Tuesday, April 26, 2016
'No sketching': V&A signs betray everything the museum stands for
The Guardian: Stealthily photographing someone’s knickers might normally get you arrested, but everyone’s at it in the V&A. A ban on photography in the museum’s new exhibition, Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, means the gallery is full of people furtively trying to snap pictures of pants when the guards aren’t looking. Sneaky museum Instagramming never felt so naughty.
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I can't imagine going to an art museum and not finding a single person on the floor with a sketchbook in hand. Some of my earliest memories are of making the trek across the street from studio to gallery whilst participating in a class at The Glassell School, the school which carried me from the beginning to the end of my grade school art studies. What was unique about Glassell was that it was founded and run in partnership with Houston's Museum of Fine Arts. I grew up oscillating between paint-stained tables and freshly polished gallery walls, trying to find what art could do for me and knowing I might ever fully be able to answer that question. The MFA and Glassell were a part of my childhood, and are the reason I always feel welcome and comfortable in museums. To go to a museum and feel as though I were not even allowed to take my time is unimaginable to me, but that is exactly what I would feel like under these circumstances. I know traffic flow is important and sales matter and as many people should, of course, be able to see the exhibit as possible. But what is art without the opportunity to reflect? That's what sketching is for, and these signs are robbing viewers of that opportunity. It's a shame, and hopefully one that will come to an end soon.
At first glimpse of this article, I assumed the no- sketching policy had something to do with copyright claims, or possibly the somewhat “racy” nature of the underwear exhibit. I find it hard to believe that the reason the museum has banned sketching has to do with speeding up the traffic flow through the exhibition. All of the museums I’ve been to have had students and adults sketching in almost every room, and they were always either sitting down a few feet in front of a piece, or on one of the benches provided in the center of the room; never in a place in which their position made it difficult to see or experience the artwork. From when I was little to now, I’ve always peeked over the shoulders of museum artists and admired their work. Maybe this is because I’ve never been to a super- exclusive museum gallery, but I can’t imagine a place so clogged up that a few sketchers would seriously prevent others from observing the artwork. Sketching means that people are taking the time to carefully observe, appreciate, and learn from the art being presented to them, and it's a shame that this museum is taking that sacred thing away from them.
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