Quotes by Museums If the world were to end tomorrow and we could choose to save only one thing as the explanation and memorial to who we were, then we couldn't do better than the Natural History Museum, although it wouldn't contain a single human. The systematic Linnean order, the vast inquisitiveness and range of collated knowledge and beauty would tell all that is the best of us. A. A. Gill ordermuseumsscience A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. Abigail Van Buren churchmuseumsreligion I like the idea of the museum world and the university-academic situation where artists talk to each other or where artists or art students study with artists. Ad Reinhardt museumsideasart If you spend your life walking through somebody else's museum, you never find out whether you're Rembrandt or not. Adam Carolla ifswalkingmuseums Things have gotten openly more extreme in the last few years. I was lecturing in Hungary, whose prime minister, Victor Orban, is an example of this trend. All over Budapest, statues have been replaced, museum exhibits have been redone, to turn ethnic Hungarians, not Jews, into the prime victims of the Germans during World War II. Five years ago, who would have thought this possible? Adam Hochschild warmuseumsyears The fact is that the British Museum had a complete specimen of a dodo in their collection up until the 18th century - it was actually mummified, skin and all - but in a fit of space-saving zeal, they actually cut off the head and they cut off the feet and they burned the rest in a bonfire. Adam Savage cuttingfeetmuseums Art exhibitions would be less censored if they were rated, G or NC-17, like movies. People in general see galleries and museums as family-appropriate excursions. Censorship is a provided system which caters to lazy parenting, which is publicly-funded and socially accepted. Adamo Macri museumspeopleart The museums used to be exhibition halls for government propaganda, and now every city wants to build a museum. A few thousand are to be built in the next few years, all using taxpayer money. But there is no system, no research, no content, no good programs, no good managers. Ai Weiwei governmentmuseumsyears I don't think China has professional museums - not in the past, present, or near future. Ai Weiwei museumspastthinking I don't think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not. You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it's empty. Ai Weiwei crazymuseumsthinking In China, we don't have any contemporary art museums. Until a few years ago, we didn't even have a gallery. Ai Weiwei museumsyearsart [Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world. Ai Weiwei departmentmuseumsworld Beijing is constructing a 100,000 m2 modern art museum, yet it will not feature any of my work. Ai Weiwei modernmuseumsart We used to build temples, and museums are about as close as secular society dares to go in facing up to the idea that a good building can change your life (and a bad one ruin it). Alain de Botton secular-societymuseumsideas I love to play. I love, opera, hiking and museums. The one thing I don't do is sit. I have a tremendous amount of energy. Alan Dershowitz hikingplaymuseums The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a house of artistic and intellectual prostitution Albert C. Barnes philadelphiamuseumsart The main function of the museum has been to serve as a pedestal upon which a clique of socialites pose as patrons of the arts Albert C. Barnes pedestalmuseumsart In Italian museums are sometimes found little painted screens that the priest used to hold in front of the face of condemned men to hide the scaffold from them. Albert Camus italianmenmuseums We console ourselves with the comfortable fallacy that a single museum piece will do, ignoring the clear dictum of history that a species must be saved in many places if it is to be saved at all. Aldo Leopold environmentalriversmuseums Seeing your work go into storage in an art museum is obviously a tragedy of any cultural product - which doesn't mean I am anti-institutional. Aleksandra Mir museumsmeanart1234567891011»
