On Everything #147: What to Make of the John Galliano Retrospective at the Met?

On Friday, July 31st, The Met Costume Institute announced its next year’s main exhibit, devoted to John Galliano. The question a lot of people grapple with is, does he deserve one, given his history of antisemitic remarks? Answers vary. Some are of the opinion that Galliano has not paid enough for his crime (and antisemitic speech is a hate crime in France, for which Galliano was convicted in a Paris court). Others fall in the forgive and forget camp. (I am conflicted, hence this article.) There are also other, and perhaps more implicit, questions at play; such as the role of an art museum in public life.

What is not in doubt is that The Met knew it was inviting a firestorm of controversy. Otherwise its PR department would not post a press release announcing the exhibit ten months before it opened (the current exhibition “Costume Art” was announced three months before, as is usually the case), and on a Friday evening during the period when most journalists are getting ready to go on vacation.

The Met gave carefully controlled access to Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times in order to set the tone. Her article was measured, in line with the Times authoritative tone of voice. The Met’s hope seems to be that the controversy will die down by the time the exhibit opens. It was as well-orchestrated of a PR campaign as could be done. Of course the Internet never sleeps, and such strategies do not work as successfully as they have done in the past. The Instagram post of Friedman’s article received much more engagement than is usual for a NYT Style account, and predictably the reactions are split.

In the press release The Met said, “Alongside Galliano’s extraordinary creative accomplishments, the exhibition will address the derogatory conduct that fundamentally altered his career and public reception. In doing so, the exhibition will consider how artistic achievement should be understood alongside ethical accountability.” How exactly the Met is going to do this remains a mystery; I cannot fathom how it could be “addressed” in any meaningful way. Are they going to run the video of Galliano’s antisemitic rant on loop? Will they reconstruct La Perle, the beloved fashion crowd Marais dive, where it happened? And what to make of the gratingly didactic “should be understood”? How about we make up our own minds? I normally don’t mind a serious academic effort that aims at a “should,” but let’s be real, The Met Costume Institute is anything but that. For all intents and purposes it is a for profit organization hiding within a non-profit cocoon. Anna Wintour is its largest benefactor by proxy. What Anna wants Anna gets.