A New Museum Numbers Game

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

An installation at the New Museum intended to chart the dollar amounts given to cultural projects in 2006 by a variety of entities, including corporations such as Ikea and Target, is raising questions about the accuracy of the information used.

“Donor Hall,” one of the inaugural commissions scheduled to go on view for nearly a year at the New Museum, which opens December 1, is a four-sided mural in a hallway outside the museum’s theater. The project was created by an architect on the faculty of Columbia University, Jeffrey Inaba, and members of his firm, Inaba. The installation depicts pie charts listing dollar amounts contributed by businesses, individuals, companies, and political organizations such as Hamas to worldwide cultural efforts, not just to the New Museum. In addition to New York philanthropists Ronald Perelman and Joan and Sanford Weill, the list also includes a Saudi Arabian, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whose offer of relief aid after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was refused by Mayor Giuliani, as well as, under the category “non givers,” Fidel Castro and Halliburton.

Some individuals and institutions included in “Donor Hall” told The New York Sun the numbers used in the installation were inaccurate.

Ikea, for example, appears in the commercial category as having given $2.5 million in 2006. “We were not contacted by this institution and not sure how they came up with the $2.5 Million amount,” a spokeswoman for Ikea, Mona Liss, said. “We can also state that number is quite below our annual giving.”

Mr. Inaba said he used publicly available information to research the data on the hall. He presented a list of sources from which he obtained the data, including articles from the New York Times, corporate Web sites, and Wikipedia entries.

Target, which is a lead sponsor of the first 30 hours of public access to the New Museum when it reopens, is listed at $100 million. Asked if the data were accurate, a spokeswoman said Target gives $3 million a week — which adds up to $156 million a year. The spokeswoman also noted that, “while it may not directly agree with the artists’ intention, piece, or point of view, we respect the creative expression of individuals.”

That expression includes listing Hamas as giving $63 million to culture, as well as listing in the individual category imprisoned Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Mr. bin Talal. Fatah and Fidel Castro are included in a non-donor category. Asked about Ikea’s concern, Mr. Inaba told the Sun he stood by his figures. “We’re presenting this as invited artists, not as social scientists,” he said. “The work is not presenting itself as the ultimate authority on this. It’s more to raise the question as an art piece about the question of philanthropy in general and who gives.” Mr. Inaba added: “I’m not willing to believe a PR person from Ikea would give us more accurate information.”

Asked what he would do if an organization informed him of an inaccuracy, Mr. Inaba said, “I don’t know. We’re planning to do a publication at some point, so any revisions could be made then. What we tried to do is check as best as possible given the information that was publicly available.”

Such an argument is not likely to appease those who feel they have been misrepresented. “I’m wondering how come no one ever called us and asked what we did?” the president of the Foundation for Jewish Culture, Elise Bernhardt, said. “I am all for artists using public information and interpreting it. However, I think solid research doesn’t hurt. It looks like he made decisions somewhat arbitrarily.”

Ms. Bernhardt said the dollar amount listed, $1.8 million, is reasonably close to the foundation’s actual donations, but she noted that the name of the foundation is listed incorrectly. It appears under its former name, National Foundation for Jewish Culture. And she objected to her foundation being listed under “religion.” “We don’t do anything religious and we give to people who aren’t Jewish. We’ve given money to an Irish woman who happens to be a brilliant Yiddishist,” Ms. Bernhardt said. “I feel this designation implies something that isn’t really true.”

The curator who commissioned the project for the New Museum, Richard Flood, defended its decision regarding the foundation’s characterization. “It’s kind of one of those things where it’s open for interpretation,” Mr. Flood said. “Would we change it? Not quickly, at this moment in time.”

A museum spokeswoman, Gabriel Einsohn, said the museum would refer all questions to the artist.

Mr. Inaba, who has consulted on product development for Coca-Cola and Calvin Klein, and who was principal at an architecture think tank led by Rem Koolhaas, described what he thinks the piece conveys. “Some organizations that we might not think of as substantial donors to culture may give quite a bit, and ones that are assumed to be standard-bearers may not give as much as we think.”

He said the piece allows people to see the relationship between them, and also addresses the way different cultures approach philanthropy.

“In the U.S., it’s mostly foundations, whereas in Europe, it’s more based upon a social welfare state,” he noted. And, he said, “In China, while there are no tax incentives to support culture, there were people who support businesses in culture.”

Mr. Inaba said he included Mr. Castro because he wanted to “spark the thought that the governmental systems in which various individuals are located have a lot to do with the type and nature and balance of giving.”

But representing global giving to culture is a complicated proposition. “Conveying anything about philanthropy can be difficult, because we really don’t know the whole picture of charitable giving in the United States,” the editor in chief of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stacy Palmer, said. “He’s trying to do it globally, which is even more challenging because people don’t collect information in ways that are comparable.”

Ms. Palmer defended Mr. Inaba’s efforts. “It’s inherently a pretty difficult thing to do, but I think it’s a valuable thing to try,” she said. “You have to realize that you can’t necessarily be perfectly accurate.”

Mr. Perelman, who is listed under individuals as having given $25 million to culture in 2006, said he was honored to be included. “Art is an emotional experience and so is philanthropy,” Mr. Perelman said. “Being able to help ensure that art and culture not only survive but thrive is both a personal pleasure and a responsibility.”

Mr. Inaba said that whether entities supported the New Museum “wasn’t a factor in selecting them” for inclusion in his “Donor Hall.” “It’s not someone’s editorial platform,” Mr. Flood added. “It’s just a cornucopia of information, and you put it together. I would say that with every work of art that’s in the building, it’s up to the viewer to interpret.”


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