Open Letter on Photo Museum Debacle: Artists Refuse Consultation

Just received this in the ol' inbox - an open letter to the National Gallery of Canada on the closure of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. Note the parts in bold (emphasis mine)

Open letter to Mr. Michael Audain, Chairperson, Board of Trustees,
National Gallery of Canada, and Members of the Board.

We the undersigned, including both photographic artists chosen to
participate in the National Gallery consultation on the future of the
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (CMCP), and other
distinguished practitioners not chosen, have been struggling with the
implications of the consultation as designed by the National Gallery
of Canada (NGC). We have decided not to participate in the
consultation, unless it can be reformulated as open, public, and
national.

On 8 April, 2009, it was announced that the NGC Board of Trustees had instructed the personnel of the NGC to conduct a national consultation with the photographic community. It was anticipated that this
consultation would be open and public. Many interested members of the community, including artists, curators, researchers, educators, critics, and members of the public, contacted the NGC to ensure that
they would be informed when and where the consultations would be taking place. Instead, the NGC decided to conduct the consultation on an individual basis, by invitation and by telephone, and to present its findings to the Board without attribution. The list of invited artists is confidential.

We understand that the invitation list includes artists who have exhibited their work at the CMCP or the NGC during the last five years, as well as those with scheduled exhibitions forthcoming. We note that the CMCP has been closed for renovations due to a leak in the roof for nearly three years, during which time all CMCP exhibitions were temporarily housed at the NGC. We note too that budgetary restraints and administrative changes had severely restricted the CMCP's autonomy for several years before the temporary closure of the building at 1 Rideau Canal. It is impossible to evaluate the performance and potential of the CMCP from this period of physical upheaval and institutional hardship.

We believe that a public consultation has to involve more than the artist/photographers whose work has been exhibited at the gallery over the past five years. A national consultation of the photographic
community also has to include other professionals in the field: curators, collectors, dealers, researchers, educators, critics, and the large public that has an interest in the CMCP.

We are asking the Board of Trustees to ensure that an open and public process of national consultation is conducted before any further decisions are made about the future of the CMCP.

We would be happy to participate openly in a public consultation.

Signed:

Raymonde April, Benoit Aquin, Richard Baillargeon, Marian Penner
Bancroft, Claude-Philippe Benoit, Phil Bergerson, Karl Beveridge, AA
Bronson, Michel Campeau, Bertrand Carriére, Serge Clément, Carol
Condé, Linda Covit, Marlene Creates, Donigan Cumming, Stan Denniston,
Jennifer Dickson, Evergon, William Eakin, Janieta Eyre, Vera Frenkel,
Richard Fung, Wyn Geleynse, Lorraine Gilbert, Don Gill, Rafael
Goldchain, Adrian Gollner, Pascal Grandmaison, Sunil Gupta, Toni
Hafkenscheid, Ted Hiebert, David Hlynsky, Richard Holden, Thaddeus
Holownia, Holly King, Thomas Kneubuhler, Susan McEachern, Robert
Minden, Shelley Niro, Sylvie Readman, Henri Robideau, Jayce Salloum,
Sandra Semchuk, Cheryl Sourkes, George Steeves, Gabor Szilasi, Jeff
Thomas, Diana Thorneycroft, Eve K. Tremblay, Richard-Max Tremblay,
Justin Wonnacott, Andrew Wright, Jin-me Yoon