2010

Let me begin with a short digression. In her memoir entitled “Volcano”, author Yvonne Weekes describes her disillusionment as a young black child in Britain, informing her skeptical English teacher that she and her parents are about to return ‘home’ to Montserrat.  “In front of a sea of white children [the teacher] says; ‘There is no such place.’ And triumphantly brings out a globe to prove it. And amidst laughter and the tears welling in my throat, I see indeed ‘there is no such place!’.”

In case you think things have changed in the intervening four decades, a New York Times review of the recent ‘Rockstone & Bootheel’ exhibition of West Indian art in Hartford, Connecticut suggested that for many viewers the Caribbean region was “a blank slate”(Benjamin Genocchio, December 4 2009). This despite the fact that, as the author himself points out, Harford has the third-largest West Indian population in the U.S.!

And although on Facebook Bahamian artist, Blue Curry can boast that his “swanky electric blue cement-mixer” headed off Adrian Searle’s review of the Liverpool Biennial in the Guardian (September 20, 2010), it’s the ONLY work of art in this dismissive review for which the artist is unnamed. What’s up with that?

Curator David A. Bailey is out to put the Caribbean ‘on the map’… or at least on the programme at the 2010 Liverpool Biennial.  And while I feel you cringe at the over-wrought cliché,  the weight of symbolism is felt throughout this exhibition.  And I can’t help but feel that some ‘mapping’ of its formation and structure are necessary as part of assessing its manifestation which, frankly, was a confluence of relationships and happenstance as well as long-overdue necessity.  

Through his ongoing work with the International Curators Forum and the ‘Black Diaspora Visual Arts’ exhibitions and symposiums, Bailey has focused his attention on creating a platform for Caribbean and black diaspora arts at major international events, as well as bringing curators and cultural theorists to the Caribbean.  He combines disguised guerilla tactics with a core philosophy of collegial working relations to infiltrate the rigid art establishment and inhabit a shared and expanding forum to showcase Caribbean art and encourage dialogue and networking. 

Bailey is currently director of the National Gallery of the Bahamas.  He also collaborates with the National Art Gallery Committee in Barbados, and more recently with colleagues in Martinique on a ten-year developmental project entitled ‘Black Diaspora Visual Arts’. Thus the working relationship with these three spaces provided the platform for organizing – and financing - the submission to Liverpool.  Featuring the work of ten artists from Barbados, Martinique and the Bahamas, the ‘Caribbean Pavilion’ seems an ambitious designation but also pointedly asserts its intention to establish a presence within the contemporary international biennial circuit, with particular reference to the grand Venice Biennale organized around national and regional pavilions.  It also highlights work from some of the smaller islands in the region where typically cultural production from the Greater Antilles – Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti etc – gets more attention. 

Here in Liverpool the exhibition is staged as part of the ‘City-States’ project, sited at the Contemporary Urban Centre in collaboration with the Liverpool Biennial. ‘City-States’ comprises six self-funded international exhibitions that focus on the cultural dynamics of life in cities around the world.  According to the Liverpool Biennial Guide, ‘City-States’ presents the work of  74 artists from 23 different countries, comparable in size to the approximately 60 artists that make up the core Biennial itself.

Titled ‘Three Moments’, the ‘Caribbean Pavilion’ takes as its inspiration the Stuart Hall essay “Modernity and its Others: Three Moments in the Post-war History of the Black Diaspora Arts.”  Hall, in a feature video-presentation at the 2009 Black Diaspora Visual Arts Symposium in Barbados, expanded on this essay to consider a parallel or possible successive ‘moment’ within the Caribbean which simultaneously acknowledges and critiques its precedents and parallels. It calls for a mapping of modernist developments to better describe and understand the present contemporary moment. 

Contemporary art from the Caribbean has been receiving unprecedented exposure in recent years with major exhibitions organized by the Brooklyn Museum (‘Infinite Islands’) and le Parc de la Villette in Paris (‘Kreyol Factory’) as well as the much-anticipated but postponed ‘Caribbean Crossroads’ organized jointly by three New York museums  (Museo El Barrio, Queen’s Museum and the Studio Museum). The recent ‘GlobalCaribbean’ exhibition curated by Haitian artist Edouard Duval Carrie in conjunction with Art Basel in Miami, as well as ‘Rockstone & Bootheel’ at Real Art Ways in Hartford presented arguably more focused examinations.  ‘Afro Modernism’, staged at Tate Liverpool itself earlier in the year examined the wider black diaspora.

