara Kruger Installation Venice Biennale 2022, Venice Italy

1. Cole, Johnnetta B., and Laura L. Lott. Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in Museums. 2019. Print. American Alliance of Museums.

2. Tucker, M. (1992). “Who’s on first?” Issues of cultural equity in today’s museums. Different voices (9-16). New York: Association of Art Museum Directors.

3. Duncan, C. (1995). Civilizing rituals: Inside public art museums. London: Routledge.

4. Macdonald, Sharon (1996). “Theorizing museums: an introduction”. In S. Macdonald & G. Fyfe (Eds.). Theorizing museums: Representing identity and diversity in a changing world. 1-18. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

5. Topaz CM, Klingenberg B, Turek D, Heggeseth B, Harris PE, Blackwood JC, et al. (2019) « Diversity of artists in major U.S. museums ». PLoS ONE 14(3).

6. Dymond Anne. 2019. Diversity Counts: Gender, Race, and Representations in Canadian Art Galleries. McGill-Queen’s University Press.

7. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/baltimore-deaccessioning-proceeds-1309481

The Equality and Diversity Certification for Art Museums, Exhibitions Spaces, and Collections

Launched in 2021, « The Organization for the Democratization of the Visual Arts (ODBK), The Equality and Diversity Certification for Art Museums, Exhibitions Spaces and Collections» is aprogram initiated and operated by the ODBK that publicly recognizes those art organizations that demonstrate a history of and commitment to voluntarily making the art world more equal,diverse, inclusive, and democratic. The objective is to make sure that the artists, represented in the art world as well as the people who create artwork and run cultural organizations, reflects the way our world looks and feels today, and the same goes for the audience as well. The objectives of this program are: firstly, to create a mechanism that ensures an art world where artists as well the artistic work are adequately represented; secondly, to build the bases for the curatorial work of contemporary art spaces, such as museums or art galleries, that ensures equality and diversity in the selection of the artists as well as in the artworks; and finally, to promote and motivate the contemporary art space to create a continuous, open perception and strong embracement of a more diverse kind of artists and artworks.

Symposium to create the Alignments for Curatorial and Collection practices and processes for Museums and Contemporary Art Spaces

Therefore, a base document or a guide is completely necessary to carry out the decision-making process for the artists selected and collected by the museums, exhibition spaces, public and private collections. Currently, this guide does not exist even as a suggestion. This decisionmaking process for many years has been characterized by autocracy or/and some kind of representative democracy model, because of the lack of interest and ignorance from curators and art museum directors of how to create diversity, equality and inclusion for the artists selected and collected. The ODBK has set itself the task of bringing together artists, academics, art lovers, art collectors, etc., to create this document and distribute it among all art museums of the world, organizing a symposium from 15 until 18 June 2023. The document will be a project that will be alive all the time and the symposium will continue indefinitely after the 18th of June, picking up all new processes, corrections, texts, research, etc., integrating and publishing new versions of the document. Diversity, equality, and inclusion are evolutive characteristics of our society and the country that host museum, art collections, or art spaces. This document pretends to be a legacy for all art spaces of the world that are interested to create equality, diversity, and inclusion in their curatorial and collection practices. At the same time, this document will also be one of the bricks of the Equality and Diversity Certification for Art Museum, Exhibition spaces, and Collections process. To keep informed about the symposium register or visit the ODBK website www.odbk.tk and support this project with a donation to help to create a fairest, most diverse, equal, and inclusive art world.