Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Nick Mitzevich, believes that soon, the deaccessioning and repatriation of artworks from museum and gallery collections will no longer be considered ‘an exceptional act, but a common act’.
His reasoning? ‘The guidelines and the principles have changed, and we as museums must respond to it.’
In episode 17 of The ArtsHubbub, Mitzevich speaks at length about the ‘vortex of change’ we are living through, where museums and galleries around the world are rethinking their ethical position with regard to the cultural and religious objects held in their collections.