Ulf Eriksson is in charge of the educational program for the
exhibition. Because of the graphic content of McCarthy's work,
the education department plans to operate in a somewhat different
manner than they would for most other contemporary exhibitions.
Eriksson explains, "We have been in contact with colleagues
at Tate Liverpool in the UK for example, which held a Paul McCarthy
survey show a couple of years ago. Their experience was that
the audience was a bit distressed about the content. We have
discussed a lot how to be prepared for the situation and how
we could work with the staff and our hosts in the museum galleries,
to have discussions with the audience." In addition to offering
contextual discussions, guided tours, wall texts and a study
area with relevant literature, the education department is also
considering the production of a documentary film on the artist.
This is something Moderna Museet has done for some shows, and
for this exhibition it seems especially important to give the
audience an introduction to the artist's practice.
Moderna Museet is also planning a seminar to be held during
the exhibition. This seminar will focus on censorship in museums,
which has become a topic of debate in Sweden during the last
year. In January 2005, a work by Dror Feiler and Gunilla Skšld-Feiler,
shown at the Historical Museum in Stockholm, was attacked and
partly destroyed by the Israeli ambassador in Sweden. He believed
the work glorified Palestinian suicide bombers. As af Petersens
explains, "Some institutions have removed art works because
they have received reactions that they were unprepared for.
My interpretation is that they hadn't realized that the works
could offend somebody, and they didn't know what to do when
it happened. Or there was a lack of communication between the
curator and the management of the museum." Moderna Museet hopes
that the seminar will encourage discussions on how museums should
act in similar situations and also how they can prepare themselves
when working with potentially controversial subject matter so
that censorship or self-censorship can be avoided. In addition
to this seminar the education department is preparing smaller
conversations on topics that might arise during the exhibition.
There is a lecture series called ApropŚ (apropos), which focuses
on subjects relevant to a particular exhibition or work.
The education department is considering creating a special Web
site for the exhibition, on which there could be a debate forum.
This would allow the audience to follow the discussion around
the exhibition even after they have left the museum. There will
also be extensive educational material available online.
The museum is also considering recommending an age limit for
entry to the McCarthy show. Because of the graphic subject matter
of the works, they feel it might be unadvisable for children
to see this exhibition, especially on their own. "I think that
if you are very young then some of McCarthy's works can be very
hard to understand. They can be frightening with long violent
scenes. Especially some of his later works are quite realistic."
Although admission to the exhibition is free, an advisory note
will state that the exhibition is not suitable for children.
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Paul McCarthy Case Study