Concerns have arisen among the South Korean art community regarding the possible appointment of Bartomeu Marí at the head of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea, following the censorship scandal that led to his resignation as MACBA director last year, Hyperallergic reports. Marí was shortlisted with two other local candidates, and the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism should make their decision shortly, but this week a group called Petition 4 Art launched a statement and petition against Marí’s appointment which has already received over 800 signatures from artists, curators, and other cultural figures including artists Lee Bul, and Haegue Yang as well as curators Seungduk Kim to Binna Choi.
Considering regular cases of censorship and bureaucratic restrictions on artistic freedom imposed by the government, the group expresses thier concerns as to ‘whether he is the one who can handle properly — with a strong ethical standard for the art scene and community, especially in Korea’s current culture-political situation — not to ‘protect the institution’ only.’ Marí, who recently received Tate Modern’s Chris Dercon’s endorsement, has been in discussion with the signatories of the petition but the group said they remain skeptical. In their statement, Petition 4 Art also argues for more transparency on the selection process for the role (the post has been vacant for a year now) and the end of the government’s interference with artistic expression and the public art institutions’ independence.
Read the full statement here
19 November 2015.
