FLORENCE, Italy — Walking past the Botticellis, Raphaels and Michelangelos at the Uffizi Gallery, one could understandably be surprised to come upon self-portraits by the Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Urgessa and the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. At a time when museums all over the world have been examining how to tell a more inclusive story about art, the Uffizi has been slower to catch up, hamstrung by its legacy as one of Europe’s leading classical museums and by tourists expecting to see history’s greatest hits. But since becoming director in 2015, Eike Schmidt has slowly been trying to integrate more contemporary art, to increase the presence of female artists and artists of color and to reach a younger, more diverse audience. “The Uffizi very rarely in the past had contemporary art exhibitions,” Schmidt said in a recent interview at the museum. “It was seen as intruding on these sacred halls.”

Source: Ethiopian News February 01, 2022 00:59 UTC