Artist Ahmet Ögüt Demands That Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum Remove His Work

Artist Ahmet Öğüt called on the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam to stop showing his installation Bakunin’s Barricade (2015–20), claiming that the institution had failed to allow the work to be used during a protest over Israel’s military action in Gaza. The Art Newspaper first reported the news.

Öğüt’s piece, which was acquired by the museum in 2020, is a barricade-like structure roughly the size of a small gallery space that was assembled from wrecked car, fencing, and other materials. Öğüt constructed it based on ideas circulated by the Russian dissident Mikhail Bakunin, who, during the 1849 Dresden uprising in Germany, called for the use of valuable paintings as shields on barricades, believing they would deter soldiers who would be afraid to destroy artworks.

When Bakunin’s Barricade has been shown in other venues, the wall text accompanying the piece has mentioned that it can be requested for usage in protests. “A loan contact, prepared in collaboration with a lawyer, stipulates that the barricade may be requested and deployed during extreme economic, social, political, transformative moments and social movements,” Öğüt notes on his website.

The dispute over Öğüt’s work stems from disagreement over a clause in the museum’s contract. That clause allows Bakunin’s Barricade to be used during significant political or social moments.

In June, according to the Art Newspaper, the Stedelijk reportedly denied a request from the activist group Not Surprised Collective, which requested to use as the work as a temporary barricade in a protest against Israel’s air strikes in Gaza. The activists proposed using the work as a shield for student demonstrators if police intervened. Not Surprised Collective said the protest was a demonstration against the human rights violations taking place in Gaza.

To meet the request while preserving its collection, the Stedelijk proposed installing the piece outside the nearby Gerrit Rietveld Academy, an art school and museum. But rather than using the Öğüt piece itself, the museum suggested using a reproduction of it.

The museum defended this choice, citing a duty to preserve the work from damage for future audiences. Activists criticized the response as “performative.” Moreover, activists said the replica of the work was inauthentic, since the installation itself would not be used.

Öğüt now claims that the museum is now attempting to evade terms of its original acquisition agreement, which he said requires that the Stedelijk publicly state that it has declined to loan an artwork in its collection. The Stedelijk insists that it has only proposed minor adjustments to the original contract, restating its defense on protecting artworks that are purchased using public funds.

“This stance is completely against the core idea behind the Bakunin’s Barricade, to the point that as an artist, I have no option but to publicly demand the removal of my work from the collection display,” the artist wrote in a statement on his website. “Though the Museum legally owns the work, I expect it to respect both the integrity of the artwork and my role as its author.”

Bakunin’s Barricade remains on display at the museum, where it has been shown since 2020.