“Picture frames were removed with questionable criteria”

The current advisor of the Book and Reading Corporation announced a situation regarding the picture frames of the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA) and also referred to the lack of budget for the space.

“There was an exhibition where the picture frames were removed with very debatable criteria and considering them merely decorative elements,” he told The counter.

The event was reported by the curator, academic and visual artist, Pablo Chiuminatto. “The context to which I was referring was the exhibition that was held at the MNBA that was titled “Fights for art” in which the proposal involved reorganizing a part of the historical exhibition of the MNBA collection under the perspective of the conflicts that the curators identified within the history of Chilean art between 1843-1933,” he told The counter.

“This is how they decide to remove the frames from the paintings and group them so that they coincide with the conceptual diagrams in which, as I said, they identified these “fights”, that is, notions such as the formation of museums, collecting, institutions cultural, also under titles such as agents and regents, originality and reproduction, among other concepts. The point that seems debatable to me is the decision to remove the frames because these are also part of the story and are not simply a decorative accessory; especially in this type of foundational collections,” said Chiuminatto.

For his part, Dittborn pointed out that “this type of situation, if it is not consulted and accepted by the artists, reflects an arrogance – defined by me as patronizing – and calling the frameworks conservative.”

Furthermore, he indicated in conversation with T13 Radio that “The budget of the National Museum of Fine Arts is a shame. It is so embarrassing that when there is an auction they don’t dare ask for the catalog to look at it, because they know they don’t have the money. There was recently a man who had a very good collection, he sold it and the Fine Arts did not participate, he did not go to look.

Chiuminatto added that “if we think about national cultural policy, something similar is happening. This shift towards reading cultural reality under the sign of the present displaces the heritage wealth that institutions such as the MNBA itself or the National Library protect. And the most important thing is that both perspectives can coexist.”

Finally, in relation to the management of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, he indicated that “this government is not only indebted to the cultural industries. The lack of cultural public policies that transcend governments is a drama.”

“We must have a State policy that puts culture in a relevant place and that it is understood that its extension to all citizens is to ensure that more people enjoy incorporating culture into their lives,” he said.