The Met is a global institution in every way. We exhibit works of art representing over 5,000 years of human creativity from around the world. More than half of our millions of visitors travel great distances to visit the museum, and the New York area is home to many large diasporic communities. We collaborate daily with colleagues and museums in many countries. Our Met community includes staff from dozens of countries speaking more than 50 languages.
Great responsibilities come from being one of the few universal art museums. I think it is extremely important for the Met to engage directly with key issues facing museums, and one of the priorities in this area is the complex subject of cultural property. In the spring, I announced that the Museum would take next actions: increase provenance research staff; research work relating to certain art dealers and collectors; meet on topics related to cultural heritage; and form groups of staff and administrators to examine and pursue the myriad issues in this area.
Recognizing that there are no quick or easy solutions, I am pleased to report that we are making lasting and significant progress.
Recruitment for the new provenance leader position and three additional provenance researcher roles is on track. We have received many applications for these positions and the candidate pool is very strong. We plan to announce the leadership position this fall and will share updates on additional roles in the coming weeks and months.
The initiative of review the sections of our collection requires a lot of care and work is underway in several conservation departments. The Museum has revised its Collections management policy so that all antique loans have a provenance dating back to 1970, the date of the UNESCO convention, as was required for our acquisitions. Additionally, an image and source information for all loans must be available online. Along the same lines, non-visible loans should not be stored in the building indefinitely in order to focus our resources on works in the collection. Finally, we will soon publish object pages for all returned artworks, specifying that the object was returned and to which country, to support our commitment to transparency.
The Museum is currently making four significant returns. After the Met’s research led to a dialogue with the government of Yemen, we transferred title to two objects to the Republic of Yemen. As this nation continues to suffer from a heartbreaking civil war, they have asked us to continue to care for these items until they wish to have them back – a request to which we have of course agreed. Additionally, our continued engagement with the Nepalese government has led to our decision to return a 13th-century wooden temple stand and a stone stele of a Vishnu triad.
Furthermore, our research on works from Cambodia led the Museum to take the decision to take action on a certain number of objects. As we shared previously, after becoming aware of a merchant investigation related to works from Cambodia, we contacted and cooperated with government authorities, which is ongoing pending their next steps.
In the spring, we launched our new “Cultural Heritage Now” program series of summons, which brings innovations and perspectives from around the world to the Met. During our first panel, we heard three panelists provide an overview of provenance research currently underway in three very differently situated collections: Andrea Bayer, deputy director of collections and administration; Lynley McAlpine, Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the San Antonio Museum of Art; and Victoria Reed, Sadler Senior Curator of Provenance at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. We will soon announce a panel discussion on programs that develop and strengthen the capacity of cultural organizations around the world, as well as an event previewing the Met’s work with the World Monuments Fund across Africa.
In addition to continuing these initiatives, we are also continuing our collaborations with colleagues and institutions around the world. The Met has for decades led in-country programs through which we exchange expertise and share resources with our colleagues and fellow museums.
I am happy to share that our collaborative initiative The development of the cataloging and digitization capabilities of the National Museum of Nigeria in Lagos, which will enable its staff to build a database for its permanent collection, which is among the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, is well underway. All of this builds on our long-term collaborative agreement with Nigeria, and I look forward to sharing updates in the coming weeks. In the spring, our Indian Conservation Fellowship Program marked a decade of global cultural collaboration, and we are currently preparing a new residency initiative with the Department of Greek and Roman Art to exchange expertise and training by hosting researchers of Cycladic art from Greece.
Showing our collection to the widest possible audience is the driving force behind all our work. We are taking advantage of the temporary closure of Wing Michael C. Rockefeller as an opportunity to share 130 highlights from our important Oceania collection with other audiences around the world – more than 235,000 visitors engaged with The shape of time in Shanghai over the summer, and the exhibition will open in its second location at the National Museum of Qatar, Doha, next month. Other important exhibitions include a large group of works from the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art on display in Korea and, in January, the Department of Asian Art’s powerful exhibition. Tree and serpent: early Buddhist arts in India, 200 BCE – 400 CE will be exhibited at the National Museum of Korea.
Finally, our continued support for Ukraine during the war reflects another way in which the Met directs its resources toward aiding cultural institutions around the world. In September, we were honored to receive a visit from the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, where we presented the work we have done to help Ukrainian museums protect their art, train the U.S. military to protection of cultural heritage,to classify some pieces from The Met collection more accurately reflect the Ukrainian nationality and culture depictedand create meaningful social and digital media initiatives that will feature Ukrainian-language content across the Met’s platforms. Here is an article the First Lady shared her visit.
All this work is important and requires great rigor. Some initiatives may move quickly, others will take much longer. Each region and each object has its own history, and it is our responsibility to ensure that appropriate care and action is taken. It is also our responsibility, as a leader in the field, to share resources and use our leadership position to help our museum peers.
Many areas of the Met are engaged in this work, for which I and the Board are very grateful. I look forward to providing continued updates.
