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Nestled in New York's Central Park,
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this is the largest art
museum in America.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
is 2.3 million square feet
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of objects
spanning 5,000 years of history.
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The museum really was
an audacious vision -
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to create a cultural centre that
rivalled the greatest in the world.
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The Met is a collection
of collections -
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paintings, jewellery,
textiles, statuary.
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And the world's most
famous fashion gala.
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Every year we're pumping out
something pretty amazing.
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It's America's treasure house.
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The collection is what excites every
curator to be part of this
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institution.
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In 2020, the Met turned 150.
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In its pomp, and ready to celebrate.
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I'm this excited!
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But as the revels began,
Covid-19 struck New York.
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There are new warnings
about the coronavirus outbreak.
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For the first time ever,
the Met was shut - indefinitely.
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Then, the deaths
of African Americans at the hands
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of white police officers
shook America.
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Demands for social justice
for all have the museum
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examining its past and its future.
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I could apologise all day long for
JP Morgan and everybody else.
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What is meaningful is to put
yourself on the line.
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The Met is an art museum,
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and every work of art carries
a political message.
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Washington, you know,
as an indigenous person,
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he's not one of my heroes.
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Time to address what's on the walls,
what it's saying, to listen -
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with humility.
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These objects were stolen.
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They were never intended to
be in a space like the Met.
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In its 150th year
comes an existential crisis.
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The Met must change or
it will be history.
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It's an extraordinary political
act of defiance.
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We're making new history now.
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It's July 2020.
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The Met has now been
closed for five months by Covid 19.
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In May, the killing of George Floyd
has citizens of all races
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across America marching in support
of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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On July 22nd,
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New York Police are clearing
demonstrators from City Hall Park,
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as Curator Sheena Wagstaff visits
the Met's Breuer Gallery.
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As head of the Modern
and Contemporary Art department,
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she's taking down a landmark
exhibition almost nobody saw.
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I've actually never had
the pleasure of doing that before.
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Of being able to go right
the way around it,
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and just see the room
reflected in it.
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It's extraordinary. Do you mind
reiterating that one more time?
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No, I'm going to burst into tears
in a second, actually.
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Erm, I've never actually
been in here without people
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being in the space.
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Cos the show was only
open for nine days
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and, of course, it was crowded
after we opened.
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What a pleasure. What a tragedy.
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Anyway.
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100 works by 88-year-old
painter Gerhard Richter
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explore a subject that
suddenly seems timely -
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racial intolerance and inhumanity.
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This painting is
emblematic of Richter's early work.
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He is playing around with
the notion of photorealism,
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and the idea of reality.
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He is also inclining, some years
later, into pure abstraction.
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He was a teenager at the point
of the Second World War.
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And he had the, maybe, temerity or
foolhardiness to address
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directly the legacy
of Nazism in Germany.
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These paintings are based on four
photographs taken by prisoners
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in the concentration camp,
Auschwitz-Birkenau,
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and their job was
to take the bodies out of the ovens
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and dispose of them.
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These photographs stimulated Richter
to try to take account of this
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event, this historic event,
by painting it.
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Richter dared to go where others
feared to tread.
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I think this show,
and one of the reasons why I'm so...
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..erm, sad about the fact that
it's not reopening,
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is because the atrocities
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that are reflected in this
exhibition, and the way that an
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artist has dealt with them, having
an unflinching gaze on humankind's
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inhumanity to people,
has so many lessons to teach us.
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With the events of this last four
months through the coronavirus,
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but, you know, more recently,
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and more relevantly in many
respects too, the protests
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against the lack of cultural, racial
and economic justice in our world.
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It's a barometer, really, of our
times, I think, this exhibition.
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And I'm just very sorry that
people are not seeing it, you know.
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Lockdown will end.
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When that day comes,
what will the Met's purpose be?
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There's one aspect of certainty -
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our institutions become local
institutions.
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We have never, except probably
at the founding of the museum,
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thought about the necessity to
be relevant,
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directly relevant to our local
communities.
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So this is actually a pretty amazing
moment for us, but we just
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have to get it right, and we have to
work damn hard to get it right.
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Any discussion about the future
of the museum
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really has to take
account of this moment,
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across not just the curatorial
departments, but also in the
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communications department, in, you
know, the Director's office itself.
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And not just things
like recruitment, but a much more
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forensic investigation in how we
conduct our daily business.
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I mean, it's huge.
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A month later, and the Met is open.
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Safety is everything.
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Visitor numbers are restricted.
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There are no tourists,
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so the museum's back where it
was in 1870, serving locals.
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People are looking for an outlet
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because everything has been
shut down.
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But knowing that they can
come here safely
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is something that's really
sat well with New Yorkers.
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Oh, my God, she loves it here.
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She makes it so much easier to
not set anyone off.
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They don't expect
the Golden Retriever, you know,
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to be a security-type animal.
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Jaguar...
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It's a big day in the Samuel
household in Connecticut.
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Tracy-Ann is taking her
daughters to the museum.
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Thank you. You're welcome.
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She and husband Cleon
grew up in New York.
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The Met was their place.
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When we did
live in New York we went a lot.
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One of the best dates you ever took
me on, it was on Valentine's Day.
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You took me
to the Metropolitan Museum,
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we had a dinner at the restaurant.
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Mm-hm. That was a really lovely
date.
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We should do that again.
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We have two daughters,
Kristen and Kelsey.
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They are four and ten.
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Correct. Kristen, she's the
creative.
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She enjoys writing. Yes.
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She's created a book group
with her friends.
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ZAK. ZAK, yeah.
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Her best friends,
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the first letters in their names
form the word ZAK.
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They've been actively collaborating,
if you will.
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At first I thought it was a boy,
so my eyebrow kind of...
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The ZAK book club.
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Who's Zak?
Kelsey is more of the adventurer.
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There is so much going on with
race in America, it is
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a struggle for our family.
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And right now the struggle is
finding balance.
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How much do we want to
expose our girls to?
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How much do we want them
to be aware of?
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This area of Connecticut, it...
it's quite diverse.
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However, we have to get comfortable
knowing that we may enter
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a room, and there may not be anyone
else that looks like us.
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But that's why it's very important,
raising two young girls,
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that they're confident
in the skin that they are in
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and they're able to see
themselves reflected
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beautifully, whether it's in art,
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in magazines, the TV,
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whatever it is.
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So we seek things out.
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And we're off!
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OK.
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You have to
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know what you're looking for,
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but the Met does showcase power
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amongst people of colour - the
African exhibit, the Egyptian art.
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For my girls to see themselves
reflected in history in such
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a powerful way, it's important.
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Tracy-Ann is bound for a museum
changed by the events of the summer.
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In June, a letter identifying racism
at all New York arts institutions
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demanded immediate change.
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Many signatories were Met employees.
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One of the challenges for me,
to be perfectly honest, has been
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trying to come to terms with
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and really understand the nature
of the anger and the frustration
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that have surfaced in the light
of this moment - Black Lives Matter,
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and indigenous people, and so many
others who have been oppressed.
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And that some of it was directed
at the leadership of this museum.
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And I did not fully
see that coming.
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In July, the Executive Team
drew up the commitments,
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promising changes from recruitment
to captioning,
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exhibitions to education -
even the art.
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We designed a spreadsheet and I said
to everyone, if we don't fill
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this out and complete it
then I should be replaced.
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I look at this on a regular basis.
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"Assessing our history.
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"A set of commitments to anti-racism
cannot begin without an honest
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"assessment of an institution's own
history and present practices."
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The Met was born in an era
when some collectors' tools
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were a pick axe
and a sense of entitlement.
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The treasure of other cultures was
sometimes acquired without respect,
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or payment.
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Staff have expressed
long-held anger.
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I sit in a seat that was
occupied by many,
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many predecessors going back to
JP Morgan and others.
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And people are mad at them.
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And they're mad at the institution.
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So our job is to try to figure out
how to, how to deal with that.
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And for me
that meant our commitments.
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I could apologise all day
long for my predecessors.
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But that's an empty gesture.
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What is meaningful is to put
yourself on the line to bring
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change that you think is needed.
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In its anniversary year, the Met
has been deeply affected by a virus.
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But will the demands for social
justice change the place forever?
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I think Covid and Black Lives Matter
will be ultimately
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co-mingled as an era.
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But one of them is a disease we're
trying to survive.
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The other is a society we're
trying to build.
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And that should have more
lasting importance.
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In the summer, controversial statues
all over the country were attacked.
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At the Met, Dan promises
organisational changes,
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but right now the art
is under scrutiny.
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How many works have the
potential to offend?
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Augustus Saint-Gaudens'
19th-century sculpture, Hiawatha,
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is a Met favourite.
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But perhaps not with
Native American visitors.
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We have an obligation to explain why
these things are on view,
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particularly when images or objects
might have a pejorative
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perspective on a culture or
a people.
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In this environment we're
doing more labelling
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because we want to people to learn.
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And we think that's a useful
thing for us to be doing.
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That said, there is always the risk
that someone might want to
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deface a work of art for any
number of reasons.
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I think it's important to...
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..recognise that everybody's
complicated.
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Everybody's complicated.
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George Washington is a good
case in point.
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There is no question that without
George Washington this
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country would never have
come into being.
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That is a historical fact.
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And he believed in democracy,
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he believed in what this
country could be.
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On the other hand, he owned slaves.
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He thought himself a benevolent
slave owner,
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but the record says otherwise.
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He was a product of the 18th
century, and he was a farmer
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and a slave owner,
and he thought that was his right.
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So the question then is how do
we reconcile these
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aspects of this individual?
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What should the historical
record of him be?
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What should the Metropolitan
do about his legacy?
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How should we display his art
and how should we describe it?
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Reasonable people can disagree,
and let them.
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And through that kind of debate
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and discussion we'll
all learn something.
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The Met's commitments have
gone public.
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Will visitors feel a difference?
244
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,000
Only time will tell.
245
00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,080
You want to touch the dog,
you have to ask first.
246
00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:40,400
Sit down.
247
00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:42,160
The Samuel family arrives,
248
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,640
and Kelsey deactivates the Met's
security system.
249
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,920
SHE LAUGHS
250
00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:50,240
That was adorable.
251
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:52,720
To stay in business,
252
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:56,520
the museum must remain
relevant to the next generation.
253
00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:57,920
Lead the way, Kelsey.
254
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,320
Mommy wants to show you something.
255
00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,520
The Samuel girls are the future.
256
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:09,640
The family will judge the Met
by its exhibits. The first stop
257
00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,640
is the American Wing - art
telling the national story.
258
00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:15,920
Kristen reads between the lines.
259
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,720
Depictions of the general
are better known.
260
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,200
Emanuel Leutze's portrait of 1851,
261
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,600
Washington Crossing the Delaware,
262
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,080
is an American icon.
263
00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:20,080
It idealises events of
Christmas night, 1776 -
264
00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,760
an amphibious assault
made my revolutionary forces,
265
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,920
on European occupiers
in Trenton, New Jersey.
266
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,120
Let's take a look at this
picture together.
267
00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,040
What's one big thing that you see?
268
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:33,280
The American flag.
269
00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,480
But Mommy, there's ice and trees.
270
00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,320
Ice and trees, good job.
271
00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:50,920
We're not sure if that's a woman.
272
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,240
So women are not
represented in this picture, huh?
273
00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,320
Now, Washington, he's a leader.
274
00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:59,040
How is he different?
275
00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:06,080
So he's, he's armed.
276
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:10,240
Now, do you think Washington is
a strong leader in this picture?
277
00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,560
I wouldn't say he's not doing
anything.
278
00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:18,720
Are you sure about that?
279
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,360
So he's the leader. Yeah.
280
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,200
But not in the sense of doing.
281
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,040
More in the sense of directing.
282
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:38,960
Do you think that leaders in these
situations can be women?
283
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:40,120
Yes.
284
00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:41,640
Do you see this person?
285
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:43,480
He doesn't even have a face,
286
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,920
he just has a little sliver over
there, you can see him.
287
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,520
I rarely come into this section
288
00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,840
because there really isn't much
that I can relate to.
289
00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,360
You know, you see
so many pictures of...
290
00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,160
..men winning.
291
00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:03,240
And I would like to see
292
00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:09,240
more representation of some women
or people of colour winning
293
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,960
so that I can show my girls,
"Hey look, look!"
294
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,360
Or not even just to say,
"Hey look, look."
295
00:17:14,360 --> 00:17:16,720
It's just something that they see.
296
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:23,320
Downstairs in the Great Hall, the
iconic image of Washington crossing
297
00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:27,360
the Delaware has inspired a very
different kind of history painting.
298
00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:31,440
In 2018, the Met commissioned two
works from Native American
299
00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,600
artist Kent Monkman.
300
00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,680
When I was invited to do
the project, I thought
301
00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,400
of New York as this
portal for immigration.
302
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:45,080
So Europeans basically flooding
through New York into
303
00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:50,160
North America, ultimately displacing
the first people of this continent.
304
00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,480
So I thought of arrivals
and departures,
305
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,000
and the Great Hall itself is
a place of arrivals and departures.
306
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,520
Monkman reinterprets classic
paintings to suggest
307
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,120
alternative stories.
308
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:05,880
The Met collections were
an inspiration.
309
00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:10,160
The paintings or sculptures made by
the settler artists who were looking
310
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:15,240
at indigenous people are always this
romantic view of the vanishing race.
311
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,280
In fact, we're very much alive.
312
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:22,120
My work really is refuting those
themes of disappearance.
313
00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:25,720
The paintings feature
an alternative heroic figure -
314
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,640
Miss Chief Eagle Testickle,
315
00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:32,200
a gender fluid persona the artist
inhabits for public events.
316
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,000
Looking at the Emanuel Leutze
painting,
317
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,680
he's the hero of that painting.
318
00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,160
And I wanted Miss Chief to be
the hero of my two paintings.
319
00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,520
I wanted to make a monumental
painting that really
320
00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,360
reflected on indigenous perspective,
321
00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:49,760
to give it that same importance.
322
00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:54,840
Monkman is from the Cree First
Nation, working in Toronto, Canada.
323
00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,160
Projects are frequently
a celebration of non-binary
324
00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,320
sexuality that's part
of Native American culture.
325
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:07,160
We had people who lived
in the opposite gender, people who
326
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:09,440
were, that full spectrum of LGBTQ,
327
00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:10,920
and they were misunderstood by
328
00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,760
the Europeans who arrived and they
thought they were disgusting.
329
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,880
This is a rather gruesome image
based on a
330
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,960
15th-century engraving
by Theodor de Bry, which shows
331
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:26,480
the Spanish conquistadors
throwing sodomites to the dogs.
332
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,040
I'm not shy of making work that
has political impact.
333
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,640
I have things that
I want to say that speak about the
334
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,920
experience of indigenous people both
historical and, and in the present.
335
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,400
And those are political experiences
because we've been colonised,
336
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,880
and we continue to be colonised.
337
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:50,120
Monkman's political message is
delivered via his alter ego.
338
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,760
So a lot of my paintings,
Miss Chief is sort of central.
339
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,680
She's the witness who is there
while these things are happening.
340
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,760
Like, Miss Chief is there
when the newcomers arrive.
341
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,200
She's also there, you know,
when her people are displaced.
342
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:07,280
There's a lot of humour
in Cree culture and in our stories,
343
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,960
but also, you know,
as a strategy for just seducing
344
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,480
people into my work, I use humour as
a way to kind of disarm people.
345
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,760
Cos I look at a lot of dark things.
346
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,680
And of course Washington
Crossing the Delaware is this
347
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,280
monumental celebration
of an American hero.
348
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,320
And Washington was a slave owner,
and he was
349
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,120
burning down indigenous villages.
350
00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:34,560
So, you know, as an indigenous
person, that's not...
351
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,320
..he's not one of my heroes.
352
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,160
The museum's two paintings
are entitled Mistikosiwak
353
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,640
or Wooden Boat People.
354
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,960
The Met, in commissioning these
works, they're saying we want to
355
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,440
engage with diverse voices, we want
to engage with indigenous voices.
356
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,200
And it was an opportunity to
reflect on that colonial
357
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:57,480
mind-set that created these
narratives in museums like the Met.
358
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:00,000
Wow!
359
00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:08,200
In the Great Hall, the Samuels find
Kent Monkman's epic painting
360
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:09,960
speaks directly to them.
361
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:14,200
Over here you see people
from different walks of life.
362
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,440
I mean, that guy looks like Daddy.
363
00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:19,040
The guy in the white coat.
364
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,560
Doesn't he kind of look like Daddy?
Yeah. He looks like he's a doctor.
365
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,920
Cos he's wearing
a necklace that has...
366
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,880
The symbol for health care, yeah.
The hospital.
367
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,120
Oh, OK, this is interesting.
368
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:35,640
What did you notice?
369
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,400
And look what's on his hands.
370
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,120
Yeah.
371
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,120
Kristen! Yes?
372
00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:03,720
Good job!
373
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,040
Leading the Met's diversity drive,
374
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:12,280
Director Max Hollein put the
pictures right at the front door.
375
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,160
Placement is of course part of this.
376
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,800
They are not somewhere
in Gallery 117, to the
377
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,520
left and then to the right,
and then through the middle.
378
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:22,960
They have to be strong positions.
379
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,880
It's, on one hand, a huge
opportunity but it's a challenge,
380
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:27,520
it's a challenge for the artist.
381
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,280
You, you push artists to,
to really respond to that,
382
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,560
and there are certain artists
who respond to it well.
383
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:36,600
And I think that's the case
certainly for Kent.
384
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,120
And then others who might feel
uncomfortable with that
385
00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:40,520
level of permanent exposure.
386
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,360
But it's also a very charged
environment.
387
00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,600
It's not just a white wall.
388
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,960
So you have to make sure that the
work can really stand its ground.
389
00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:53,480
Art and politics are inseparable.
390
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:59,200
Conservator Dorothy Mahon works
on a politically charged portrait
391
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,400
painted just before the
French Revolution of 1789.
392
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,040
I'm cleaning this picture, finally.
393
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,440
It was in the collection
for 40 years
394
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,840
and never been in conservation.
395
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,400
The painting was painted in 1788.
396
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:13,640
They were a power couple.
397
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:19,000
Even having a portrait made in this
size was a statement.
398
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,680
Jacques-Louis David's
painting shows scientists
399
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,680
Mr and Mrs Lavoisier to be
all work and no play.
400
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,520
That's not the way
the portrait began.
401
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,880
The first conception of the picture
was a well-to-do
402
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,520
couple in stylish 18th-century mode.
403
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,240
They started out in
much more fancy dress.
404
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,560
She had a gigantic high-style hat.
405
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:47,040
Originally he was sitting at a very
fancy French 18th-century desk.
406
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,600
But David was an incredibly
good painter.
407
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,960
The final finish doesn't really
display any of those
408
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:55,960
tremendous changes.
409
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,480
When the uprising began,
this work flaunting wealth
410
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:04,320
and privilege was suddenly
dangerous - as X-rays reveal.
411
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,480
All the years that this picture was
looked at and studied,
412
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,600
no-one ever suspected until it came
up to the studio where we
413
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,920
really got a close look at it,
that all these changes were made.
414
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,080
This is a map that shows
the distribution of the lead.
415
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,640
The red paint that you
see there is actually red.
416
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,720
Red and black in the 1780s is
incredibly fashionable,
417
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,240
from pre-Antoinette right on down.
418
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,360
And what's great is the specificity
of that particular hat,
419
00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:33,800
which can actually be
pinpointed, within a few
420
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:35,760
months, of being at the height
of fashion.
421
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,800
Really specific in its...
in its moment.
422
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:43,000
Not really the timeless image that
we think of with the end result.
423
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,760
You see the table was fully painted.
424
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:47,760
You see that the leg was shifted.
425
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:49,680
We really had so many discoveries.
426
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,680
You go from a really kind of
high-fashion, mundane image to one
427
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:55,640
that's science, reason.
428
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,440
We don't know at what point these
changes happened.
429
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,760
We know that the royal authorities
were advising Lavoisier
430
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,880
and David not to show this portrait.
431
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:09,280
Presumably there's a discussion that
happens quite late on where
432
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,720
they decide, "No, let's
rethink the entire thing."
433
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,400
It does really give us
a closer glimpse at the time.
434
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,760
Well, and Monsieur Lavoisier is
beheaded shortly after this
435
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:20,320
is painted.
436
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:25,080
But this shows you how quickly
the political terrain is evolving,
437
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,080
and people uncertain
how to even address it.
438
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:33,120
Are we good?
It's really so beautiful.
439
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:38,920
We've got to go up just like that.
440
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,680
Just keep it close to the
wall, right?
441
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,760
Ready? One, two, three.
442
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:50,600
226 years after Antoine Lavoisier
lost his head,
443
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,080
the eight-foot-tall
painting is hung
444
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,960
in the newly renovated
European Paintings gallery.
445
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,520
Great, thank you!
446
00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:58,640
It's crooked!
447
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,640
Yeah, it's crooked,
but at least it's hanging.
448
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,760
The right side needs to come
down about three inches, but that...
449
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,800
A caption will relate
the couple's downfall,
450
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,120
but the Met is full of the stories
451
00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:12,120
of the rich, white and dead.
452
00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:15,840
The selection of exhibits
and their location, even the framing
453
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,360
and lighting, are all decisions
with political dimensions,
454
00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:21,840
currently prompting debate
within the museum.
455
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,480
Up.
