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Intelligence Squared

Museums are Bad at Telling us Why Art Matters

Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.21.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2016

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Museums are our new churches, as is commonly agreed. Millions of people flock to them to be uplifted, inspired, or distracted from everyday cares for an hour or two by encountering magnificent art. But while churches know exactly how to present art in order to foster faith and remind us of the Christian virtues, couldn't our museums do a better job at displaying art in a way that fully engages our emotions? Aren’t all those academic categories – “the 19th century”, “the Northern Italian School” – dry and dull? Aren't museums just places where great art goes to die? Why can't museums organize their collections in such a way as to convey art’s life-enhancing possibilities and even inspire us to become better people? But isn't that taking the "art as religion" line a bit too seriously? It implies that museums have a social function, even a didactic role to play. Do we want to visit museums in order to be told by invisible curators to think and feel in a certain way? And while it may be the case that... Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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Thank you for downloading this Intelligence Squared podcast.

0:33.3

For more information on our debates, talks and discussions,

0:36.5

visit intelligence squared.com and sign up to the newsletter. If this weren't such a distinguished panel I'd be feeling emasculated after that

0:49.3

roll call but I think we'll we'll live up to the challenge of what else you're doing later this season.

0:55.0

I like the idea that Intelligence Squared works in seasons.

0:59.0

Of course, Museum do, but not in the same way that things like football do.

1:05.0

And even now in the close season, our newspapers are dominated by the stories of what's going to happen in the next season.

1:12.0

And yet, this is a cliche but it's a

1:14.8

fact as well more people go to museums and galleries in Britain every year than go to

1:19.3

professional football matches however what those statistics actually tell us about the viewer's relationship to the art itself

1:26.8

and whether it matters or not is not something that is necessarily revealed.

1:31.1

But it's something that we're going to kick about tonight with a panel that is made

1:36.0

up of Alan de Boisson, Ben Lewis, Matthew Taylor, who will be speaking for the motion, which

1:41.6

I'll tell you about in a minute, but I think you know it anyway. And against the motion which I'll tell you about in a minute but I think you know it anyway

1:43.4

and against the motion Matthew Collins Chris Durcon and Sandy Nan the motion itself

1:48.0

is that museums are bad at telling us why art matters and what I want to do first,

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