The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts yesterday apologized for forbidding children from copying paintings by freehand drawing, saying it welcomes visitors to make sketches of paintings on drawing tablets or sketchpads.
The museum issued the remark after a museumgoer nicknamed “Mickeyelk Gesner” on Thursday posted on Facebook that her son had been sketching a painting by Pablo Picasso on a tablet computer at the exhibition “Capturing the Moment” on Wednesday when a museum worker told him to stop drawing.
“The staff told us, ‘Only taking photos is allowed. No copying. This is a rule,’” she quoted the worker as saying.
Photo: CNA
Physician Lee Chia-yan (李佳燕), who witnessed the incident at the museum, on Friday said in a Facebook post that she was appalled by the staff’s handling of the matter, which was “totally at odds with the common practice of the world’s leading arts museums.”
“Arts museums should not be haughty and condescending to visitors. It is not a place for adults to be arty and phony, but rather a place pleasantly accessible to people, especially to children,” Lee said.
The museum is “a public good” of the city and should help to nurture children’s ability to create and appreciate the arts, Lee added.
The museum yesterday said that it expects to align with international practices and create better experiences for visitors as a social and educational institution that allows for the enjoyment of art.
It apologized to the public for causing disputes due to inappropriate management and communications, and pledged to improve staff training to provide visitor-friendly services.
Museum visitors are allowed to make sketches on drawing tablets or sketchpads at exhibition sites, with detailed information provided on the museum’s Web site, it said, adding that everyone is welcome to explore the classic artworks created by renowned international artists during the summer vacation.
The Chimei Museum, a prestigious museum in Tainan, and the UK’s Tate Modern, one of the museums that contributed artworks to the Kaohsiung museum’s exhibition, allow visitors to copy paintings through freehand drawing, Facebook fan page “Takao Gooday” (高雄好過日) said on Friday.
“The entire incident indicates that the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, being a hub of arts in southern Taiwan with a 30-year history, has a disappointing attitude toward arts education and promotion,” Takao Gooday added.
“Copying” and “freehand drawing” are two different things when it comes to visitors drawing to mimic a painting, literary and historical worker Wei Tsong-jou (魏聰洲) said in a Facebook post on Friday.
“One would have to file an application to ‘copy’ painting exhibits and undergo a review afterwards,” Wei said. “‘Free drawing’ does not require any application and is considered a way of appreciating artworks in terms of museum education.”
The museum seemed to be “unable to differentiate freehand drawing from copying” and made the child “feel as though he had made a mistake and fearfully asked to leave the spot,” Wei said.
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