Within the wake of calls for Russia to be ejected from the Worldwide Council of Museums (ICOM) for violating the group’s code of ethics, ICOM Russia’s president, Vasilij Pankratov, has slammed the transfer as “political libel.”
ICOM is a non-governmental group that units business requirements for collaborating museums.
In an open letter printed on Could 5 in French newspaper Le Monde, a bunch of artwork specialists accused Russia of “systematically erasing Ukraine’s centuries-old cultural identification” because the begin of its invasion in 2022.” The signatories – together with artwork historian Konstantin Akinsha, Francesca Thyssen Bornemisza, the founding father of Museums for Ukraine, and Vitalit Tytych, head of authorized affairs at ICOM Ukraine – stated they meant to take ICOM to courtroom in France, the place the NGO is headquartered, if it did not oust Russia.
“As a result of ICOM is an NGO topic to French laws,” Christian Castagna, co-author of the open letter and advocacy supervisor for non-profit For Ukraine, Their Freedom, and Ours! advised ARTnews, “if it doesn’t comply with what’s written in its statutes, its members can demand that ICOM’s govt board respects its statutes and dismisses Russia for violating its code of ethics.”
ICOM Russia didn’t reply to a request for remark from ARTnews, however on Could 16, Pankratov spoke to Russian Telegram channel “ku-ku,” which posts artwork world information. He described the open letter as “the most recent match of rage demonstrated by organizations and people affiliated with Ukraine,” and stated it “has nothing to do with tradition.”
“The entire factors [listed in the letter] usually are not new, I’ve already commented on them intimately through the first assault,” Pankratov stated. “The claims are unfounded, particularly the moral ones. It’s not possible to guage the proper software of [ICOM’s code of ethics] with out taking into consideration the peculiarities of [Russian] legislation. In Russia, many guidelines referring to museum exercise are decided by the state, not museum employees. Our museum employees work throughout the framework of the structure, and they don’t violate the legislation and native moral standards.”
The “first assault” Pankratov referenced refers to a letter ICOM’s president, Emma Nardi, despatched to ICOM Russia final September, asking for a proper session to debate “worrying developments” in Ukraine associated the group’s code of ethics. On the time, Pankarov denied that any actions had been dedicated by “particular person or collective members that violated the code of ethics.”
The open letter in Le Monde additionally accused Russia of “taking [Ukrainian] cultural property after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the absorption of Ukrainian museum collections [by Russian museums] because the invasion in 2022, and the destruction of Ukrainian cultural websites, documented by UNESCO.”
Pankratov additionally denied that Ukrainian artwork has been appropriated by Russian museums, calling the declare “far-fetched.” “There isn’t a uncle from the Kremlin Museum forcing Russian museums [in occupied regions] to do that,” he stated. “Final time, ICOM’s management was not satisfied by our arguments, however stated they didn’t intend to evict Russia. We at the moment are ready to see ICOM’s response.”
ICOM earlier advised ARTnews that it wanted extra time earlier than it responded to the letter in Le Monde, and has since refused to reply questions on Pankratov’s latest feedback.
In August 2022, on the ICOM common meeting in Prague, its govt board condemned Russia’s “deliberate destruction of Ukrainian heritage” and stated it might revise its code of ethics so it may “handle conflicts” extra successfully.
Nevertheless, when ARTnews requested not too long ago if any revisions have since been made, an ICOM spokesperson did reply, saying that members had not too long ago shared “useful suggestions” on a second draft of a revised code of ethics throughout “the fourth and closing session part of the revision course of.”
