Whose money? Whose power? Whose art history?

• Autores: James Cuno
• Localización: Art bulletin, ISSN 0004-3079, Vol. 79, Nº 1, 1997, págs. 6-9
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Part of a special section on money, power, and the history of art. The writer discusses what he considers to be the real and urgent problems facing museums. He argues that the biggest problem facing art museums today is the emerging “consensus” among politicians, community activists, funding sources, and engaged academics that the art museum is first and foremost a social institution, an active educational center with a mandate to encourage therapeutic social perspectives for learning about and appreciating the visual arts. He explores two exhibition controversies that challenged the museum's traditional authority over its own affairs. In the light of the widespread “loss of expertise” among museums and the ongoing challenges to their authority, he proposes that the production and distribution of scholarship be included in the public mission of museums.