This thesis examines the autonomy of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany, in establishing policies and allocating state funds based on their...Show moreThis thesis examines the autonomy of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany, in establishing policies and allocating state funds based on their preferred organisational values. It compares the policies two institutions within the context of their national cultural policies. The study analyses the cultural policies of the Netherlands and Germany, investigating how these policies influence the autonomy of the case studies. Additionally, the research identifies the preferred organisational values of museums through examining national cultural policies, museum policies, and the opinions of professionals. To better understand and analyse the preferred organisational values and their relation to autonomy, the Museum Values Framework (MVF) is used. The framework contributes to the understanding of certain tensions, organisational museum structures and opposing values.Show less
While having been wrongly neglected by scholars, René Magritte's 'La Réproduction Interdite' was painted in an important transitional period in the artist's life. Magritte was on the verge of...Show moreWhile having been wrongly neglected by scholars, René Magritte's 'La Réproduction Interdite' was painted in an important transitional period in the artist's life. Magritte was on the verge of separating from both the French and Belgian surrealist groups and developing his own art theory. This paper focuses on the causes of this transition, as well as identifying its main characteristics in 'La Réproduction Interdite'. These characteristics consist of external factors, which include the influences of the surrealist groups and the work's patron, Edward James, on the painting, in addition to internal influences, which includes Magritte's recently formulated art theory and new ideas.Show less
The Dubois Collection, currently patrimony of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden (the Netherlands), is a contested assemblage of fossils and personal archival material pertaining to the...Show moreThe Dubois Collection, currently patrimony of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden (the Netherlands), is a contested assemblage of fossils and personal archival material pertaining to the Dutch palaeontology and paleoanthropologist Marie Eugène François Thomas Dubois (1858 – 1940). Most notably, the collection contains a skullcap and femurs belonging to the ancient hominid ancestor Homo Erectus. These finds were dubbed ‘Java Man’ and constitute the earliest physical evidence that the human lineage has been subject to evolution according to Darwinian principles of selection and adaptation. While these have always been a subject of great interest to the scientific community, the historicity of the Collection and particularly the contested status of these fossils have attracted much less academic interest over the last 12 decades. This changed when a formal request by the government of Indonesia for restitution of the Dubois Collection was filed with the Dutch government in October 2022. A state commission is now deliberating on the rightful place of residence for the Dubois Collection. Because there is a possibility that the Java Man fossils may remain with their current stewards at Naturalis in Leiden, it is worthwhile to examine their exhibition history and investigate how the current permanent exhibition seeks to educate the public about the historical context in which these fossils were acquired. This text questions whether the permanent exhibition on Dubois and Java Man in Naturalis Biodiversity Center reflects a commitment to researching and informing the public about the historical context in which the Dubois Collection was acquired. It describes the exhibition history of the Dubois Collection and particularly the Java Man fossils and critically examines the narrative that has been presented in these exhibitions. Particularly, this text argues that the perceived differences between natural history and material culture collections are instrumental in explaining why the current permanent exhibition falls short of educating the public about the historical context in which the Java Man fossils were acquired. It also elaborates on the public statements made by museum staff to further contextualise the possible motivations for making certain design choices in this exhibition.Show less
The Museum of Arts of São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) devoted years to exhibiting and representing histories and narratives through its mission of plurality and inclusion. The exhibition...Show moreThe Museum of Arts of São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) devoted years to exhibiting and representing histories and narratives through its mission of plurality and inclusion. The exhibition Histórias Feministas: artistas depois de 2000 symbolises the museum’s mission not only by dedicating an entire exhibition to feminisms, but also for its curatorial practice. This research analyses the case study through the frameworks of decolonialism, curatorial activism, empathic inclusion and feminisms in order to demonstrate to what extent can a decolonial curatorial practice affect the inclusion of different cultural backgrounds in contemporary curating. Analysing also the best methods of fomenting the development of decolonial curating, as well as disclosing the relevance of a decolonial curatorial practice, this thesis challenges the traditional institution of arts towards a plural and intercultural contemporary curating.Show less
