“A work environment that is unfair, promotes racism, white supremacy, and other discriminatory practices”. Here are in few words the atmosphere would be that of the Guggenheim Museum of New York, described by many conservatives in a letter sent Monday, June 22, in the direction. Simply signed “the department of conservation”, the missive, on which the authors have not wished to affix their individual name for fear of reprisals, requires, in particular, of the reforms important and urgent within the institution, and especially, more diversity.
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In detail, the signatories call to “end the culture of favoritism, silence and retribution”, and to “review the recruitment practices and ensure the hiring of conservatives of color,” reports the New York Times . According to the daily, the museum of modern art currently employ 276 full-time employees, of which 26 were blacks, 24 latinos, and 20 Asian. And on the 25 directors of the museum, and 23 are white.
“experience the most racist of my life”
Other claims, that “to reconsider the exhibitions and the acquisition practices of the past of the museum, mainly white and male’, as well as the opening of an independent investigation into the management of the controversial exhibition Basquiat in 2019. Commissioner black asked by the museum to organize the event and to carry out its catalog, Chaédria LaBouvier had been excluded from a round table at the end of exposure.
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Refusing not to take part, the commissioner and historian has confronted the institution and the chief curator of the museum, Nancy Spector, accusing them of wanting to silence him while enjoying his work. “Working at the Guggenheim with Nancy Spector and management has been the professional experience, the most racist of my life,” she assured in a tweet published at the beginning of June.
