THE BIG PICTURE - NEW YORK

A turn of events

The blue whale pictured here is swimming over guests attending a gala held at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. Like many other museums, the AMNH earns extra money by renting out its impressive space to individuals and businesses for events. These events can sometimes cause headaches for the museums, which are under increasing pressure to be models of social responsibility (see issue 1/2020, pp. 62–63). In the spring of 2019, many people were outraged when they learned that the museum was allowing the Brazilian–American Chamber of Commerce to host an event in its blue whale room honoring Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil. Since Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, he has been accused of humanitarian and environmental trespasses.
Under pressure, the AMNH cancelled the event. The museum tweeted that it was not the “optimal location” for the gala dinner. It was widely applauded for the decision: “Thank you!” tweeted Amazon Watch, a non-profit organization. New York mayor Bill de Blasio also thanked the museum “on behalf of our city.”