Everything’s fine?

Todo está en orden is an action taken up by the students of the Independent Studies Program (PEI) within Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona (MACBA) in the light of the recent deplorable events at this museum.

Following the censorship of an artwork included at the exhibition La Bestia y el Soberano (curated by Hans. D. Christ, Iris Dressler, Paul. B. Preciado and Valentin Roma), the Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona (MACBA) canceled the opening of the exhibition scheduled for March 18th, 2015. The public pressure of critical opposition to this decision, both on local and international scale, led to the reopening of the exhibition on March 21st, but the director Bartomeu Mari subsequently dismissed Paul B. Preciado from the position of the Chief of Public Program and Valentin Roma from the position of the Chief Curator, before offering his own resignation.

The problematic piece titled “Not dressed for conquering” by Austrian artist Ines Doujak addresses the issue of colonial power relations and includes a satirical reference to the figure of the king (the similarity of features with the former king of Spain Juan Carlos I provoked the reaction). The director Bartomeu Mari firstly opted for the removal of the piece, and the curators’ refusal to remove it resulted in the decision to cancel the whole exhibition.

The censorship issue and its repercussions have manifested the extent of incongruency between the museum’s stated mission, its structure and the actions taking place therein. As the students of the Independent Studies Program within this museum, we feel obliged to stay faithful to the mission of our program and to voice our critique.

more: ArtLeaks,  Zmijskijezik