Museum Watch Releases

• M HKA caught in the crosshairs, what is the museum’s future?

  

  9 October 2025. Statement in Support of M HKA. The CIMAM Museum Watch is profoundly concerned by the recent news that M HKA, an internationally respected contemporary art museum, is being regressed into a kunsthalle, and equally that it is being separated from its site-specific collection.

• Two alarming cases of bad practices by the administration in regional museums in Spain: CAAC, Seville and IVAM, Valencia

  

  4 March 2024. CIMAM's Museum Watch is very concerned with recent developments in Spain regarding two important regional contemporary art museums and their professionals. Both cases involve a regression in terms of codes of good practice for the cultural sector.

• Cancellation and censorship in times of war

  

  15 January 2024. The Museum Watch committee is following with concern the dreadful situation in Gaza and its repercussions in the worlds of art and culture—more specifically, its consequences for artists and curators who express their support for the Palestinian people. In this time of conflict and crisis, CIMAM would like to stress the importance of preserving the museum as a space for the free artistic expression.

• To the public opinion

  

  26 October 2023. The Museum Watch Committee has been paying close attention to the current situation regarding the exhibition of the artist Tania Bruguera at the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende (MSSA) in Santiago, Chile. Freedom of expression and speech for artistic projects are basic principles and a necessary working frame for cultural institutions. It guarantees artistic freedom, even when the institution does not necessarily support or agree with the position taken by an artist or an artistic project.

• Revisiting the trajectories of Gary Garrels and Nancy Spector

  

  13 October 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly has shed light on the systemic manifestations of all kinds of racism and discrimination around the world. In 2020 the brutal murder of George Floyd ignited a worldwide outcry for social justice and anti-racism that is long overdue. In the climate of those days, the Museum Watch Committee was informed of a series of cases in the United States in which senior professionals were accused of racism and promptly compelled to resign.

• Questions as a Base to Learn and Teach

  

  22 September 2023. During the past few years Museum Watch has been attentive to exceptional changes that are transforming museums and galleries into more open, diverse, accessible and inclusive institutions. At the same time we want to reflect on and speak about some difficult questions and situations that have arisen in this moment.

• Signs of Troubling Times: Recent Developments at the State Tretyakov Gallery

  

  13 March 2023. While spirituality is one of the key lines of modern and contemporary art, art will always resonate with the society in which it acts and with its values. Art can never be an instrument for politicians and regimes to steer societies.

• On the recent situation and debate around the National Gallery of Canada

  

  18 January 2023. CIMAM is looking forward to the concrete strategic plans of the board and the new director that balances the diverse axes of the NGC, addresses tensions between national and international focusses, critically engages the blurring of boundaries between fine art and contemporary art, and finds a decolonial narrative in between the patriotic citizens of 1880 and the indigenous people.

• Kurt Schwitters Merzbau

  

  14 November 2022. The Board of CIMAM (2020-22) is responding to the current sensitive situation regarding the future of the Merz Barn and in the context of its potential sale by auction.

• A set of Governance Clauses for Museum Ethics to protect and support museums and their staff

  

  3 November 2022. These clauses are intended to address the growing vulnerabilities museums face in relation to interference, increasingly political, from their ‘Founders’ or ‘Governing Bodies’ which can undermine the Museum’s mission and values and their ability to operate with the curatorial independence required to create an open space in civil society.

• INTERCOM and CIMAM introduce the Museum Watch Governance Management Project

  

  3 May 2022. CIMAM is pleased to share the report Museum Watch Governance Management Project convened and led by INTERCOM and CIMAM and produced thanks to an ICOM Special Project Grant to help the museum community address governance management challenges more efficiently.

• CIMAM expresses its concern over the dismissal of Jaroslaw Suchan as director of Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz

  

  29 April 2022. CIMAM expresses its concern over the dismissal of Jaroslaw Suchan as director of Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz, making public the letters sent on February 23 to the Polish Ministry of Culture and issuing a new statement.

• A Courageous Action by the staff of Moderna galerija, Ljubljana

  

  10 March 2022. We share the letter by the staff of Moderna galerija call for the dismissal of the current Director as a gesture of solidarity and support with the staff and to share with our members the details of this critical situation as it unfolds.

• Statement on the Forced Resignation of Alistair Hudson

  

  2 March 2022. The Museum Watch Committee (MWC) expresses our deep concern regarding the forced removal of Alistair Hudson from his post as Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, an institution under the University of Manchester.

• Anti-war petitions and resources in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine

  

  March 2022. List of practical resources for Ukrainian culture professionals and civil society and anti-war petitions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

• A Message from CIMAM in support to Ukrainian museum professionals

  

  25 February 2022. CIMAM expresses its absolute condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine by military forces from the present Russian regime. We ask all members of CIMAM to actively consider ways they can act to show their solidarity with our colleagues.

• About the recent developments in relation to Enrico Lunghi’s legal challenge

  

  19 January 2022. CIMAM congratulates Enrico for his perseverance in very difficult circumstances and welcomes this public vindication of a respected and valued member of the museum community in a time when many of our colleagues remain vulnerable to poor governance and political interference.

• A case relevant for the current debate around freedom of speech

  

  23 September 2021. The National Coalition Against Censorship, a United States-based organization, is disseminating a letter supporting Cai Quo-Qiang and Sandra Ramos, two eminent members of the international artistic community who are currently confronted with exclusion from an art event in Florida by local policymakers

• CIMAM Statement in relation to the critical situation facing artists and art professionals in Afghanistan

  

  30 August 2021. CIMAM wishes to express its deep concern about the vulnerable position of artists and art professionals in Afghanistan and to draw attention to the need for their plight to be highlighted to those Governments that are working to ensure the safety of those at critical risk from the Taliban.

• Statement on recent developments at MACBA

  

  23 July 2021. CIMAM’s Museum Watch Committee is deeply concerned by recent developments at MACBA, Barcelona, one of Europe’s more influential and dynamic museums.

• Turning the Gwangju Biennale into a Working Organisation: Statement on the Gwangju Biennale

  

  19 July 2021. The Museum Watch Committee (MWC) expresses its great concern regarding the resistance to the organisational reform of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, the organiser of the Gwangju Biennale.

• Statement on the Proposed Restructuring of City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi

  

  9 June 2021. The Museum Watch Committee (MWC) expresses its great concern regarding action by Experience Wellington to restructure the City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi. Experience Wellington’s plan to disestablish the roles of director and senior curator at City Gallery Wellington will destabilise the institution by reducing its ability to develop quality content necessary for a cultural institution.

• The calm and effective actions of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška

  

  31 May 2021. The Museum Watch Committee commends the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška for foregrounding the artists and the project’s curatorial integrity in such challenging circumstances.

• CIMAM shares the open letter from Colombian cultural workers and stands in solidarity with them.

  

  13 May 2021. SOS ARTE COLOMBIA. "Our struggle is for life". CIMAM shares the open letter from cultural workers and stands in solidarity with them.