With their varying formats and mandates there is an acknowledged expanding exposure that the artists and their works receive, but there is also wide-spread dissatisfaction within the region that the organizers just haven’t quite got it right.  And although all of these have been accompanied by catalogues, websites and / or public forums, the most common point of dissatisfaction is the lack of adequate critical discourse about the work, particularly from the region itself.

The ‘Caribbean Pavilion’ is a smaller project, and more hastily organized. But the question remains : What exactly is an exhibition of ‘Caribbean Art’ supposed to achieve?  For the ‘Caribbean Pavilion:  Three Moments’, Bailey invited the artists to take up residence in Liverpool and several of the participants acknowledged that the opportunity to interact and collaborate was one of the most meaningful outcomes of the event.  Bailey also instructed the artists that work should respond to the city.  Liverpool is one of Britain’s largest cities whose growth was due to its importance as a port; at one point in the early 19th century 40% of the world’s trade passed through Liverpool’s docks.  This history and growth are indelibly linked to trade with the West Indies and the Atlantic Slave Trade and this story is extensively narrated in the recently opened International Slavery Museum, located at the Albert Dock right next to the Tate Liverpool. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country.  So while many of the artists participating in the Liverpool Biennial created site-specific work in response to the location, its relevance for Caribbean artists is particular and I wonder why work by Caribbean artists was not more central to the construction of the Biennial as a whole.

The relationship between local and global, geography and history, ownership and entitlement, authenticity and relevance are dialogues that recur in much of the work in the ‘Caribbean Pavilion’.  Simultaneously there is the weight of the traditions of representation and symbolisation. 

Martiniquan artist Christian Bertin presents Sinobole a Vendre, a bicycle-pulled cart offering “snowballs” or snow cones for sale.  It is an assemblage of popular culture and post-colonial theory displaying packets of sugar and cans of corned beef along with the writings of Cesaire, Fanon and Naipaul bolted to the cart.  My initial ‘mis-reading’ of the sign advertising the syrupy sweet treats was ‘Symbols for Sale’ which seemed somehow appropriate:  the multiple mis-interpretations and mis-readings – both intentional deceptions and unintentional ignorance – that underlay descriptions of the region from the earliest writings; and  the idea that symbols, the visual signifiers that represent experience, are  readily and cheaply available.  The itinerant artist, like an itinerant vendor, is engaged in production and exchange.  Like all commodities, the meaning and value of these symbols fluctuate, undergoing constant transformation as a process that hopefully enables us to communicate meaningfully in an unstable world. David Damoison , also representing Martinique, speaks of his own work as a process of “collecting symbols,” both as a way of exploring identity as well as establishing links. 

Various modes of transportation appear throughout the exhibition as metaphors for displacement, diaspora, transience and improvisation. Ships that literally link these two trans-Atlantic regions – the Caribbean and Liverpool – are depicted or are alluded to in several of the works. But often too they are disabled or distorted or mutated in the same way that Bertin’s cart with stacks of books bolted to the wheels is immobile.  The most dramatic expression of this is Bahamian artist John Beadle’s monumental sculpture, Live Load.  A large rudder, balletically poised on the tip of an iron spike is both stabilized and restrained by series of ropes tied off to the wooden planks of the gallery floor, creating a palpable tension between opposing forces.  The sense of monumentality is not only the scale of the object itself but rather its metonymical function referencing the ghostly absence of the ship as well as its human cargo.  It also isolates its function as a navigational instrument and the moral and ethical considerations that guide it.

There are a number of interesting parallels with the video by Heino Schmid (Bahamas) entitled < (‘less than’).  This also is a work about balance and tension.  In a very minimalist setting the artist attempts to demonstrate how the base of one beer bottle can stand on the neck of another.  After some fine adjustments the artist steps out of the frame, leaving only the two precariously balanced bottles.  The viewer is attracted by the ‘cool’ factor of this bar trick, and indeed the artist practiced for several months to perfect it. And Schmidt is attracted by the social engagement aspect of his work – both the idea of the local bar / rum shop as a gathering point; as well as the link to earlier works where the artist would put drawings or notes in beer bottles left at various locations to be ‘discovered’ ... another kind-of ship metaphor.  The acute angle formed by the two bottles inspires the title, “less than” suggesting inequitable relationships and the impossibility of sustained balance.  The ‘trick’ to achieving the balance is a small amount of water in the vertical bottle which fortuitously creates a little horizon line within the bottle itself.  The tension here is measured in breathless milliseconds as the viewer waits for the inevitable collapse of the structure, followed by the bottles rolling off screen. The viewer is caught watching the looped and endless repetition of success and collapse in anticipation, as if perhaps the outcome might change. 

