It’s been a week of unwanted publicity for the Serpentine Gallery, with two news stories that have highlighted the huge gulf between the haves and have nots of the visual arts world.
On Saturday, a protest outside (and briefly inside) the gallery by the Precarious Workers Brigade saw students and graduates dressed in Santa costumes and holding a banner stating: ‘All we want for Xmas is pay’.
The demonstration was in response to a gallery advert for an unpaid, full-time, three-month voluntary position. Protesters handed out scrolls featuring the advert and explaining why they felt the role should be paid. One comment said: ‘If you contribute to the running of an organisation, you are entitled to national minimum wage.’
The campaign against the volunteer role began with an email from the Precarious Workers Brigade to the gallery on 13 December. The gallery’s initial response defended the decision not to offer renumeration for the position, stating that important experience would be gained and that expenses (up to £14 a day) would be covered.
Following the protest, however, the Serpentine sent a second email which stated that the advertised position was ‘not in line with our current terms on volunteer placements’. The Precarious Workers Brigade intends to keep up the pressure on the gallery and to monitor what happens next.
Top pay at the top
Meanwhile, on Monday The Independent newspaper reported that the two co-directors of The Serpentine – Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist – were both paid at least 45% more in 2012 than in 2011.
According to published accounts for 2012, which have been republished in the latest edition of The Jackdaw magazine, Peyton-Jones received between £140,000 to £150,000 while Obrist was paid between £120,000 to £130,000. A gallery spokesman told The Independent: “We do not release individual salaries. These figures are made up of key individuals’ ‘whole packages’ and includes pension and National Insurance contributions.”
Serpentine Gallery is a registered charity and an Arts Council England NPO (National Portfolio Organisation). Its Arts Council funding for the three years from 2012 to 2015 is over £3.5 million. In September, the organisation opened the £14.5 million Serpentine Sackler Gallery, designed by the architect Zaha Hadid.