456
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:24,880
More, quite a bit.
457
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,160
Department Head Keith Christiansen
is retiring
458
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,680
after 44 years at the Met.
459
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:32,440
I'm leaving at the right stage.
460
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,720
There needs to be a younger
generation who now moves in,
461
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,320
more keenly aware of the museum's
shifting relationship with society.
462
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:43,000
And I don't think I'm...I would be
the right person to do that.
463
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,400
Good. Thank you, all.
464
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,920
I hope that, as the present
and the past become further
465
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:53,000
and further detached, it's always
the primary mission of the
466
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,800
museum to try and preserve the
particular voice of the individual
467
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:03,040
works of art, rather than to make
them speak what we want them to say.
468
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,720
For some curators,
excellence is enough,
469
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,880
beauty, an end in itself.
470
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:17,000
Concerned for the spiritual
welfare of their booming city,
471
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,680
the Met's philanthropist founders
believed that by getting close to
472
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:25,080
beautiful objects, the lives of New
York's workers would be improved.
473
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,480
One of their earliest decrees
was that artists should be
474
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:38,680
allowed to come in with
their sketchbooks and be inspired.
475
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,560
A favourite subject is a
19th-century copy of Perseus with
476
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,920
the head of Medusa,
by Antonio Canova.
477
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,720
The 17th-century original
was carved for the Vatican.
478
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,160
Sheena Wagstaff is a modernist.
479
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,080
She'd like the Met experience
to say something new.
480
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,600
So you come into the Great Hall
and you are confronted
481
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,440
immediately with this beautiful
Athena on the left,
482
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,160
which heralds the beginning
of the Greek and Roman Galleries.
483
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:14,120
And then on the right, a pharaoh
that heralds the Egyptian Galleries.
484
00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,440
And then, right at the top of the
stairs,
485
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,600
you can see this huge Tiepolo.
486
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,560
It is European civilisation
that sits at the top.
487
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,640
What would it be
if one changed that idea?
488
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:30,880
There are other stories to tell.
489
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:34,520
The Met is already on its way
to tell those stories,
490
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:38,320
but we could be a little bit more
radical, perhaps.
491
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,600
The modern and contemporary
galleries
492
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,480
are a destination for visitors.
493
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,320
But, post-war, the popularity of
modern art
494
00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:47,240
was not reflected at the Met.
495
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,280
When, in the late '60s,
abstract art was finally admitted,
496
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,120
it was mainly American
works by white men.
497
00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:00,680
Today, Wagstaff's galleries are
full of diverse narratives.
498
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,760
Here, African American
artists have a voice.
499
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:09,320
Kerry James Marshall's
celebration of the visit to the
500
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,600
studio of his hero Charles White.
501
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:14,800
Sam Gilliam's drape painting,
502
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,720
commenting on the state
of affairs in 1968.
503
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,280
An homage to hardscrabble Harlem
by Faith Ringgold.
504
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,080
Sheena has just bought another.
505
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:32,120
This is a piece by Rashid Johnson
and it's called Five Broken Men,
506
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,120
representing a more generalised
version of what it means to
507
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:42,400
be a black man in a society
that is still inherently racist.
508
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,240
These are not political
paintings per-se,
509
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,000
but they have a political
undercurrent.
510
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,400
There is, I think, a new state
of urgency that museums particularly
511
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:58,320
need to respond to - the Met being
one of the biggest ones.
512
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,800
A response to the political
urgencies of this time.
513
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,520
The museum is committed to
increasing the diversity of art
514
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,120
and artists,
but that will be a slow process.
515
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,600
What I'm trying to get is
that opening shot,
516
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:15,400
finding the performer.
517
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:19,800
Framing the performer.
518
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:24,440
It can be much more nimble through
its programme of live arts events.
519
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,120
Let's try this way.
520
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:31,040
Lee Mingwei is a Taiwanese-American
artist whose medium is performance.
521
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:33,640
He's come to the Met -
522
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,480
and a collaboration with dance
master Bill T Jones -
523
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,040
with his touring work Our Labyrinth.
524
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:45,360
The idea arrived when I was visiting
some of the sacred sites
525
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,080
and temple in Myanmar.
526
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,840
I saw all those people cleaning
the path to the temple,
527
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:53,880
24 hours a day.
528
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,760
It's a gift for
the temple, it's a
529
00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:00,120
gift for the people
who visit the temple.
530
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,360
So, the next day, I went
and just did the cleaning.
531
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:09,240
And the idea came to me that I would
love to do this in a museum.
532
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,320
Because a museum, for me,
is a spirit house.
533
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:18,120
OK, so what I'm suggesting is
glide along the wall and find her.
534
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,760
Mingwei is quite a masterful artist
535
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:25,040
and he has done a version of this
in many, many locations.
536
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:29,120
And I was asking what makes it
different in New York City?
537
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:31,760
My inflection has
the mandate that the
538
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,640
people in it are as
diverse as possible.
539
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:42,040
I realised it's all about what is it
to be a black, be an Asian,
540
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:48,000
be a Latino, be a white, living in a
cosmopolitan city such as New York?
541
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,560
The work is a meditation
on kindness.
542
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,760
We're at this moment
of Black Life Matters.
543
00:31:55,760 --> 00:32:01,360
And I, with Bill, bring this
work into a relatively Victorian
544
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,680
idea of what a museum could be.
545
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,360
I have my fights with
the 19th century.
546
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,720
Oh, God, I don't know, I don't see
any Confederate monuments here.
547
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,560
But I can imagine the politics
of some of the people who
548
00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,000
made some of these things here.
549
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:17,760
Not my concern.
550
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,400
History,
we're making new history now.
551
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:25,000
The dance is filmed for broadcast
on the Met's own digital channel.
552
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,120
Culture is
almost like a giant ocean liner.
553
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:31,320
You don't turn on a dime.
554
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,800
We find a time where the
museum had to retreat,
555
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,920
and now it's trying to come back,
556
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,400
and wants to come back
with what face?
557
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,320
For much of the museum's 150 years,
558
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,280
the American Wing Galleries have
displayed home-grown art,
559
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:57,120
telling familiar stories to
a largely white audience.
560
00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:58,480
It was a very limited
561
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,680
and biased account of what
constituted American art.
562
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,880
We're very cognisant of what
has been left out of that story.
563
00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:07,600
Certainly women artists,
artists of colour,
564
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,040
Native American artists
and Latin American artists.
565
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,960
For the longest time, this
gallery had the largest
566
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,480
number of works representing
African American figures,
567
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,840
but no works by African American
artists.
568
00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:21,640
So that was something when I arrived
I really wanted to address head-on.
569
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:23,720
This work by an enslaved
artisan named
570
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:28,280
David Drake from South Carolina
dates to the 1850s.
571
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:32,240
He was also signing them
and penning verse to go on them.
572
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,600
This is at a time that it
was against the law for enslaved
573
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,640
individuals to actually be
literate in South Carolina.
574
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:42,440
It's an extraordinary
political act of defiance.
575
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,480
The moment we're in right now is
so deeply embedded in the past.
576
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,600
America was founded, you know,
on genocide and enslavement.
577
00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,520
That is something we can't forget
cos it explains
578
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,000
so much about where we are today.
579
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,800
Particularly, now, the issues we're
dealing with,
580
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,520
with racial justice,
income inequality -
581
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:00,800
it all has its roots in our history.
582
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:02,960
The Ames vase here.
583
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:04,560
The Indian Vase.
584
00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:08,480
It is an extraordinary feat
of carving, no question, it's a
585
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,080
work of art in and of itself,
but it's deeply problematic.
586
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:13,640
Now we've started a new
project called
587
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:15,120
the Native Perspectives Approach.
588
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:17,680
And we're actually inviting
589
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:19,000
native scholars,
590
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:22,920
native artists to respond to these
rather problematic depictions.
591
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,440
Bringing in that additional
perspective has been really
592
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:27,520
revealing, I think, for our
visitors.
593
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:32,200
We're not doing our job well if
we're not telling their stories.
594
00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:38,200
In 2017, the American Wing expanded
its Native American collection.
595
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:44,080
A bequest of 91 items of indigenous
art came with a condition -
596
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:48,200
they must be displayed
with other American arts.
597
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:51,960
Today, Sylvia Yount gets
a guided tour from a new
598
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:53,920
and exceptional colleague.
599
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,920
Patricia Marroquin Norby is
the first-ever Native American
600
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,280
curator in Met history.
601
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,160
What I find most striking about this
is the very fine craftsmanship of...
602
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,280
Oh, it's extraordinary! ..this moose
antler. This was significant
603
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,080
to the person who was using it.
604
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:10,880
And so not as a ceremonial object.
605
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:14,000
Well, our ceremonial
items are actually used. Right.
606
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,280
They still embody great meaning.
607
00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:20,560
Native and indigenous
peoples are incredibly diverse.
608
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:24,480
But environmental issues,
systematic racism, violence,
609
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,800
these are all issues that native
610
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,280
and indigenous people have been
dealing with for a very long time.
611
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,480
For indigenous people,
these problems never ended.
612
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:40,760
You know, each of us have our own
origin stories, our own histories,
613
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,600
our own relationships
to our homelands.
614
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:48,400
And so our art reflects
all of these important elements.
615
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,440
Each have their own
experiences with museums.
616
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,640
There's no one set way to work
with each community,
617
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,280
other than to be
respectful of their ways.
618
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,480
No running, no running, no running.
619
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:07,200
Kristen and Kelsey have reached
the Egyptian Galleries.
620
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,640
They are finding
kinship in deep antiquity.
621
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:14,560
We were talking about the figures,
and how they were painted,
622
00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:15,840
and how they look like us.
623
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,440
The colours used for their skins,
the reddish browns,
624
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,280
the raven-black hair.
625
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:24,880
It's such a predominant
representation of strength,
626
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,280
beauty, power.
627
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,080
It's just fascinating to me.
628
00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,360
I was born in Jamaica, West Indies,
629
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,280
and I came to America
when I was eight years old.
630
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,000
My parents gave up everything...
631
00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:43,000
..for a better opportunity.
632
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:45,800
And...
633
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:49,040
Sorry.
634
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,800
I started to find out
what my ancestry was.
635
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:56,920
And I realised that...
636
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:58,240
VOICE CRACKS
637
00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:00,280
I'm sorry.
638
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,160
It was hard to do because...
639
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,400
..our ancestry is non-existent.
640
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:12,200
This genealogist that was
trying to help me
641
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:17,160
shared references, websites in
which you can track your ancestors
642
00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:20,480
who came to the islands
through the ships.
643
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,640
And all you see is just like,
644
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:27,080
"Negro, negro, negro,
negro, negro, negro..."
645
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:28,360
No names.
646
00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:32,000
There is nowhere to track.
647
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:37,240
So this is where I come,
I know that I have African history.
648
00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:41,000
And what has been taught to myself
649
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,920
and my children has been
that of slavery.
650
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,160
And there's more. There is more.
651
00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,600
Before that, what was it?
652
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:55,240
Gallery 131 offers one answer.
653
00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:59,520
The Temple of Dendur was built
by Romans in awe of North African
654
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:01,200
gods and architectural splendour.
655
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:02,600
What do you see?
656
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:04,240
Sunlight!
657
00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:05,760
SHE GASPS
658
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,240
The structure came
to New York in 1968
659
00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:13,320
when the building of Egypt's Aswan
Dam threatened destruction.
660
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:17,480
It took a decade to reconstruct it
in its own gallery.
661
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:21,720
We come from such rich heritage -
there's engineering, there's
662
00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:24,960
mathematics, there's science,
663
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:28,320
where we've been trailblazers.
664
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:30,280
And I...
665
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,600
..in my late 30s,
I'm just now learning about this.
666
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:38,160
And I wanted to give my girls a head
start to learn about these things.
667
00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:41,600
To realise that we are so much
more than the negative
668
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:44,360
images on the screens.
669
00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:47,800
We're descendants of kings
and queens.
670
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,080
The Met wants this affirmative
experience for all,
671
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:57,640
and has around two million objects
to tell their stories with.
672
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:02,200
The museum also lends and borrows
on an international scale.
673
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,960
The Sahel Exhibition celebrates
five Saharan empires
674
00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:10,720
that for over 1,300 years
produced great art.
675
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:14,000
Artisans working for gold-rich
monarchs,
676
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,360
in what is now one of the poorest
regions in Africa,
677
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,400
produced masterworks in wood,
678
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:21,200
precious metal, and clay.
679
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:25,840
Many of the 200 exhibits are loaned
by African museums.
680
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,760
This finely-wrought solid gold
pectoral,
681
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,560
is from a 13th-century burial
mound in northern Senegal.
682
00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:37,880
Visitors enter past another
Senegalese treasure -
683
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:40,760
a megalith carved
around the 9th century -
684
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:45,280
to stand in one of 93 stone circles
along the banks of the Gambia River.
685
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,880
Today,
the exhibition is being taken down.
686
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,000
The smaller objects are gone.
687
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,320
Time to send the massive
stone back
688
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,840
to the Met's partner museum
in Dakar.
689
00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:01,840
Morning, guys.
690
00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:06,840
The Head of the Met's in-house heavy
lifting team is Crayton Sohan.
691
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,080
Nothing big moves in the museum
without his nod.
692
00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:14,960
So we're going to put
the strap right here.
693
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:16,720
It's two and a half tonnes.
694
00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:18,160
It's pretty heavy.
695
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:21,360
With this kind of work, there is
no trial and error
696
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:25,720
cos everything we touch, it's
millions and millions of dollars.
697
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:31,000
Conservator Carolyn Riccardelli
regularly moves large
698
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:32,600
exhibits around the world.
699
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:34,520
I've built up a tolerance.
700
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,800
So I don't get nervous, but it's
hard for a lot of people to watch.
701
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:42,560
This bottom we pull this way,
702
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,640
so we tip it over,
703
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,280
in the air, and we get them flat.
704
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,000
Come down together.
We got to be even.
705
00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:01,040
You grow up with the saying that
everybody has a talent.
706
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:02,520
Hold it.
707
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:07,080
We got to straighten it up a little
bit, and move them down this way.
708
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:08,320
There you go.
709
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:12,680
I got into this department and
things started to come naturally.
710
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:15,280
That's good.
711
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:19,320
It turns out that this,
apparently, was my talent.
712
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:25,920
I got the opportunity here.
