Is it acceptable to take selfies in an art gallery?

Have you ever whipped out your phone to take a selfie next to a famous painting or sculpture and came this close to knocking over a priceless work of art?

To many people who visit art galleries or museums, taking a selfie might seem like a wholesome way to remember the moment. But according to a new report by Hiscox, a big art insurance firm, taking a selfie next to a piece of art may pose a bigger threat than art thieves or protesters who throw cans of soup.

To recount some infamous selfie mishaps and also chat about the upsides to capturing yourself with the art you like, Art Gallery of Ontario curator Melissa Smith joins host Elamin Abdelmahmoud on Commotion

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, plus a deep dive into a new docuseries on the murder of music icon Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Elamin: Hiscox insurance published this report and they said that half of the art underwriting business can be attributed to accidental damage, and that a lot of that is caused by people taking selfies. Some of these examples made headlines. What stood out for you?   

Melissa: Honestly, I think it's a bit sensationalised. 

I think it is a way of not viewing how museums have evolved, truly. Because I think they're not just spaces to store objects. It's also about how people engage. And there's so many folks in a museum and a gallery space that work very hard to ensure that the artwork is safe. 

A lot of that is about asking people to slow down, but not necessarily telling people where to go. Having seating at art galleries. There are even sight lines and elements like that. Often those stories aren't quite as interesting, so we don't hear the nuance of what goes into conserving a work or hanging up a work. Sometimes we knew it was a slow week in the news.

Elamin: What I like about this is I asked you about some of the examples that stood out in the report and you're like, "No, I don't even want to deal with any of these." And that's fair. So let's talk about the thing that you like. Let's talk about the idea that yes, there are risks, but you like it when people take selfies with art. Why is that? 

Melissa: I think they're incredibly creative. If you take the time to look at #artselfie and #museumselfie, they're so interesting. There are a whole bunch with mimicry, posing, tableau vivant, all these things that we love to see when people are actually engaging with art. 

It's also about bringing art into the everyday. And for me, because I'm deeply interested in this, it's about lowering any perceived or physical barriers to the collections. So that means we're getting work out for people to see. I feel like it's part of a tradition of self-portraiture to a certain extent. That's sort of meta within an art gallery.

Elamin: Tell me a bit about the #artselfie that you just mentioned. If I type #artselfie into Instagram, what are some of the examples that I'm going to find? 

Melissa: Oh my god. People dressing up like characters in the painting. That's definitely my favourite. People looking exactly like the subject that's represented in the work, a doppelganger moment where no one has planned that. 

I also love when there are groups of people who come together in some way. The contemplative selfie that references Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And I think it's really interesting because they're not just a representation of a person's image. They're multidimensional. 

Elamin: I hear a tension between two different ideas of what an art gallery space is supposed to be. The British Museum and a bunch of museums in Milan have actually banned selfie sticks. They're saying, "You know what? Turning galleries into social media backdrops takes away from the idea that this is a space for cultural enrichment and reflection." There are two different conceptions of the [art] world clashing. What do you make of this clash?    

Melissa: I think that's a bit of an antiquated view, because I think that there are many different ways that people can engage in a space. It's just like when we talk about when children are often making a lot of noise, they're usually learning in that regard. And certainly I want to say that the AGO has also banned selfie sticks, but most museums ban larger objects.  A selfie stick, an umbrella, and tripods. 

When it's a busy space — and certainly, those museums are examples of quite busy spaces — we need to be respectful. And also we need to think about how much space we take up. But what's really exciting for us is still encouraging, the selfie taking, because that's where we get to see how art and the AGO can fit into people's daily lives. And then see how they respond to it. For me,  it's about continuing a cultural conversation. And oftentimes it's also about seeing people who may not have envisioned themselves being in the museum before. So we want to welcome those different perspectives. Art can be a common place where lots of people come together to have all different perspectives and see the world in new ways. I champion all the selfies, all the time.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview produced by Jess Low