Call for papers: Museum why? Practice, Agency and Knowledge in the Art Museum
Art museums stand at a crossroads, grappling with dynamic challenges and transformative demands that emanate both from within and beyond their traditional confines. In the current landscape, external political and economic pressures are reshaping the objectives of these institutions. Simultaneously, the ever-evolving landscape of artistic production is prompting the reevaluation and reorientation of established museum practices.
As we witness new research agendas emerge within art history, museology, cultural studies, and related fields, it becomes apparent that Western hegemonic ideas of art, culture, and knowledge, which have historically defined the structure and self-understanding of museums, are undergoing a profound shift. The motivations for this shift are twofold – questioning the foundation of art museums and fuelling internal aspirations for the creation of more impactful, inclusive, and relevant institutions.
Against this backdrop, the conference, "Museum Why? Practice, Agency and Knowledge in the Art Museum," seeks to deepen our understanding of the constellation of art production, audience commitment, and museum operations. We invite contributions that delve into these practices as a heterogeneous yet entangled set, characterized by numerous, often overlapping, competing, and sometimes contradictory interests, agencies, and power relations.
Key questions
- How can we rethink knowledge production in the art museums of the future?
- How do artistic practices navigate, challenge, and change institutional infrastructures?
- How can increasingly diverse publics be reflected in and by museum practices?
- How can we rethink the unifying logic of preservation, archive, and collection?
- How can museum dissemination reflect contemporary ideas of representation?
- How can museums become critical, relevant, and significant actors in their communities?
- How can we diversify knowledge, historical analyses, and creative thinking?
- How can we co-create and integrate museum knowledge and academic scholarship?
Practicalities
The conference registration fee is 80€ including conference dinner for presenting participants. Emerging scholars and independent artists/cultural workers with presentations can apply for reduced conference fees and support for travel and accommodation (flat rate of € 250).
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the organizers.
Confirmed keynotes and artistic contributions
Paul O’Neill, Artistic Director of PUBLICS, Helsinki, Finland & Visiting Professor at MA Curatorial Practice,
Estonian Academy of Fine Art, Riga, Estonia.
Martha Fleming, Associate Professor at PASS – Center for Practice-based Art Studies, University of
Copenhagen and PI of 'Field/Work in the Archive: Herbaria as Sites of Cultural Exchange at the Natural History
Museum of Denmark.
Apparatus 22 (RO/BE), an art collective founded in 2011 by current members Erika Olea, Maria Farcas, Dragos
Olea together with Ioana Nemes (1979 - 2011) in Bucharest, Romania.
Floating Museum (US), Chicago-based arts collective co-directed by Avery R Young, Andrew Schachman,
Faheem Majeed and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford.