Vandalism in museums has been in the news recently—both vandalism for show and vandalism for real. While Russian forces have ransacked museums including the regional history museum in Kherson (“
Russia Leaves Art Legacies in Ruins, Too”, by Lynsey Addario, The New York Times, November 23, 2022), climate activists are gluing themselves to picture frames and throwing soup and mashed potatoes at glass covered works of art, causing museums to add extra security measures (“
Museums Add Defenses to Fend Off Protests”, by Kelly Crow, The Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2022) and to view their visitors with suspicion (“
Art Museums Are Struggling to Weed Out the Vandals From the Visitors”, by Alex Marshall, The New York times, November 26, 2022).
Because climate activism is a cause championed by many in the art world, climate action vandalism has not been met by immediate denunciation. Is it possible that the absence of outright condemnation for climate action vandalism could lead to a general desensitization toward the idea of vandalism and less outrage when “real” vandalism takes place?
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