PDF Oriental Rugs: An Illustrated Lexicon of Motifs; Materials; and Origins by Peter F. Stone in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. from @gold.ac.ukBy Stefano CagolDear allHave read the part of the introduction to this edited volume with interest. And I need to read further in order to be clear as to what exactly the objective of the editors; and their contributors is in terms of the link between climate change debates; art and museums and the role they take upon themselves; it seems; to defend the future of all peoples from all small island states threatened with rising sealevels. Australia has its own issues re. coral reefs and they only have to look across the Tasman Sea to New Zealands glaciers to see that things are indeed happening and what is happening is indeed affecting coastal peoples; poorer communities and that great behemoth; tourist income. But; then easy to judge from great big Australia! :))The fierce criticism of the Cagol installation; and the whole Maldives Pavillion in this section does appear to serve a particular; Pacific-based standpoint about what they appear to see as Eurocentric; neo-imperialist approached to indigenous peoples and small island states. As a New Zealander; and one born in Samoa so well aware of these cultural; political; and physical planetary issues in more ways than one; I can see where they are coming from historically. Perhaps.But on first reading; and this needs to be considered once I have taken in their argument as a whole; I see why their wholesale condemnation of the Maldives project is problematic:1) It rests on a selective reading and viewing of the Pavilion as a whole i.e. there were not only European artists and curators involved so this accusation is not correct2) it misses the point; as Stefano notes; of these interventions and the use of so-called apocalyptic thinking as artists open questions to the What If question.3) They did not take the whole project on board; simply responded to two pieces they didnt like. Fine; that is an opinion but they use this opinion to underpin a whole post-colonialist critique of the very idea that there is a link to make between how the European continent and Indian sub-continent and its peoples in its oceans are all implicated in this endless debate about human-made vs. naturally occurring climate change. One could argue back by saying that the Pavilion was not being apocalyptic enough! :)4) I think they subsume scientific debates with how artists render these debates for public consumption; or as cultural expressions of complex issues. They are not the same. Moreover I think they seem to be putting forward a classical link between museums as repositories of "true" scientific knowledge and cultural heritage; as if either are not disputable at every turn. The latter is always contestable and all of us from former colonies know all about what museums did; or tried to do in the age of empire and colonial rule. So there I think that as two Australian based authors they well be hoisting themselves on their own petard by accusing this exhibition of being ethnocentric and dismissive of the non-western; i.e. Maldive perspective. But; again; I have to read the whole thing before resorting to the sort of ad hominem argument they appear to use.The bigger debate is to my mind; the issue of who speaks; or exhibits for whom and whose behalf. This issue is one I think that the Maldives Pavilion did work to articulate and did bring across well at the time and in the outputs since. But here both this book and your curating team actually agree. Not sure whether there is agreement on the primary causes of climate change though and how cultural institutions should respond. Clearly not! :)Btw; there was an interesting exhibition in Berlin recently on the topic too: small scale but arguably also committing the same sins of artists looking to engage with issues and regions outside ones own birthplace. Chakrabatys essay in there is instructive I think as he captures these tensions well.NGBK; 2014; The Ultimate Capital is the Sun: Metabolism in Contemporary Art; Politics; Philoshopy; and Science; Exhibition 20 Sept-16 Nov 2014; nGbK / neue Gesellschaft fuuml;r bildende Kunst; Oranienstrasse 25; 10999 Berlin (...).It is good publicity; and intellectually interesting too; to perhaps respond to these criticisms. After all; whilst the authors can read from the artworks what they will; the issue here is whether they are not engaging in a fallacious (and arguably) a facetious argument to bolster up their own case. Just being in the Pacific; or from there does not give one the key to all truth. Humbug!And; then looking at some of the chapter headings I wonder if the book is a defence of the "sceptics" camp and conservative curatorial politics. But need to check that out.Looking forward to seeing a robust riposte to this critique so the debate can move forward.Take care all.bestMFGlobal Media Transnational Communications ProgramGoldsmiths (University of London)Department of Media Communications