Iconoclasm: a new weapon in the Culture Wars?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Sunday 20 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

Climate-change activists have targeted iconic artistic masterpieces, such as Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ at the National Gallery, to draw attention to their cause. In 2023, between May and November alone, at least 18 iconic works of art in European galleries were attacked. Earlier this year, two icons of British history, Stonehenge and Magna Carta, were also targeted. Defending their actions, one protester said: ‘Do we want to go extinct like the dinosaurs, or do we want to survive?’

Historically, iconoclasm has been used by artists to challenge artistic conventions and alter the direction of art history. But in recent years, iconoclasm has become a political weapon, turning artistic icons into levers of political change. What risk does this pose for museums?

Sadly, iconoclasm is not limited to militant activists. Curators and caretakers of arts and heritage have engaged in more subtle forms of icon bashing. The National Gallery’s 200th anniversary programme includes a special exhibition centred around John Constable’s iconic masterpiece, ‘The Hay Wain’, painted in 1821. In 2022, it was the focus of a Just Stop Oil stunt. But, perhaps more shocking, the exhibition presents the painting as a ‘contested’ landscape because Constable failed to depict the ravages of poverty and exploitation on the landscape of his time.

Toppling icons seem to have become a commonplace feature of the Culture Wars. In London, Camden People’s Museum has added a QR code to a bust of the iconic novelist Virginia Woolf, exposing her racism and anti-Semitism. They plan to do the same to other statues in the borough. A Royal Parks website blurb has commented on the racist and colonial ideology of the internationally admired Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. Meanwhile, the Museum of London is rebranding itself with a ‘pigeon and splat’ logo, an undignified icon for the supposedly authoritative guardian of London’s heritage.

Is nothing sacred anymore? Are iconic works of art legitimate targets of protest when they draw attention to the potential destruction of our planet? Why do even self-professed art lovers feel it is necessary to denigrate great artworks or undermine the legitimacy of their creators? Should museums defend the traditions underpinning their collections or join the critics in weaponising them for the contemporary Culture Wars?

SPEAKERS
Alexander Adams
artist, writer and art critic; author, Culture War and Artivism: the battle for museums in the era of postmodernism

Lara Brown
policy researcher specialising in culture and identity; former president, Cambridge Union

Dr JJ Charlesworth
art critic; editor, ArtReview

Claudia Clare
artist; author, Subversive Ceramics

Rosie Kay
dancer; choreographer; CEO and artistic director, K2CO LTD; founder, Freedom in the Arts

CHAIR
Dr Wendy Earle
convenor, Arts and Society Forum; co-host, Arts First podcast