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As most of you know, I came to the Stedelijk Museum from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) – which almost went bankrupt due to a catastrophic financial crisis three years ago. It was horrible and inconceivable to bear that any major museum, and especially a great museum like MOCA, might simply cease to exist. There was a public cry for its rescue – with online petitions, opinion pieces in the papers, and a tremendous show of activism by artists and members of the arts community, who mobilized a demonstration of support at the museum within just 48 hours. Then, a great museum was on the brink of bankruptcy, which meant its life was at stake and its continued existence had to be justified. And of course, here in the Netherlands it is not just one institution’s life that is threatened, but the long-term life and identity of a nation’s esteemed cultural system.

My museum in Los Angeles, like many institutions in the U.S., receives minimal funding from the government, quite different from the situation we have here. In the States we always envied the European system of subsidies. We saw it not only as a privilege but envied what we perceived as a demonstration of respect and pride and vision in the arts on behalf of the society. In the U.S. there is much less governmental support but there is a tax system that makes it more appealing and rewarding to give tax-deductible gifts of money and art to non-profits. There is also a culture of philanthropy that stems from a belief that if you make it in life, you should give back, and a society that rewards you as a philanthropist for your generosity. It works there because there is a legal and economic structure to support it; but it is hardly perfect, as it also has its own vulnerabilities when institutions are dependent upon private funding and in competition with each other in a limited donor base.

I am all for developing sources of support from the private sector. Some would say that is why I am here. But it also takes time and vision at a broad cultural level to shift a society that pays 52% of its income in taxes toward another mindset. To pull the rug out from under a culture in the way that is being discussed is simply cynical, and to say that we can immediately just jump into the American way is truly reckless. Living with uncertainty, as so many Americans do, is not an enviable position, but one learns to accept it as a fact of life. I learned a great deal from the near-death of MOCA, including never to take anything for granted. And I learned that if you don’t want to lose something, you may very well have to stand up, roll up your sleeves, stick your neck out, and fight for it. When you lose it, it is gone.

Collective ownership also means collective responsibility. Every single one of us is responsible. I am here to be – and for the Stedelijk Museum to be – an active, empathetic, strong and strategic participant in society. Whether we are directly impacted now or later, it is about fighting for culture in people’s lives and standing together. It is about our dignity, legacy and responsibility. We must act, not only on behalf of the interests of ourselves, but especially in strong support of our colleagues, artists, and the arts community – at all levels. We must do so without fear of reprisal, and we must not allow ourselves to be divided or intimidated, which is clearly a strategy that is being used against us. We must think about the big picture, and about the long term, and how our lives touch each other, and what art and artists contribute to our society – how art gives us the tools to be critically aware of ourselves and our place among others. Our critical self-awareness is also our power, and it is certainly no coincidence that it is a target. I am angry, but I am also hopeful. We are all in this together and if we stick together, and reach out and help one another, we not only find reserves of strength and encouragement to find solutions, we also honor each other as human beings. And we put a great face on the Netherlands. Make no mistake, the world is watching.

Speech, Town Hall Meeting Come Together, co-initiated by the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Thursday, June 23, 2011

Ann Goldstein is director of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam