The Andalusian art sector condemns the process of appointing Blázquez Abascal as head of the CAAC

2023-11-02 15:25:08

Organizations in the contemporary art sector in Andalusia have issued a statement condemning the procedure by which the Department of Culture of the Junta has appointed Jimena Blazquez Abascal replacing Juan Antonio Alvarez Reyes in the new direction of the Andalusian Center of Contemporary Art, and request the application of professional and deontological codes “in force” in addition to calling for an “international public competition to provide management positions for contemporary art institutions in Andalusia based on criteria of equality, transparency and good practices.”

Among the entities that subscribe to this text are IAC (Institute of Contemporary Art), MAV (Women in the Visual Arts), UAVA (Union of Visual Artists of Andalusia), GECA (Association of Cultural Managers of Andalusia), AMMA (Association of Museologists and Museographers of Andalusia), AGAS (Association of Galleries of Seville) and MAGA (Association of Contemporary Art Galleries of Malaga), a group of signatories that affirms that this decision by the management of the center “contravenes” the Document of Good Practices in Museums and Art Centers signed in 2007.

This pact, between the Ministry of Culture and the associations of the sector, established that the museum directorates must be chosen “through a public competition and with the participation of a joint jury, as indicated in the Equality Law, composed of contemporary art professionals. . A procedure that, we remember, has already been undertaken by different Ministries of Culture, in response to the demands of the sector, by calling a public competition to provide the management positions of the Andalusian Center of Photography CAF, Center for Contemporary Creation of Andalusia C3A and Centro Andaluz of Contemporary Art CAAC».

And the statement continues: «It should be noted that since the arrival of the Popular Government to the Junta de Andalucía the three directors of art centers chosen through public competition, Rafael Doctor at the CAF (Almería), Álvaro Rodríguez Fominaya at the C3A (Córdoba) and Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes at the CAAC (Seville), have been dismissed or not renewed from their positions without a public contest having been held to designate their succession.

And it concludes: «From the associations that represent the group in Andalusia we consider that these types of actions constitute a clear case of political leadership of cultural institutions, they mean a setback in democratic and participation advances and therefore contribute to the deterioration of the institutions. public of Andalusia.