In Em-pyre (Business as Usual), one of two constructed altars by Ras Akyem-i Ramsay (Barbados), the slave ship plan is simultaneously church door and guillotine.  This frustrated architect possesses a craftsman’s sensibility to materials so that this faux- derelict portal looks to be stained by an equally false former grandeur, suggesting the manipulation, machinations and travesties of history. Akyem extended this relief sculpture out into the gallery space with the addition of a seat fastened to the floor at the supposedly optimal viewing range.  In the same way that the profuse number of videos throughout the biennial often included seating because viewers were expected to focus their attention for anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes,  Akyem seems to demand equal time, inviting the viewer to engage in contemplation or meditation before this ‘altar’. I’m not sure if anyone took up Akyem’s invitation.  But a number of the artists in this exhibition construct works that play at overtly engaging the participation of the viewer (Bertin did eventually make – and sell – snowcones)  and / or challenge the audience’s expectations and reception of Caribbean art. 

Blue Curry’s untitled work is smart and ironic in its intent to confound traditional expectations of Caribbean culture.  His pimped-out cement mixer hypnotically churns a viscous, paint-like vat of suntan cream, its distinct Hawaiian Tropic scent wafting through the space.  What does it mean to be a cultural producer in a region dependent on marketing itself as a generic paradise for the carefree enjoyment of others?   The Caribbean itself becomes a cliché where images of Bob Marley and fruit-ladened Haitian markets become ubiquitous for a region made up of multiple languages, ethnicities and geographies.  Curry’s response is minimalist and industrial, only creolized… Marcel Duchamp on vacation.  

Following his recent solo-exhibitions in Barbados (Secret Diaries) and the Bahamas, (Diaries Unlocked),  Ras Ishi Butcher continues his explorations of subtly textured panels of black and white.  The 64 squares that make up The Game are arranged in a large chess board pattern on Velcro strips.  But the constantly changing surface patterns introduce addition underlying possibilities for relations of symmetry and asymmetry.  The game Ishi is alluding to is the playing out of power relations, particularly within the art world and particularly with regard to race. For all of the artists agreeing to participate in this exhibition of ‘Caribbean’ art, there is a balancing act or a compromise between grabbing visibility when it is offered but also accepting a certain marginalization or compartmentalization. And I’ve heard it said that success for a Caribbean artist means being able to leave the Caribbean.  But an aspect of Ishi’s work, whether explicitly acknowledged or not, is that the individual units are not fixed and there is always the potential for different combinations and arrangements – either by the artist or the viewer – it is, after all called ‘The Game’.  (And Ishi, like his brother-in-arms Akyem, includes a rum-shop style crate in front of the work, inviting the viewer to sit down and play along.)   So there is a certain underlying contingency in what appears as a very rigid grid.  And the ability to manipulate the system is not always immediately visible.

Ok – I want to digress here again momentarily, although it relates back to my earlier discussion of the traumatizing effects of the education system.  On my daughter’s first day at primary school in Barbados, the teacher explained to all the boys and girls in their brand new blue uniforms that they must learn to sit quietly on the floor, with their legs crossed and hands folded in their laps, with their heads facing the front of the room, and with absolutely no talking while they listened attentively to the teacher read them a story.  My daughter turned to all the new impressionable students sitting around her and said, “Let’s not.”

I imagine that’s what Fidel Castro was like in preschool. It was a long year.

Ewan Atkinson (Barbados) focuses on childhood experiences, and more specifically the formative nature of the British colonial school system, and the values it (insidiously) inculcates beneath the enchanting veneer of storytelling.  He chooses sites that are traditional, quotidian and mundane – the suburb, the family, the school - from which to launch his own quiet revolution.  With Pages 18 to 27 of The Nelsons' New Neighbourhood Reader, Morality Tales for the Discerning Neighbourhood (Under Glass) the artist displays his surreptitiously adulterated take on the “Nelson’s West Indian Reader.”  Introduced in the 1930s (and apparently still used in schools up until the 1990s) the Nelsons’ Reader was intended to teach young members of the colonies how to read, with a healthy dose of morality lessons.  Atkinson’s version is naughty but nice. He presents ten pages framed as museum artifacts for closer inspection.  The short poems, narratives and accompanying exercises are re-written with Atkinson himself role-playing a range of characters in the accompanying illustrations.  In the two-part “Planning a trip” Uncle travels to Liverpool, “that big-ass place” which is linked to Barbados  through their respective statues of Lord Nelson, their Empire Theatres, British cars, and gay cyber-sex.

