❓ Mr. Love questions the Premier about the WA Museum's acquisition of a vandalised painting perspex, linking it to climate activist actions. The Premier defends the Museum's independence, while personally disapproving of the acquisition.
AnsweredQoN 747Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MUSEUM — DEFACED PAINTING PERSPEX
ACQUISITION
747. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to the Western Australian
Museum's acquisition of a piece produced by vandalism that has been
excused as cataloguing history, as well as to remarks from climate activists
today who called their disruption of a Woodside annual general meeting with a stink bomb and flares ''an excellent
prank''. Does the state government support the Western Australian
Museum's acquisition of this piece and the subsequent publicity boost
it has given to criminal activists?
ACQUISITION
747. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to the Western Australian
Museum's acquisition of a piece produced by vandalism that has been
excused as cataloguing history, as well as to remarks from climate activists
today who called their disruption of a Woodside annual general meeting with a stink bomb and flares ''an excellent
prank''. Does the state government support the Western Australian
Museum's acquisition of this piece and the subsequent publicity boost
it has given to criminal activists?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you, Acting Speaker. My
apologies, Madam Speaker; it is the second time that I have done that!
I thank the member for the
question. Of course, as the member well and truly knows, the state government
does not run the Museum; the Museum is run by a board, and it has always been
thus. It is an entity unto itself, whereby it
runs museum services and processes on behalf of the people of Western Australia.
The state government's position on the vandalism that occurred
at the Art Gallery of WA has not changed. Ultimately, this is a decision for
the Museum. Receiving this piece is probably not something that we would have
supported, and we urge the Museum to use common sense in making decisions
around its use. However, this is not a decision for government. I am not the
chief censor. It is not my job to look over the shoulder of arts organisations
and decide what they should or should not do
or exhibit. That is the nature of arts and culture. This is not a piece that I would
necessarily have wanted the Museum to
pick up. I mean, I think it elevates or tries to glamorise what is essentially
a piece of vandalism. As the Deputy Premier; Minister for Transport
observed earlier today, when rail carriages are vandalised with graffiti, we
scrub off that graffiti and try to eliminate the impact of that vandalism in
terms of people's visual amenity.
At
the end of the day, this is a decision for the Museum. The Western Australian
Museum is on the record as saying that it received the donation because,
like any public institution, the Museum documents the issues and events that occur in our society. The Museum has also said that
it does not indicate the Museum's support for the cause, but rather
its recording of the event. Sometimes history is uncomfortable. If we were in
the habit of deciding what did and did not occur in history, we would go to a very
dark place indeed. I fully support the Western Australian Museum's
independence and its right to decide what it should or should not acquire and
exhibit. Obviously, it is not to my taste and I deplore any acts of this
nature, but the act occurred. Mercifully, our law enforcement agencies were
able to respond to that. However, I will not stand as the censor-in-chief and I
will not, on behalf of the government, condone or condemn the actions of the
Museum.
apologies, Madam Speaker; it is the second time that I have done that!
I thank the member for the
question. Of course, as the member well and truly knows, the state government
does not run the Museum; the Museum is run by a board, and it has always been
thus. It is an entity unto itself, whereby it
runs museum services and processes on behalf of the people of Western Australia.
The state government's position on the vandalism that occurred
at the Art Gallery of WA has not changed. Ultimately, this is a decision for
the Museum. Receiving this piece is probably not something that we would have
supported, and we urge the Museum to use common sense in making decisions
around its use. However, this is not a decision for government. I am not the
chief censor. It is not my job to look over the shoulder of arts organisations
and decide what they should or should not do
or exhibit. That is the nature of arts and culture. This is not a piece that I would
necessarily have wanted the Museum to
pick up. I mean, I think it elevates or tries to glamorise what is essentially
a piece of vandalism. As the Deputy Premier; Minister for Transport
observed earlier today, when rail carriages are vandalised with graffiti, we
scrub off that graffiti and try to eliminate the impact of that vandalism in
terms of people's visual amenity.
At
the end of the day, this is a decision for the Museum. The Western Australian
Museum is on the record as saying that it received the donation because,
like any public institution, the Museum documents the issues and events that occur in our society. The Museum has also said that
it does not indicate the Museum's support for the cause, but rather
its recording of the event. Sometimes history is uncomfortable. If we were in
the habit of deciding what did and did not occur in history, we would go to a very
dark place indeed. I fully support the Western Australian Museum's
independence and its right to decide what it should or should not acquire and
exhibit. Obviously, it is not to my taste and I deplore any acts of this
nature, but the act occurred. Mercifully, our law enforcement agencies were
able to respond to that. However, I will not stand as the censor-in-chief and I
will not, on behalf of the government, condone or condemn the actions of the
Museum.
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