Bakunin’s Barricade is based on a concept introduced by the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, and the idea to use the worth of artworks in barricades in order to protect movements from state violence, as officers would not dare to destroy priceless artworks to breach a barricade.
Bakunin’s Barricade is a conceptual art piece which enforces the Museum’s ethics through a contract.
Ahmet Ögüt published statements explaining the sequence of events around the refusal of the first and only request made to the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In short, the museum has refused to loan his work to a group of activists last June consisting of cultural workers, artists, and activists collectively requested “Bakunin's Barricade” to protect students demonstrations against genocide in Gaza from police brutality. The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is also yet to make any public statement condemning the genocide in Gaza.
Since his last statement, the artist has been in negotiation with the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam’s director, general counsel, and legal team to update the contract and make Bakunin’s Barricade more accessible to movements. After weeks of negotiations, The Museum and its legal apparatus is trying to further limit the obligation of The Museum to issue a public statement explaining any refusal justified in relation to their code of ethics.
This stance is completely against the core idea behind the Bakunin’s Barricade, to the point that as an artist, Ögüt says he has no option but to publicly demand the removal of his work from the collection display. Though the Museum legally owns the work, he expects it to respect both the integrity of the artwork and his role as its author.
Main Image: Bakunin’s Barricade in Eindhoven in 2015 met werken uit de collectie van het Van Abbemuseum: Asger Jorn, Le monde Perdu, 1960; Oskar Kokoschka, Augustusbrücke Dresden, 1923; Fernand Léger, Une Chaise, un pot de fleurs, 2 bouteilles, 1951; Pablo Picasso, Nature morte à la bougie, 1945; René Daniëls, Grammofoon, 1978; Jan Vercruysse, Schöne Sentimenten, 1986 (1988); Marlene Dumas, The View, 1992; El Lissitzky, Proun P23, No. 6, 1919.
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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