Due to current events, the following institutions published this statement through the International Council of Museums (ICOM):

In recent weeks, there have been several attacks on works of art in international museum collections. The activists responsible for them severely underestimate the fragility of these irreplaceable objects, which must be preserved as part of our world cultural heritage. As museum directors entrusted with the care of these works, we have been deeply shaken by their risky endangerment. 

Museums are places where people from a wide variety of backgrounds can engage in dialogue and which therefore enable social discourse. In this sense, the core tasks of the museum as an institution – collecting, researching, sharing and preserving – are now more relevant than ever. We will continue to advocate for direct access to our cultural heritage. And we will maintain the museum as a free space for social communication.

 

Signatories

Evelio Acevedo, Managing Director, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Elina Anttila, Director General, The National Museum of Finland, Helsinki

Richard Armstrong, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, New York

Agustín Arteaga, Director, Dallas Museum of Art

László Baán, General Director, Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Sebastian Baden, Director, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt

Séverine Berger, Director, Musée de l’Annonciade, Saint-Tropez

Claire Bernardi, Director, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris

Konrad Bitterli, Director, Kunst Museum Winterthur

Andreas Blühm, General Director, Groninger Museum

Frédéric Bußmann, General Director, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz  

Thomas P. Campbell, Director, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Laurence des Cars, President, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Cécile Debray, President, Musée national Picasso-Paris

Markus Dekiert, Director, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne

Ann Demeester, Director, Kunsthaus Zürich

Roger Diederen, Director, Kunsthalle München

Hartmut Dorgerloh, General Director, Humboldt Forum, Berlin

Martin Faass, Director, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt

Miguel Falomir, Director, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Diego Ferretti, Director, Mart – Museo d’arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto

Gabriele Finaldi, Director, The National Gallery, London

Hartwig Fischer, Director, British Museum, London

Reidar Fuglestad, Director, Kunstsilo, Kristiansand

Susanne Gaensheimer, Director, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Akira Gokita, Director, Tokyo Fuji Art Museum

Peter Gorschlüter, Director, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Martine Gosselink, General Director, Mauritshuis, The Hague

Christoph Grunenberg, Director, Kunsthalle Bremen

Sabine Haag, Director General, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Tone Hansen, Director, Munchmuseet, Oslo

Annette Haudiquet, Director, Musée d’art moderne André Malraux, Le Havre

Christoph Heinrich, Director, Denver Art Museum    

Isidro Hernández, Chief Curator, Óscar Domínguez Collection, TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes

Karin Hindsbo, Director, National Museum, Oslo

Max Hollein, Director, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Johan Holten, Director, Kunsthalle Mannheim

Tristram Hunt, Director, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Thomas Köhler, Director, Berlinische Galerie    

Lidewij de Koekkoek, Director, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem

Felix Krämer, Director General, Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

Karola Kraus, General Director, mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien

Ulrike Kremeier, Director, Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Cottbus/Frankfurt (Oder)

Stephan Kunz, Artistic Director, Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur    

Christiane Lange, Director, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart           

Eric M. Lee, Director, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

Séverine Lepape, Director, Musée de Cluny, Paris

Christophe Leribault, President, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Christine Litz, Interim Executive Director, Städtische Museen Freiburg

Glenn D. Lowry, Director, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Katherine C. Luber, Director and President, Minneapolis Institute of Art 

Paola Malavassi, Director, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam

Roland Mönig, Director, Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal

Erik H. Neil, Director and CEO, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk

Jörg-Uwe Neumann, Director, Kunsthalle Rostock           

Alex Nyerges, Director and CEO, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond

Hermann Parzinger, President, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin

Anne Pasternak, Director, Brooklyn Museum, New York

Katherina Perlongo, Interim Director, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin

Ann Philbin, Director, Hammer Museum UCLA, Los Angeles

Igor Poronyk, Director, Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art

Rebecca Rabinow, Director, The Menil Collection, Houston

Svenja Gräfin von Reichenbach, Director, Palais Populaire, Berlin

Beate Reifenscheid, President, ICOM Germany

Xavier Rey, Director, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris

Stella Rollig, General Director, Belvedere Museum, Vienna

Bart Rutten, Director, Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Salvador Salort-Pons, Director, President & CEO, Detroit Institute of Arts

Henning Schaper, Director, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

Eike Schmidt, Director, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence

Cyrille Sciama, Director, Musée des impressionnismes Giverny

Klaus Albrecht Schröder, General Director, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna

Walter Smerling, Director, MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg

Petter Snare, Director, KODE Bergen Art Museum

Guillermo Solana, Artistic Director, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Reinhard Spieler, Director, Sprengel Museum Hannover    

Paul Spies, Director, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin        

Angela Stief, Director, Albertina Modern, Vienna

Elisa Tamaschke, Interim Director, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin

Matthew Teitelbaum, Director, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Gary Tinterow, Director, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Poul Erik Tøjner, Director, The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk

Karole P. B. Vail, Director, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Juan Ignacio Vidarte, General Director, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Christoph Martin Vogtherr, General Director, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten, Potsdam

Aurélie Voltz, General Director, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne

Julia Wallner, Director, Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen

Lucy Wasensteiner, Director, Liebermann-Villa am Wannsee, Berlin

Adam D. Weinberg, Director, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Daniel H. Weiss, President and CEO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ortrud Westheider, Director, Museum Barberini, Potsdam

Nina Zimmer, Director, Kunstmuseum Bern – Zentrum Paul Klee