I am and artist and independent archivist of LGTBTQ visual art based in London. I was responsible for gifting more than 500 works by the British erotic graphic artist Bill Ward in London's Bishopsgate Institute's fetish archive and also donating material relating to London's legendary club Backstreet. As an artist who has made work recording the fetish scene myself over decades and as a Patron of London's Queer Britain Museum I know how important it is that there are safe and secure places for it. There are few enough of them.
In the current climate the tide has turned back to that hostile environment that threatens both the material and institutions with destructions and censure. I am extremely disturbed to see the board of the Tom of Finland Foundation appear to have set in motion a set of events that seem to be dismantling the hard fought legacy that it created. A legacy that is not just that of Laaksonen but also the other works by a whole raft of artists who, make no mistake, would have been binned without the Foundation to give them a home.
I do not understand the rationale behind recent events regarding the wholesale firing of employees and of vacating Tom House. I do not see board members who reflect heritage of the community the Foundation are supposed to be preserving and representing. In particular I see little or no transparency about what the rationale for these actions is? The board are not the 'owners' and have a responsibility to explain what their thinking is and to demonstrate that they are protecting our shared history with empathy and that they understand this about more than commerce. If you have a case to make, please be open and make it in public. Will you please explain yourselves to the community that have supported you.
Respectfully yours
Guy Burch
www.guyburch.co.uk
London
United Kingdom