<
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/oct/24/frederick-mccubbin-descendant-backs-wa-museum-acquisition-of-perspex-vandalised-by-climate-protesters>
"A close descendant of the acclaimed artist Frederick McCubbin has come out in
support of the Western Australian Museum after it came under fire over an
unusual acquisition.
The museum confirmed this week it had acquired the perspex glass protecting one
of McCubbin’s most famous paintings,
Down on His Luck, from the Art Gallery
of Western Australia. The perspex was spray painted with the Woodside logo by
protesters in January last year.
The defacement was carried out by Disrupt Burrup Hub to draw attention to
Woodside’s operations on the Burrup Peninsula, which the group says are
desecrating sacred Murujuga rock art believed to be among the oldest rock
carvings in the world.
On Thursday, McCubbin’s great-granddaughter Margot Edwards said she supported
the museum’s decision to acquire the perspex.
“It is the museum’s job to collect material significant to our state’s cultural
life,” she told
Guardian Australia.
“As an act of protest drawing attention to the impacts of the expansion of
fossil fuel extraction in our north-west on the priceless ancient Indigenous
cultural heritage of the Burrup Peninsula, the perspex on McCubbin’s painting
was an effective palette for this radical protest.”
Both Edwards and McCubbin’s great-great-grandchild Ned Reilly came out in
support of the protesters’ actions last year, telling
Guardian Australia it
was a “clever protest” McCubbin would have approved of which had “opened an
important conversation”. The painting itself was not damaged during the
protest."
Also:
"At a transport press conference on Thursday, the deputy premier, Rita
Saffioti, said she did not accept the museum’s justification that it was merely
preserving history.
“We don’t keep the carriages that people have graffitied … we clean the
graffiti off because it’s illegal behaviour,” she said."
Someone needs to brief her on the history and value of graffiti art - including
on railway carriages.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