713
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,320
I loved it here,
I work with some great people.
714
00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:30,400
I guess people saw what I can do,
715
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:33,800
and I got the breaks, I took it and
716
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,920
I got encouragement along the way,
717
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,760
and here I am,
718
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,200
36 years-plus later.
719
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,200
HE CHUCKLES
720
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:45,320
Where you came from, or your colour
or your religion, has nothing to
721
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:49,920
do with what you can do.
722
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:51,440
You have it or you don't,
723
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:52,920
with this kind of work.
724
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:58,400
The Met began during
America's Industrial Revolution.
725
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,080
European arts were afforded respect,
726
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:03,800
the rest was of little interest.
727
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:05,960
For decades, objects from black
728
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:09,680
and brown cultures were
ethnography - not art.
729
00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:13,760
These are all exquisite.
730
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:17,640
Growing up, Mary Rockefeller
heard them called primitive.
731
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:19,520
That was the prevailing word then.
732
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:25,600
Mainly because people didn't respect
and understand this indigenous art.
733
00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:29,440
In the 1960s, her father,
Nelson Rockefeller, a collector
734
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,680
of this overlooked art, offered
the Met his entire collection.
735
00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:35,960
The museum was not interested,
736
00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:38,880
and they encouraged Father to
give his collection
737
00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:40,880
to the Museum of Natural History.
738
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:42,400
And of course he wasn't
739
00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:45,200
interested in the Museum
of Natural History at all.
740
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,120
He was interested in
the recognitions of the excellence
741
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:49,400
of this art.
742
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:53,080
In 1980, Rockefeller finally won.
743
00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:55,960
The new wing for the Arts
of Africa, Oceania
744
00:42:55,960 --> 00:43:00,160
and the Americas was dedicated to
Mary's twin, Michael.
745
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,120
As a boy he'd been obsessed.
746
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:08,800
Michael and Father developed this
incredible bond over this art.
747
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:13,400
And Michael wanted to get out
of his environment
748
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:15,080
of how he'd been brought up.
749
00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:19,760
They decided that New Guinea was
the place for him to go,
750
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:25,840
because they wanted to collect
art from the Asmat peoples.
751
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:29,880
In 1961,
Michael Rockefeller disappeared.
752
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:34,600
Some said he'd drowned, others that
he'd been eaten by cannibals.
753
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:36,360
I went to look for my brother.
754
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,000
It was a sad,
terrible experience for me
755
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:41,360
but I was lucky enough to
go to New Guinea.
756
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:44,080
And it made me understand
757
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:49,600
some of what Michael must have
experienced, why he was so drawn.
758
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:55,120
And that art deals with
the kind of issues that
759
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:58,320
anybody in the world
are dealing with.
760
00:43:58,320 --> 00:44:01,960
Issues of safety, power,
life and death.
761
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:04,720
They were right out front
with those things.
762
00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:09,320
There's all kinds of motifs that
have enormous meaning.
763
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,080
They're all metaphors.
764
00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:14,200
See all these motifs here,
765
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,160
some of them are the praying mantis.
766
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:20,400
The female bites off
the head of the male.
767
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:25,040
And of course it's all related to
the ceremony of head-hunting.
768
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:28,880
You can go into all the horrible
places about it all.
769
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:30,320
Or you can step back,
770
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:35,080
and try to see it in a larger
context of what they were doing.
771
00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:38,040
And when you look
at the culture of the Asmat,
772
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:41,600
and you look at the amount of people
that were killed in that culture,
773
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:45,880
it is so minuscule
compared to our culture.
774
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:48,560
I hardly ever get to
talk about this stuff.
775
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:52,280
I mean, I just remember having
these discussions with...
776
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:56,560
You know, and trying to
see it from Michael's perspective.
777
00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:59,440
And why he was
so excited about these people,
778
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:02,600
and why he loved that area so much.
779
00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:06,360
The Rockefeller Wing was born
out of Michael's devotion,
780
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:08,600
but still poses the big question -
781
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:11,240
shouldn't it all be given back?
782
00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:15,080
I think that a lot has to do
with respect.
783
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:17,000
I mean, if objects are stolen,
784
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,120
or that it's clear that objects
785
00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:26,280
were taken from a country, not sold
but taken, they should be returned.
786
00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:29,360
I think it's very difficult to go
back in history.
787
00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:33,320
Sometimes it's not clear,
but it's a challenging question.
788
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,560
I don't feel I have all the answers.
789
00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:40,560
It's a question to which Puerto
Rican artist Miguel Luciano
790
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:42,440
has an answer.
791
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,160
He's a frequent visitor to
a Rockefeller
792
00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:48,240
collection of pre-Columbian
Caribbean arts.
793
00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:51,120
This sculpture has particular
resonance,
794
00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:53,640
once used in community ritual.
795
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:57,160
Luciano is part of a new Met
project using art to build
796
00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:01,160
links between the museum
and its neighbour communities.
797
00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:02,520
It's a really special object.
798
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:05,040
It was probably
used in ceremonies using this
799
00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:07,240
kind of hallucinogenic plant
medicine.
800
00:46:07,240 --> 00:46:09,040
Similar I think to Ayahuasca,
801
00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:10,720
it's probably from Haiti or
802
00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:13,400
the Dominican Republic,
the island of Hispaniola.
803
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:14,800
If it weren't for the museum,
804
00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:18,680
I would never have access to this
thing. I'm grateful that it's here,
805
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:23,920
but I'm also very conflicted
by my experience of my own history
806
00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:27,960
and heritage, that's limited by the
museum in its kind of institutional
807
00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:32,000
framework, that has always been
a very colonial framework.
808
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:35,480
And the acquisition history of
so many of the objects that we
809
00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:40,160
find in museums in general share
these kinds of colonial legacies.
810
00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:43,120
But it's not
so simple as just returning them
811
00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:46,000
to where they came from, perhaps.
812
00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:49,640
Obviously the objects,
they're protected for preservation.
813
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,520
But it prevents us
from understanding them
814
00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:55,400
the way they were originally
intended for us to understand them.
815
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:57,400
And so how do we reimagine them
816
00:46:57,400 --> 00:46:59,680
in the spaces of our own community,
817
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:01,240
as opposed to this very
818
00:47:01,240 --> 00:47:05,360
sort of, like, depersonalised,
sterile form of engagement?
819
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:08,640
The fragile figure wouldn't
survive being handled...
820
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:12,680
..so Miguel has cloned it.
821
00:47:12,680 --> 00:47:16,480
This nice candy kind of gloss is
what I'm looking for.
822
00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:19,520
Working with the Met's digital
imaging team,
823
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:22,680
Luciano has modelled the figure
using a 3D printer.
824
00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:26,720
Today he's come to a Manhattan
plastics company to work on it.
825
00:47:26,720 --> 00:47:31,600
This object is a Taino zemi cohoba
stand.
826
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:33,920
The top of this would have been
827
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:35,960
used as a pedestal to
grind cohoba from.
828
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:38,440
It would have been used to
have visions,
829
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:41,040
right, by the community leader,
like a shaman.
830
00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:44,520
The imagery of the figure has
such an intensity.
831
00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:47,080
The ribs on the back show you that
this character
832
00:47:47,080 --> 00:47:48,680
was kind of emaciated. Yeah.