For the Liverpool installation Atkinson included school chairs, a work table and exercise books, encouraging viewers to complete the accompanying tasks to be posted on the wall.  Some viewers apparently familiar with the often gratuitous activity rooms at the end of exhibitions did not appear to decipher that these exercises – for example : “Describe the last time you got lucky.” - were not really intended for children.  Viewers however can still complete the lessons – and see this really great work online.

While Atkinson’s book is meticulously preserved behind glass, Bahamian artist Lavar Munro’s graphic fantasy, This Is My Account, is splattered across the opposing wall.  Munro, a young Bahamian artist who works primarily in illustration, was inspired by the graffiti he saw around Liverpool to work directly on the gallery itself.  Incorporating paper cutouts and ‘tagging’ the wall with blasts of spray paint, Munro creates a flowing fantasy of sexual confrontation, domination and mutilation that combines intricate art nouveau imagery with shot-gun blasts of dripping paint.  The delicacy of the drawing contrasts with the violence of the imagery, exposing the vulgarity that seeps out from beneath a veneer of propriety.

Lynn Parotti (Bahamas), as has been pointed out elsewhere, is the sole female artist in this exhibition (Bahamian Kendra Frorup was initially invited but was not able to participate).  Parotti constructs a tight maze of large paintings collectively titled The Space Between Want with two distinct and yet interdependent bodies of work.  Three oil on canvas paintings depict Bahamian scenes representing sex, worship and money, major themes that, for the artist “define who we are.”  In the centre of the space, two paintings on glass depict British ports -  the West India Docks at Canary Warf in London and the Seaforth Docks in Liverpool. Large cranes and surrounding commercial buildings are represented as inverted and ephemeral reflections in the surrounding water.  The various images – both in opposition to one another and interdependent - start to merge and repeat as they are seen through the two opaque glass paintings or reflected and distorted by the mirror that hangs between them.  The inconsistent and competing modes of representation reference the constructed and skewed nature of history, while the superimposed views reference the interdependence of these parallel experience, but the driving force at the centre of all of this is desire.

In addition to the potent photo-assemblage Serie Parole, previously exhibited in the ‘Kreyol Factory’ exhibition of 2009, David Damoison exhibits a new work, Two and a Half Weeks, compiled during the artist’s residency in Liverpool.  Damoison was particularly drawn to the harshness and the vulgarity of urban life in the social margins of this industrial city, but his representations of these experiences often present an unusual juxtaposition or a moment of acting out, and frequently in momentary fragments or abbreviations.  The arrangement of the images into a grid of horizontal and vertical rows creates an interesting formal complement to Ishi’s multi-panel black and white paintings; relationships between images create asymmetrical linkages suggesting continually shifting narratives of contemporary experience.

At the end of the “Three Moments” essay, Stuart Hall writes that “the art world itself, like everything else, has been obliged to become more ‘global’: though some parts of the globe remain, in this respect, radically more ‘global’ than others.” 

And this is my third digression…..

Alfredo Jaar who has two works in the Liverpool Biennial visited the ‘Caribbean Pavilion’ on the day it opened and told me quietly on his way out that he thought the work was ‘world class’. I agree.  Jaar is an artist who early in his career took a very deliberate position not to exhibit his work as a Latin American artist, not to be ‘ghettoized’ in that way.  What is little know is that Jaar lived for many years of his youth in Martinique and has recently identified that experience as playing a formative part in his mature ‘world view’. Half of the artists exhibiting in the ‘Caribbean Pavilion’ live primarily outside the Caribbean. This is for some a point of contention but the Caribbean has been recognized as the first globalized site.  And the dynamic and complex process of diaspora is seminal to an understanding of the Caribbean and what it means to be Caribbean.

Despite some organizational challenges, the ‘Caribbean Pavilion’ is a success.  The next challenge is to ensure the sustainability of this initiative generated from within the region- an initiative which is as much about creating new meaning as it is about creating history.  And claiming visibility in a globalized world.


Allison Thompson is an art historian based in Barbados and assisted with the organization of the ‘Caribbean Pavilion’.

2010

Since the early 1990s, there have been unparalleled changes in art policy, art infrastructure and art practice in Korea [in this document, the term ‘Korea’ refers only to South Korea, unless otherwise stated.] (Goh 2006, Lee 2006, Oh 2006, Kim, B.K. et al 2007, Youn 2007). In the years prior to 1989, exposure of Korean artists outside Korea was mostly limited to few international art festivals such as Sao Paolo Biennale, and exhibitions next to the Italian Pavilion during Venice Biennales. For the government intent on economic development and international recognition, these participations in international exhibitions were seen only as a means to increase national exposure. Thus, in many cases those participating in the international art exhibitions were chosen not by merit, but more on the pecking order, giving the artists an opportunity of rare foreign travel. Of course, there were exceptions to this, such as Paik Nam June and Kim Hwan Ki, but these were exceptional cases, especially in the light that foreign travel for Korean citizens was strictly controlled.

This however changed in early 1990s. The relative affluence made possible by economic development and the right of freedom of travel granted to citizens in 1989 allowed a large number Korean artists to go to other countries in the West for further education. It should be remembered that for many of these young artists who were being educated in a curriculum constrained by detached classical/modern art aesthetics/history/practice, the freedom of travel was like opening of a floodgate, giving the artists access to cutting-edge avant-garde art.

One other point to note is that prior to 1990s, most of the artists who were allowed to travel to foreign countries were limited by their ability to pay for tuition and living expenses, and this meant they were mostly limited to France and Germany where the tuition and living expenses were subsidised by the government, even for non-national students. However, improvement of economic circumstances meant that they could and did begin to study and work in UK and USA, and this was an important factor for allowing Korean artists in increasing and improving their scope and understanding of the contemporary art trend and discourses in the global art scene.

The event which provided a key turning point was the opening of touring version of Whitney Biennale at Korean National Contemporary Art Museum in 1993. It was Paik Name June who made this possible by organising the fundraising as well as acting as a facilitator with New York Whitney Biennale which made this tour possible. His vision was to bring cutting-edge contemporary art to Korea, giving the Korean public, as well as Korean art scene, an opportunity to view the art as it is happening in the global scene. This had an impact that can not be underestimated, galvanising the artists and government bodies alike to put further fundings and efforts to catch-up, as well as take part, in the global art scene.

The Korean government was willing to spend, as well as to invite foreign talents, to do this. Bonito Oliva, the artistic director of the 45th Venice Biennale, was invited to produce the 1993 Daejoen Expo Art Show, followed by the opening of the Korean Pavilion in the 46th Venice Biennale in 1995. In the same year, the 1st Gwangju Biennale opened. It should be noted that although there have been other Biennale/Triennale events in East Asia prior to this e.g..Tokyo & Osaka, Gwangu Biennale was the first event of its kind in that region in that it aimed to be an international mega-event for contemporary art . By 2007, there have been 7 editions of Gwangju Biennale, with average budget of approx USD 12 million. Another major event, PICAF (Pusan International Contemporary Art Fair) opened in 1998, which later changed its name to Busan Biennale and retrospectively renamed the past PICAF events. By 2007, there have been 5 editions of Busan Biennale.

The experimental nature of Gwangju and Busan Biennales had an important influence in the development of Korean contemporary art. Whilst events such as Tokyo Biennale (last edition in 1990) and Fukuoka Triennale(1990-2001, mainly focused on paintings, prints and sculpture) were organised for the benefits of artists of their own country, Gwangju (and later, Busan) Biennale began as a cutting-edge international contemporary art event. Past commissioners and curators include Rene Bloch, Harald Szeeman, Kerry Brougher, Charles Esher, Rosa Martinez and Hou Hanru. Through the invitation and participation of these star-curators, as well as other art professionals, international awareness of Korean contemporary art began to grow. Another important aspect is that through these events Korean contemporary art was able to escape from the West-centric Orientalist view, instead allowing the artists to tackle the social and political issues arising from changes and globalisation. Some of these works and issues may seem dated now, but it should be noted that presentations of these works in numerous international Biennales influenced many contemporary artists.

