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The New York Times reports on the mysterious figure who has become known as “the Splasher” because he or she hurled colorful blobs of paint at prominent pieces of art on exterior walls in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, New York. The only clues left behind in the paint assaults were bold manifestoes — phrases like “destroy the museums, in the streets and everywhere” — that appeared to critique the commercialization of art.

The splasher draws on a long tradition of institutional critique, which dates back to 1909 when F.T. Marinetti wrote the 20th century’s ur-manifesto “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism” which glorifies war and preaches iconoclasm by stating: “We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind”. In the 50’s the famous director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Willem Sandberg, stated that the main purpose of the museum should be to make itself redundant. But almost hundred years down the road there is still no sign of museums disappearing or being shut down, let alone being destroyed by agressive artists. Paradoxically, most works of art that criticize the art system eventually end up in museum collections, as the institutional acceptance of graffiti artists such as Banksy shows. But I’m afraid that the Splasher will neither succeed in bringing down the museum nor prove to be interesting enough for museums to acquire for their collections.

Read an interesting view on the Splasher on Hardcorbeau

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The Polish president has confirmed plans for the construction of a Jewish museum in Warsaw that will celebrate the Jewish life that flourished in the country before it was destroyed in the Holocaust. While Germany has seen a surge in the number of Holocaust monuments and museums in recent years, the country where Nazis built extermination camps such as Auschwitz and Treblinka, still lacks an official place to commemorate Poland’s 3 million Jews who died during WWII. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is to be opened in two years’ time in a remarkable building designed by Finnish architects Rainer Mahlamaki and Ilmari Lahdelma.

Go to website Museum of the History of Polish Jews
(English site will be available from June 28, 2007)

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The International Herald Tribune reports that visitors to the Bargello museum in Florence will be able to see restorers at work removing centuries of dirt from Donatello’s “David” starting Tuesday.

Go to website Bargello National Museum (in English)

Art museum expansions, attendance, exhibitions, acquisitions, endowment income and budgets are all increasing in North America, according to a report by the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) released last month. The resurgence of museum activity since 2002—when the world economy was in a downturn exacerbated by the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001— emerges as the most dramatic aspect of the survey.

Read full article (The Art Newspaper, June 21, 2007)

Next week, Mr. Ronald Plasterk, the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science will probably announce his decision concerning the future location of a new museum of Dutch National History. Last month the Service Centre for International Cultural Activities (SICA) and the Netherlands Museum Association together organized a expert meeting to discuss this rather controversial issue. Several foreign museum experts joined their Dutch colleagues and together they concluded that if the government decides to create such a museum, it should be realised in a physical building rather than as a virtual experience. But the panel couldn’t resolve the widespread dispute in the Netherlands about whether this building should be erected in Amsterdam, The Hague or Arnhem (in the eastern part of the Netherlands).

Download the minutes of the meeting (May 23, 2007: An International Perspective on the Dutch National History Museum)

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The Art Newspaper recently introduced a new web-based tool that enables you to search for museum exhibitions around the world by clicking on a map. You can also browse by category or look at the editors’ picks. If you represent a museum, and have registered yourself online, it is even possible to add an exhibition to the list.

Go to website

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The Web is changing - faster, smarter, more personal, more social. The software that drives it and the usage that shapes it are evolving at a rapid pace. Is the museum sector responding to this evolution? And as visible and trusted providers of rich and unique content might museums have, in fact, an opportunity to influence the future Web?

From Web ethics, to user-generated content, and from the implications and possibilities of mashed-up content, to the need for new values and holistic approaches to accessible design…this year’s UK Museums on the Web conference will explore the many ways the Web is being transformed around us, and how museums can respond to - and perhaps lead - this change.

The transcripts of the presentations will hopefuly be made available on the website.

Friday 22 June 2007
University of Leicester
Henry Wellcome Building

Go to website

Web 2.0 critic Andrew Keen has been getting his share of criticism from bloggers and 2.0s around the Web. But his contribution to the discussion about how to address Web 2.0, is vital to professionals working in the arts and culture. His book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet Is Killing Our Culture has been used as a point of reference in our article Brave New Museum: a conversation about museums in the digital age, which will be part of the Culture 2.0 book to be published in August 2007.

Wired editor Tony Long wrote an elegant article on its Web site today, overlooking the discussion.

Read the article (Wired, June 21, 2007)

The Centre of Contemporary Architecture in Russia is calling for entries for the PORTFOLIO competition to take part in the open architectural competition with international participation for the most innovative architectural concept of new Museum in Perm city, where the collections of Perm Art Gallery would move to.

PRIZE FUND $ 300 000 USA
1st Prize $ 100 000
2nd Prize $ 70 000
3rd Prize $ 50 000
Awards: 8 Special awards $ 10 000 each

This will be the first Russian museum responding to the demands of the 21st century. Building of the museum should become an outstanding work of actual architecture and the most contemporary site in museum landscape of Russia. Perm region is one of the most mighty and ambitious in Russia. Its vast territory is extended between Europe and Asia, on the boundary between Ural mountains and steppe flatland.

Read full text

Senior figures from politics, education and the arts leapt to defend free admission to Britain’s most famous museums and galleries after a senior Tory suggested that charges could be reintroduced.

The campaigners hailed the success of free access to museums, which has attracted an extra 30 million people to the nation’s great artistic and cultural collections since admission charges were scrapped six years ago. It followed a campaign by The Independent to end charges.

Read full article (The Independent, June 18, 2007)