Concept and programming: Beti Zerovc
We are yet to find the answer as to whether and how is an exhibition a form of art and the curator an artist, however, the debates surrounding these issues, and especially criticisms and reproaches have become a permanent fixture in the discourses linked to contemporary art. As it seems that persisting in the elementary debate and the rejection of such development on the basic level merely hinder the actual research and understanding as to how do the medium of the exhibition and its author function and what influence do they have, the symposium will try to actively confront these issues. Twelve lecturers attempted to shed some light on these two phenomena, most of them will perform this by treating and analysing actual contemporary or historical examples.
Participants: Alfred H. Barr jr., Martin Beck, Beatrice von Bismarck, Michael Fehr, Bogdan Ghiu, Søren Grammel, Paul O’Neill, Kerstin Stakemeier, Mary Anne Staniszewski, Philip Ursprung, Jelena Vesic, Beti Zerovc and Marko Stamenkovic as moderator.
The addressed central issues:
– If the exhibition itself is becoming a work of art, what are the main features of such a work of art? Can we define its structure? Can we define why is it or isn’t it a work of art?
– What makes or doesn’t make the curator an author? What makes or doesn’t make the curator an artist?
– Do we still view and enjoy individual artworks within exhibitions or do we increasingly view, appreciate and contemplate exhibitions themselves? Can or must we view and enjoy these two things separately or simultaneously? Or should they merge as in a theatre play or film?
At the same time we would like to remind you that Piotr Piotrowski, honoured as outstanding art historian of the Central Eastern European region, is the recipient of Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory 2010. Additionally to the award four working grants are given to the Croatian-British writers and curators Maja and Reuben Fowkes, to the interdisciplinary Peace Institute from Ljubljana, to the Romanian curator Raluca Voinea, and to the Bratislava based art historian Daniel Grúň.
The award ceremony will be held in Barcelona, Spain between 9 and 12 December 2010 accompanied by a conference on Writing Art History at the Museum of Contemporary of Art (MACBA). More at http://igorzabelassociation.org
Symposium is produced by Igor Zabel Association for culture and theory, http://www.igorzabelassociation.org
Partner Erste Foundation, http://www.erstestiftung.org
Co-produced by Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana, http://www.mg-lj.si
Contact:
Dunja Kukovec, [email protected]
