The world-renowned Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam allowed a camera behind the scenes of a process that raises uncomfortable and awkward questions. Can a painting still be entitled “The Prostitutes”? When you appraise art, should you also take the skin color or gender of the artist into account? And how is one to engage with visitors who find all this “too politically correct”? The film follows the new director of the Stedelijk as he attempts to change the museum’s policies and curation to be more inclusive and progressive. Presented with a slightly tongue-in-cheek tone, filmmaker Sarah Vos takes us into the most private conversations and arguments between the curators and managers. As so many museums around the world, including close to home in Vermont, struggle with how to reassess their collections and curatorial decisions, this film is as timely as it is entertaining. ~OY
***Followed by a Q&A with Kristan Hanson, the Fleming Museum’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions.***