Memories play a significant role when forming an individual's sense of identity and understanding of past events. Even though memories are normally associated with lived personal and shared...Show moreMemories play a significant role when forming an individual's sense of identity and understanding of past events. Even though memories are normally associated with lived personal and shared collective experiences, certain memories do not fall under such categorizations. The concept of postmemory, introduced by literary scholar Marianne Hirsch, aims to describe the inheritance of memories and trauma that are not experienced by the individuals themselves. Instead, acquired through stories and images shared by the previous generations, these experiences are passed on, thus eventually becoming part of people's identities. This research focuses on addressing the extent to which the use of postmemory provides new interpretative insights regarding the depiction of memories and trauma in the works of Australian-Latvian artist Imants Tillers (1950). By basing the theoretical framework in the fields of art history and memory studies, this thesis reveals how postmemory can be recognized in Tillers' conceptual project The Book of Power (1981-present) and what are some of the interpretative possibilities this concept can offer in visual analysis. The analyses concentrate on the large-scale paintings Farewell to Reason (1996), Monaro (1998), Terra Negata (2005), and Tabula Rasa (For My Father) (2011) that provide fruitful grounds for recognizing manifestations of intergenerational and transgenerational postmemory in these artworks.Show less
Since the emergence of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century, much has been written, discussed, and critiqued about the role art will or already occupies within society. Arguably, the...Show moreSince the emergence of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century, much has been written, discussed, and critiqued about the role art will or already occupies within society. Arguably, the most significant novelty of that time were the reproductions that, for the first time in history, had the power to spread the artwork to a broader audience on a massive scale. The art objects that used to be sacred now had their likenesses printed in magazines and advertised for more people to see. Artworks reserved for the elites could now be seen even by the poorest layers of Western societies, which was unimaginable just a couple of decades before. Currently, in the third decade of the 21st century, we live in a world that has been severely affected not only by the Industrial Revolution but also by the Digital Revolution that emerged in the late half of the 20th century. If the Industrial Revolution allowed the artworks to be mass-produced physically, then the Digital Revolution, along with its algorithms, allows the artworks, stories, and narratives to be mass-produced digitally. Inevitably changing our perception of art as viewers. This thesis examines the effect that large digital reproductions have on the original artwork and the extent to which they shift the aura and valuations of the original. Furthermore, it will be suggested that large digital reproductions significantly change our perception and interactions with the original art. They allow us to see the original more clearly, have the power to transmit its image within society, as well as question the existence of the artwork’s position within its designated space.Show less
Medusa is an ongoing traditional subject within art. However, she is often depicted as an objectified version of her decapitated head or as a demonised version of a woman. In this research, I...Show moreMedusa is an ongoing traditional subject within art. However, she is often depicted as an objectified version of her decapitated head or as a demonised version of a woman. In this research, I analysed if contemporary artworks were depicting Medusa as feminine and monstrous by researching and discussing her physical features, as well as determining what these aspects can tell us about contemporary society. This was achieved through the use of three case studies; Luciano Garbati’s Medusa with the Head of Perseus, Damien Hirst’s The Severed Head of Medusa, and PichiAvo’s Medusa. Through visual analysis and comparison, combined with literary and visual contextualisation from both contemporary and historic times, it was determined that contemporary artworks tend to stray from the stereotypical media portrayal of Medusa as a beast. Each artwork had feminine and monstrous aspects, each with different intentions and reasons. What they ended up showing within society is that Medusa’s story is being retold and the arts are helping convey this message. While some still focus on the monetary gains of art, others use their artworks of Medusa to support female empowerment.Show less
The Aztec are frequently defined by their ruthless battles, blood sacrifices, magical shamans and ancient culture. This narrative has been maintained in museums of ethnography, where emphasis is...Show moreThe Aztec are frequently defined by their ruthless battles, blood sacrifices, magical shamans and ancient culture. This narrative has been maintained in museums of ethnography, where emphasis is put on religion and ritual, at the expense of technological innovation. This paper examines the Aztec uses of highly advanced technology (i.e., civil engineering, architecture, agriculture, metallurgy, information technology) and whether these aspects are represented in the collections of the British Museum (London), the Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) and the Volkenkunde Museum (Leiden). Furthermore, this paper offers a rhetorical analysis on how these collections are being displayed in the museums’ permanent exhibitions and what narrative the museums are persuading their visitors of. It concludes that the collections within the museums in question are not indicative of innovative advancements, resulting in the primitivizing of the Aztec Empire and condemning them further back in the alleged evolutionary timeline.Show less
