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| Bartomeu Mari |
A group of Korean artists and curators made a statement Saturday regarding censorship controversies over the newly appointed director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA).
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) announced Wednesday that former Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) director Bartomeu Mari will lead the nation's flagship art museum, starting as early as Dec. 14. He now serves as the president of the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (CiMAM) based in Barcelona, Spain.
The MMCA post has been vacant for some 14 months since Chung Hyung-min was dismissed over allegations of interfering in the recruitment of curators. The MCST, which supervises the art museum, tried to hire a new director earlier this year, but could not find the candidate they felt was right for the job.
The ministry had another open call for the position in September and local media reported Mari was a prime candidate, sourced by ministry officials in November. When Mari emerged as a candidate for the new MMCA director, the Korean art community expressed its concerns over Mari and his reasons for resigning at MACBA.
Mari, who became head of the museum in Barcelona in 2008, stepped down from the post in March regarding a contentious piece of art that was supposed to be displayed at "The Beast and the Sovereign" exhibit -- Austrian artist Ines Doujak's sculpture "Not Dressed for Conquering," depicting sex between the former Spanish king Juan Carlos, Bolivian Labor leader Domitila Chungara with a dog on a bed made up of old Nazi helmets.
Mari decided to cancel the show when the curators declined his request to remove the piece from the exhibition. After a heated debate, the exhibition resumed its opening, including the controversial work, but Mari resigned after sacking two curators in charge of the exhibit.
The Korean art community released its first statement in November, asking for plausible explanations regarding the appointment of the new MMCA director and his controversies.
They said the MMCA is an institution that represents Korean contemporary art and the MMCA director should protect artistic freedom, citing that the government's increasing censorship and bureaucratic restrictions have critically damaged every domestic cultural field. "This particular issue reflects the public's awareness of the worsening crisis involving freedom of expression and art in South Korea in recent years," the statement said.
Neither the ministry nor Mari responded to the statement, but the MCST officially named Mari to the post on Dec. 2.
The group delivered a new statement, asking the newly appointed director and the MCST institute full-fledged reforms to protect and foster artistic freedom. More than 340 artists signed the statement by Saturday, including 2015 Venice Biennale Silver Lion winner Im Heung-soon, photographer Noh Suntag and media artist Park Chan-kyung. The artists said they will receive signatures until Sunday and submit it to the culture minister and director on Dec. 14, when Mari's appointment ceremony is scheduled.
Mari showed his intention to have talks with the Korean art community, which opposed his appointment. He sent an e-mail to those who participated in the statement, saying that no public museum can advance without the cooperation of the local art community and he welcomes further public debate regarding censorship.
Contrary to the domestic stand against the new director, an international group of curators and artists endorsed Mari, claiming that he consistently defended the democratic values and artistic freedoms he is now said to have betrayed.
Led by Enrico Lunghi, director of Mudam Luxembourg, and other noted figures including MNAC Bucharest director Calin Dan and Mamco Geneve director Christian Bernard, their petition states that Mari made the mistake of not paying timely attention to his curators and paid for his error by giving up his post, taking the responsibility of determining the appropriateness of a work.
"For more than 20 years, Bartomeu Mari curated great and radical shows and presented the work of hundreds and hundreds of artists: should there now be an irreversible character assassination because he found himself in a situation without a good solution?" the petition states. As of Sunday evening, 349 supporters have signed.
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