Watershed

Hats off to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for being so relaxed. When the galleries displaying Monet and the Impressionists leaks, Paul Brewer, Te Papa’s PR man, could tell the Dom Post that "We don't expect this is something that will hugely engage their minds." Apparently the fact it was a small leak, a freak shower and a high wind means this incident will create minimal feather ruffling in Boston. Good for them. A more paranoid museum might have asked for their billion dollar art exhibit to be temporarily removed until the leak was fixed. Still it does make you wonder what a lot of the fuss over acceptable exhibition conditions is all about. Try telling some small museum in provincial New Zealand that a leaking roof (however small) is ok and won’t affect their application for loans. All this stuff is obviously more open to negotiation than is popularly supposed.