833
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,520
Probably fasting before the
ceremony.
834
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,520
But this is what
I love about it is that his eyes,
835
00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:57,240
you see those grooves?
And so these were tears carved in.
836
00:47:57,240 --> 00:47:58,440
His teeth are gritting.
837
00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:03,120
So that kind of intensity of crying
and gritting and grimacing... Yeah.
838
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:06,240
..it might have been
part of the physical
839
00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:09,040
experience of taking cohoba. Hmm.
840
00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:12,480
And so these may have been used in
ceremonies throughout the Caribbean.
841
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:14,640
So, you know...
842
00:48:14,640 --> 00:48:17,120
There's still, like, hieroglyphics
on, like, rocks.
843
00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:18,760
You pass by it all the time.
844
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:21,960
This is what is exciting to me
about this object.
845
00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:23,640
The whole purpose of making this is
846
00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:26,600
so that people who actually
share in the history and heritage
847
00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:31,600
of this object can understand
it in an up-close and personal way.
848
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:35,760
These are ancestral objects that
have been taken away from us,
849
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:37,440
from their ancestral lands.
850
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:39,520
Ultimately these were stolen,
851
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:42,240
they were never intended to
be in a space like the Met.
852
00:48:42,240 --> 00:48:45,120
It is time for museums to I think
be reconsidering
853
00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:46,640
their own colonial past,
854
00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:50,400
as they think about how to be more
relevant in the present
855
00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:51,640
and in the future.
856
00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:55,920
Miguel's neighbourhood was
once known to
857
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:58,560
New Yorkers as Spanish Harlem.
858
00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:02,800
Today's community keep a bond with
their Spanish-speaking cultures,
859
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:05,160
with their own name - El Barrio.
860
00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:11,000
Nearly 7% of Manhattan's
population hails from Puerto Rico.
861
00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:13,040
Public art is on every corner.
862
00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:17,720
Luciano is turning
the Met's ancient carving
863
00:49:17,720 --> 00:49:20,280
back into art for the public,
864
00:49:20,280 --> 00:49:24,120
and, at his studio, unveiling
it for an important visitor -
865
00:49:24,120 --> 00:49:27,280
his mentor, the photographer
Hiram Maristany.
866
00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:29,640
I'm a little older than Miguel.
867
00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:31,400
I'm a little older. A couple of
years.
868
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:33,440
Six months older than him now.
Six months!
869
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:36,600
In 1968,
870
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:41,520
the community formed the Young Lords
civil rights protest movement.
871
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:43,960
Hiram was their photographer.
872
00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:47,560
Today,
his images still adorn the area.
873
00:49:47,560 --> 00:49:51,000
In 1973, they featured in
a Met show -
874
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,640
The Art and Heritage of Puerto Rico.
875
00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:56,640
Miguel is following in Hiram's
footsteps.
876
00:49:56,640 --> 00:49:58,400
To this day, it's the largest
survey
877
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,080
of Puerto Rican art that's existed
in any major museum.
878
00:50:01,080 --> 00:50:02,920
I think it would be fair and just
879
00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:06,480
to give credit to
some of the people at the Met.
880
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:07,920
They took risk.
881
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:09,480
It was a mind shift. Absolutely.
882
00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:11,960
I was one-year-old when this show
happens, right?
883
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,360
So I was born in '72.
So I was three years old.
884
00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:16,600
Yeah, right! Right.
885
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:20,440
But I'm saying like, the generation
in front of me, right,
886
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:23,520
it's an incredibly influential
show for an entire generation.
887
00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:25,800
So this is what I'm doing with
the Met right now.
888
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:29,080
We actually went to see art that
I admired a couple of weeks ago.
889
00:50:29,080 --> 00:50:34,000
The premier object in the show is
the zemi cohoba stand.
890
00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:36,600
This is a replica.
891
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:38,760
The zemi in blue.
892
00:50:38,760 --> 00:50:42,040
Amazing. This still needs a lot of
polishing and stuff. Mm-hm.
893
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:45,400
The idea is to actually create
a venue in El Barrio,
894
00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:47,880
so we can actually introduce this
to... Exactly.
895
00:50:47,880 --> 00:50:49,520
..the community in a way where
people
896
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:52,400
can have uninterrupted access to it.
It's a great piece. Thanks.
897
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:53,800
I really love it, I really love it.
898
00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:55,840
I mean, it's in process so...
Yeah, yeah, no, no.
899
00:50:55,840 --> 00:51:01,320
This is a prime example of what
a really good art project should be.
900
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:05,800
You know, at the end of the day
we come from a colonised reality.
901
00:51:05,800 --> 00:51:08,640
And a lot of our history
was denied us. Mm-hm.
902
00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:13,680
And in that denial
we lost the ability to appreciate
903
00:51:13,680 --> 00:51:18,400
some of the indigenous
elements of our culture.
904
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:21,440
What you just described,
access to our own history... Yeah.
905
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:23,840
..is really what drives this
whole project.
906
00:51:23,840 --> 00:51:26,560
These were ceremonial objects.
These were...
907
00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:28,600
They're religious objects.
They were, exactly.
908
00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:31,160
I've been thinking a lot about these
ancestral connections.
909
00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:33,520
You know, even if we're
reimagining them,
910
00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:39,320
through this kind of, you know,
this blue resin artifice,
911
00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:42,680
it's like it's embedded in there
somewhere, you know.
912
00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:47,560
Miguel's Met project will now
expand into the community.
913
00:51:47,560 --> 00:51:51,880
Regenerated, the thousand-year-old
figure will again, he hopes,
914
00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:53,840
promote unity and identity.
915
00:51:55,720 --> 00:51:59,720
The largest art museum
in the Americas has a responsibility
916
00:51:59,720 --> 00:52:03,080
to empower, by making visible
the stories of every
917
00:52:03,080 --> 00:52:06,960
citizen of a country
defined by immigration.
918
00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:09,920
The Met is led by a white man
who grew up seeing
919
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:12,560
the trauma of the
civil rights movement.
920
00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:16,320
Now, seeing the racism
inherent in his own institution
921
00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:18,680
has left him dismayed.
922
00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:22,920
These issues affected the daily
lives of so many people that
923
00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:25,960
I consider friends and colleagues,
that I didn't know anything about.
924
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:32,000
And, that's I think ultimately
what privilege is - the ability,
925
00:52:32,000 --> 00:52:36,600
the luxury to say one thing,
believe that you believe it,
926
00:52:36,600 --> 00:52:38,360
but not really know.
927
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:41,440
And we know that we have
failed in many ways.
928
00:52:41,440 --> 00:52:45,200
We have not always been
an institution that is welcoming
929
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:47,560
to everyone - public or staff.
930
00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:51,000
What we can do is make
sure that this museum is really
931
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:52,400
here for everybody.
932
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:56,640
How many eyes do you see?
933
00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:01,760
Tracy-Ann and her girls are coming
to the end of their visit.
934
00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:09,040
A god with a wet nose?
935
00:53:11,080 --> 00:53:13,560
I'm hoping that by seeing
more images
936
00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:17,440
that are reflective of diversity,
937
00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:20,960
my girls can find a place
938
00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:23,520
for themselves within those images,
939
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:25,720
and find beauty and find success.
940
00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:34,160
It's interesting to see how
historical figures were portrayed.
