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Hundreds of artists are voicing support for Reina Sofia director Manuel Borja-Villel, who abruptly departed the museum amid right-wing attacks

Earlier this month, the director of Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum, Manuel Borja-Villel, announced that he would not seek reelection and would instead abruptly step down from his role. After 15 years atop the institution, Borja-Villel’s last day came January 20.

The surprising move came amid increased criticism from right-wing groups, including a recent article from the far-right Spanish newspaper ABC, which accused the Reina Sofia of violating its own laws when it renewed Borja-Villel’s two most recent contracts.

Now, a group of artists, academics, and museum leaders have come out in support of the now-departed Borja-Villel, saying in an open letter that the attacks have come through a “hurried and manipulated ‘cultural war,’ surreptitiously unleashed by the outbreak of the extreme right in the Spanish political and media landscape.”

“These attacks are part of a defamatory campaign directed at the model the Museum represents, a campaign that began far before the process of electing a new director was initiated,” the missive, which was first published in e-flux, went on. “The aggression mainly originates from reactionary media outlets and their contexts—as well as from professionals in the art world—and follows a consistent pattern of disseminating flagrant and unfounded lies with the assurance that, despite any rebuttals, the damage will have already been done.”

Among the more than 1,700 signatories on the letter are many notable names, including artists Yto Barrada, Luis Camnitzer, and Martha Rosler; writers and teachers Hal Foster, David Joselit, and Rosalind Krauss; and museum directors Frances Morris of London’s Tate Modern, Mami Kataoka of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, and María Willis of Bogotá’s Museos de Arte Banco de la Republica.

Go to Open Letter Here

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