Research design studio Forensic Architecture has expressed delight at the resignation of New York's Whitney Museum vice chairman Warren Kanders, following months of protests regarding his ties to tear gas used against migrants at the US-Mexico border.
Kanders' resignation on 25 July has incited a positive reaction from the community of artists and advocates who have protested his position as a Whitney board member for months.
"We're delighted that this show of unity, between museum staff, artists, activists, and the public, has finally produced results," Forensic Architecture researcher Robert Trafford told Dezeen.
"But even as Kanders' resignation is cause for modest celebration, we and those in our coalition have always been clear ? this moment is the beginning of the conversation, not the end," he continued. "The Whitney now has an opportunity to show leadership on a critical and international issue in contemporary culture, and to enter into a process of reckoning: how should 21st-century cultural institutions reflect and serve their communities""
Incident is part of "toxic philanthropy" backlash
Kanders resigned following months of protests at the museum after it was reported that Safariland Group, which he owns, supplied tear gas to law-enforcement agencies.
His departure follows a number of cultural institutions coming under scrutiny over their links to unsavoury businesses. Their reliance on funding from firms deemed to be...