Museum Security website statistics; over 1000 hits per week

November 25, 2000

CONTENTS:




- Danish museum fined for liquidising goldfish (Danish museum incurs fishy fine )
- 'Classic' painting auction hammered by the critics
- British Museum's 'cheap' portico may be pulled down
- Nigeria Claims Paris for Looted Artworks at the Louvre
- Le casse-tête nok des sculptures du Musée du quai Branly rebondit

Danish museum fined for liquidising goldfish

Police in Denmark have forced a museum to close an exhibit which allowed visitors to kill goldfish by liquidising them in food blenders. After complaints from animal rights groups, the Trapholt Kuntmuseet, near the western town of Kolding, was warned it risked being fined for cruelty. The exhibition -- the work of the Chilean-born Danish artist Marco Evaristti -- featured ten blenders lined up on a table, each containing a goldfish. A button was available for visitors who wished to turn on a blender, and it was used on several occasions. The museum said the exhibit had toured Brazil, Chile and Argentina without any complaints to the police. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service More:

Danish museum incurs fishy fine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1039000/1039692.stm

'Classic' painting auction hammered by the critics

VAUDINE ENGLAND in Jakarta
Security men outnumbered prospective buyers of hitherto unheralded classics of the painting world before a controversial art auction in Jakarta yesterday.
full article:
http://www.scmp.com/News/ToBody.asp?Sec=Asia&AID=20001125034732828

British Museum's 'cheap' portico may be pulled down

BY SAM LISTER
THE British Museum faces the possibility of having to demolish a controversial part of its new £100million courtyard after it is opened by the Queen in twelve days time. The ceremony for the new Great Court, which is to be named after the Queen, has been promoted as "a new beginning" for the museum. But the future of the complex's south portico still rests with Camden council which is meeting later next month to decide if the structure should be pulled down because it has been built of the wrong type of stone. It has been the subject of controversy since it was revealed that a stonemason used lower quality French limestone rather than the finest Portland stone requested. With the royal opening only weeks away, the museum's trustees have been keen to play down the error, which a letter from English Heritage last week condemned as "a dereliction of their duty to the building". But last night a spokesman admitted that the fiasco could yet bring further embarrassment if local councillors decide to have the portico dismantled. "It is all out of our hands. It could be very embarrassing," the spokesman said. "If the decision is made, we will just have to act on their wishes. Secretly we are hoping it won't happen, of course, but we are not holding our breath." Planning officers from Camden council refused to be drawn on the structure's future, which will be decided at a meeting on December 14. Brian Woodrow, chairman of the environment committee, said: "It is a case of wait and see. The Great Court is a magnificent scheme, but the portico really lets the whole thing down." The council, he said, had received "vociferous" complaints about the structure and had much deliberating to do before a final decision is reached. Prosecutions might also be brought. The portico has come in for widespread criticism since it was discovered that Geoff Smith, director of Easton Masonry in Portland, Dorset, had used a cheap version of the stone requested for the £1.7million contract. By the time museum trustees discovered that the lighter coloured limestone had been used, they decided to let the builder carry on with the contract. Many of the project's fiercest critics have been invited to the Great Court's royal opening, including officials from English Heritage who are now advising that the portico be allowed to stand. Mr Woodrow said that council members would not be attending the opening as it would be seen to affect their impartiality.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,41440,00.html

Nigeria Claims Paris for Looted Artworks at the Louvre

PARIS.- Part of the exhibit of the Louvre Museum in Paris is suspected to have looted art from African countries. This is one of the main suspicions of the artistic and diplomatic community. The works bought in the black market causes the expropriation of the cultural heritage of some countries as Nigeria. Now, the ambassador of Nigeria in Paris, Edward Abiodun Aina is officially claiming the restitution of several terracotta. According to the ambassador the terracotta belong to the Nok culture and were bought to a Belgian illegal dealer.
http://www.artdaily.com/
(Addition: At The TEFAF, The European Fine Art Fair, several NOK
statues were confiscated. These NOK statues were for sale at the booth
of Belgium (!) dealer Deletaille. The Maastricht district attorney at
the moment is preparing a penal law suit. T.C.)


Le casse-tête nok des sculptures du Musée du quai Branly rebondit

PARIS (AFP) - Le casse-tête des sculptures nok acquises par le futur musée du quai Branly rebondit avec les déclarations de l'ambassadeur du Nigéria en France, selon lesquelles "il n'y a aucun accord du Nigéria pour l'acquisition de pièces Nok". Dans une interview au Libération, publiée jeudi, le diplomate, Edward Abiodun Aina, conteste la validité d'un document franco-nigérian daté du 7 février 2000, rédigé en français et en anglais sous le titre "accord général de coopération". Selon lui, "le texte comporte des ratures, sans paraphe à leur côté, les feuillets ne sont pas signés des initiales. Jamais l'Etat du Nigéria ne signe des documents bilatéraux ainsi! Tout au plus pourrait-il s'agir d'un document de travail, d'un projet d'accord de coopération". La polémique sur les trois sculptures - deux nok et une sokoto - exposées depuis avril au pavillon des Sessions du Louvre, antenne du futur musée du quai Branly, a rebondi après les très vives critiques formulées par Lord Renfrew, directeur de l'Institut d'Archéologie de Cambridge, à l'égard de "l'attitude déshonorante du président Chirac", lors d'une conférence à l'Unesco, le 15 novembre. Selon lui, la France a "fait légitimer l'acquisition d'antiquités Nok ayant fait l'objet d'un trafic frauduleux, pillées au Nigéria et achetées sur le marché clandestin pour être exposées au Louvre". Mis en cause, le musée du quai Branly s'était aussitôt élevé contre "ces allégations", réaffirmant que "les objets ont été acquis selon les procédures légales et habituelles et sous le contrôle des autorités françaises et étrangères compétentes". Mais, le 16 novembre, Libération s'était dit en mesure de prouver que "le musée des Arts premiers avait acheté ces oeuvres un an et demi avant de passer le fameux accord avec le Nigéria". Le même jour, l'ambassadeur du Nigéria en France démentait cette acquisition. Mais, selon Le Canard Enchaîné, paru mercredi, "Lagos a aussitôt rectifié le tir en démentant le démenti de son ambassadeur". Lequel dément à son tour le démenti de Lagos... M. Edward Abiodum Aina persiste ainsi, dans son interview de jeudi au quotidien Libération, ajoutant: "Aucune pièce n'est sortie légalement du pays. Je lutte pour la restitution des oeuvres nok et sokoto et autres acquises illégalement".
(c) 2000 AFP. Tous droits de reproduction et de représentation réservés.

For a photo of one of these mint NOK statues: http://actu.nomade.fr/Feed/clt/breve.asp?ID=001123094442.fx7ybg71

PARIS, 16 nov (AFP) - Le Musée du quai Branly s'élève contre les "allégations" de Lord Renfrew, directeur de l'Institut d'archéologie de Cambridge, "selon lesquelles le futur musée "aurait fait légitimer par le Nigéria l'acquisition sur un marché illicite de sculptures Nok". Il reproche au chef de l'Etat "d'avoir demandé (au Nigéria) que l'achat par la France d'antiquités Nok ayant fait l'objet d'un trafic frauduleux, pillées au Nigéria et achetées sur le marché clandestin pour être exposées au Louvre, puis au musée du Quai Branly, soit légitimé". Dans un communiqué, le Musée du quai Branly, "s'élève contre ces allégations. Une nouvelle fois, le musée du quai Branly confirme que les objets ont été acquis selon les procédures légales et habituelles et sous le contrôle des autorités françaises et étrangères compétentes".
http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,2320,118490,00.html