941
00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:36,880
There's a message that
they're sending,
942
00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:38,920
the message of authority, power.
943
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:40,200
You look at an image
944
00:53:40,200 --> 00:53:43,920
but you don't have a full
understanding of the back story
945
00:53:43,920 --> 00:53:48,240
or the conflict that surrounds
that particular image.
946
00:53:48,240 --> 00:53:51,440
One picture has dominated their day.
947
00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:53,600
It's really important
if we're going to present
948
00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:56,800
images of George Washington that we
don't just take them at face value.
949
00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:59,440
I mean, this is one of the most
heroicised
950
00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:01,240
depictions in the history
of all art.
951
00:54:01,240 --> 00:54:02,920
So to draw attention to that fact,
952
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:06,360
currently on view there are
wonderful responses to this picture.
953
00:54:08,400 --> 00:54:11,880
Jacob Lawrence,
The American Struggle.
954
00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:15,480
There's a great painting
by Jacob Lawrence, actually,
955
00:54:15,480 --> 00:54:18,000
the leading African American
artist of the 20th century.
956
00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:20,240
In Lawrence's telling,
Washington is absent.
957
00:54:20,240 --> 00:54:23,400
He's eschewed the great-man
narrative entirely,
958
00:54:23,400 --> 00:54:25,960
to focus on the anonymous soldiers
who obviously were
959
00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:29,040
responsible for the success
of this endeavour.
960
00:54:29,040 --> 00:54:32,880
This exhibition is a highlight
of Director Max Hollein's
961
00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:34,400
diversity drive.
962
00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:38,480
In 1954, Lawrence began this
series of paintings chronicling
963
00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:40,080
America's birth pangs,
964
00:54:40,080 --> 00:54:44,160
and honouring the contribution
of the black population.
965
00:54:44,160 --> 00:54:48,000
His interpretation
of Washington Crossing the Delaware
966
00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:50,360
immediately attracts
Kristen's attention.
967
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:58,280
There's some obvious
differences here, Kristen,
968
00:54:58,280 --> 00:55:00,760
what do you think about this piece?
Is there a leader here?
969
00:55:03,200 --> 00:55:04,960
When the museum reopened,
970
00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:06,880
New Yorkers flocked to a show
971
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:11,320
that dealt head-on with the African
American legacy of injustice.
972
00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:13,600
Oh, look at these, Kristen!
973
00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:18,680
Wow! "In this harrowing scene,
blood-red streaks punctuating
974
00:55:18,680 --> 00:55:23,840
"a vertical mass of chained
and armed black and white figures
975
00:55:23,840 --> 00:55:26,200
"convey in visceral terms
976
00:55:26,200 --> 00:55:29,600
"the powerful desire to live free."
977
00:55:30,720 --> 00:55:34,720
It's not a large exhibition with
regard to, like, checklist,
978
00:55:34,720 --> 00:55:40,240
but it's immense from a symbolic
institutional standpoint.
979
00:55:40,240 --> 00:55:43,680
This exhibition has been
planned for years,
980
00:55:43,680 --> 00:55:47,920
but it accrued timeliness in the
wake of George Floyd's murder,
981
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:51,600
and then I think it accrued
additional meaning as we've
982
00:55:51,600 --> 00:55:56,200
all endured our own struggles under
Covid and social distancing.
983
00:55:56,200 --> 00:55:58,240
So there's a great sense of
984
00:55:58,240 --> 00:56:02,720
a kind of communal experience
in this space, I think.
985
00:56:02,720 --> 00:56:07,160
Jacob Lawrence's narrative has to do
with the necessity of struggle
986
00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:10,680
to achieve and maintain a democracy.
987
00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:13,840
Jacob Lawrence is arguably
the most important
988
00:56:13,840 --> 00:56:16,240
black American
artist of the 20th century.
989
00:56:16,240 --> 00:56:18,080
But regardless of his race,
990
00:56:18,080 --> 00:56:21,120
just he's fundamentally
one of the greats.
991
00:56:23,840 --> 00:56:25,960
Born in New Jersey in 1917,
992
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:28,800
Lawrence was influenced by cubism
993
00:56:28,800 --> 00:56:31,360
and inspired by Harlem.
994
00:56:31,360 --> 00:56:36,880
For this project he planned
60 panels, but only made 30.
995
00:56:36,880 --> 00:56:39,240
Several have been lost, but now,
996
00:56:39,240 --> 00:56:41,640
magically, one has been found -
997
00:56:41,640 --> 00:56:45,120
property of some very
surprised pensioners.
998
00:56:45,120 --> 00:56:49,040
They bought it out of a charity art
auction for a children's
999
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:51,960
music school in 1960 for $50.
1000
00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:55,560
And it's been sitting
quietly in their Upper West Side
1001
00:56:55,560 --> 00:56:57,120
apartment ever since.
1002
00:56:57,120 --> 00:57:00,120
It's the feel-good
story of the season,
1003
00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:03,520
and I think there's just such
an appetite for good news.
1004
00:57:05,080 --> 00:57:10,320
This is my first time going to
an exhibit in which
1005
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:16,520
a African American
is celebrated on such a large scale.
1006
00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:20,200
Though the theme itself may not be
the most, erm, beautiful,
1007
00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:24,200
in the end, there is triumph.
1008
00:57:24,200 --> 00:57:27,160
There is this thirst
1009
00:57:27,160 --> 00:57:30,640
for freedom at any cost.
1010
00:57:32,680 --> 00:57:35,240
And that should be celebrated.
1011
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:40,000
I can't wait to see what the
next 50 years will look like.
1012
00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:43,600
Even if I need a wheelchair,
she'll take me to the Met
1013
00:57:43,600 --> 00:57:46,160
cos she knows just how important
this place is to me.
1014
00:57:51,880 --> 00:57:53,240
Next time...
1015
00:57:53,240 --> 00:57:56,920
The museum has a cash crisis,
and many mouths to feed...
1016
00:57:56,920 --> 00:57:59,080
I'm glad I'm not in that position,
1017
00:57:59,080 --> 00:58:03,480
to juggle long-term mission with
1018
00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:06,400
what we're doing in a real
crisis right now.
1019
00:58:06,400 --> 00:58:08,280
..how to fund the shows...
1020
00:58:08,280 --> 00:58:10,120
It's a massive undertaking.
1021
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:14,480
Broadway theatre is probably the
closest to this level of production.
1022
00:58:14,480 --> 00:58:16,360
..the research and development...
1023
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:19,280
The colour palette has been
a sort of shock to everyone.
1024
00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:20,440
This is unique.
1025
00:58:20,440 --> 00:58:23,480
I have to do in very good way.
1026
00:58:23,480 --> 00:58:24,960
..and the new roof.
1027
00:58:24,960 --> 00:58:26,720
And they come to you
for the money for this?
1028
00:58:26,720 --> 00:58:28,640
I've got to find the money to do it.
1029
00:58:28,640 --> 00:58:30,880
The Met was built on philanthropy
1030
00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:34,440
but, in these troubled times,
does it still exist?
1031
00:58:34,440 --> 00:58:38,400
It really exposes the American model
of funding
1032
00:58:38,400 --> 00:58:40,720
of cultural institutions.
1033
00:58:40,720 --> 00:58:42,640
What's going to happen now?
137256
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