The first edition of Gwangju Biennale can arguably be said to be the first new large-scale contemporary art Biennale of the post-1989 era. With 1.6million attendees, this event holds the attendance record for a Biennale events in the 1990s (compare this with approx 0.9 million for 51st Venice Biennale held in 2005) In fact, it can be said to be the only contemporary art biennale event in East Asia until the late 1990s. With an average budget of over USD 12M and over 80 participating artists, it is also one of the largest such events in the world.

Biennales of contemporary art inevitably have cultural and geopolitical ambitions, seeking to be internationally or nationally significant, by putting forward particular and supposedly local(Hanru 2005). Gwangju Biennale is no exception. Its earlier editions had clear political and cultural objectives, if not clear directives and methods – that of appeasement and impartation of national and international cultural prestige to the city, as well as international prestige to the country. The founding of Gwangju Biennale was also to have a historical significance, having its first edition coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of Korea after independence from Japan in 1945.

However, it should be noted that this was first announced in November 1994, whilst the event was to open in Sep 1995 (Kim OJ 2001, p.208). Even when provided with a large budget, the preparation time was short, and from the beginning there were frictions between the civil servants and artists based in Gwangju. The artists belonging to the traditional academic movement suddenly felt that their works and their medium were being sidelined by the more contemporary art forms, and the young artists who were developing the progressive art scene in Gwangju went against the Biennale, saying that the event was going to be a dominated by ‘junk from the West’. Thus, from the beginning, there was a split between the progressive Gwangju cultural and artistic groups and the Biennale organisation committee.

Since the Gwangu democratization movement [this refers to a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea from May 18 to May 27, 1980. During this period, citizens rose up against Chun Doo-hwan’s military dictatorship and took control of the city. In the course of the uprising, citizens took up arms to defend themselves, but were ultimately crushed by the South Korean army.] in 1980, there have been annual events known as ‘May Road Art Fair’, when these artists got together and prepared art shows by the road commemorating this event. These road-side art fairs were well-supported and liked by the general populace of the city and can be said to have formed the basis of the high attendee figures for the first Gwangju Biennale. This group of artists, in protest against what they felt was the misled way of setting up the Gwangju Biennale, independently set up an alternative event which in English was named Anti-Gwangju Biennale, but in Korean was known as Gwangju unification Art Fair. This event opened at the same time as the Gwangju Biennale on September 1995. With a strong sense of national identity and support from the community and artists around the country, the Anti Gwangu Biennale was not without fault but received favourable reception from the media and the general populace. Thus, two large-scale art exhibitions opened in Gwangju at virtually the same time, one being government run and supported (87 artists, both national and international) and the which was spontaneously set up and run (250 artists). It is noteworthy that these two shows, which were almost anti-thesis of each other, provided an art spectacle to the visitors of Gwangju which could be seen as better than the sum of two parts.

The first edition of Gwangju Biennale, whose theme was ‘Beyond the Borders’, opened on 20th September 1995 for a period of 2 months under the artistic direction of Lee Yong Woo. Armed with the large budget and an army of civil servants, the event could be seen as a mixed success. It could be seen as a success just by the fact that it opened under such a tight time constraint. It also had an attendance of more than 1.6 million. However, it should be noted that most of the attendees were Korean – the percentage of international attendees was low. The attendance figure was bumped up by buses arriving from main cities carrying school children - in fact, it was no exaggeration to say that for many attendees, the reason for coming to the Biennale was not for the love or appreciation of art, but more of national pride that Korea now had their own large-scale international contemporary art fair.

The response from the visitors was mixed. Expecting comfortable, conventional and classical art, the audience was faced with unfamiliar avant-garde and experimental contemporary visual art in various forms of installation, and performances. They were confused, feeling cheated and lost. In fact, the gap between the audience ability to understand and appreciate art, and that of the presented art was so large that the 1st edition of Gwangju Biennale was accused of alienating the audience, and the organizing committee was accused of being elitist and pro-western, turning their back towards art-for-the-people (Kim OJ 2001, p.19).

The second Gwangju Biennale (1997) opened in the shadow of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. The change of the political climate meant that instead of being driven by civil servants, this edition of Biennale had to engage more directly with the ‘artists’ on the Korean art scene.[ Kim Young Sam, the first non-military President in more than 30 years, was elected in 1993. He strove to remove the authoritarian ‘army’ culture which was prevalent in the government and civil service.] Ironically, the director of the first Anti-Kwangju Biennale was chosen as the chief secretary for the 2nd Gwangju Biennale, and the Anti-Gwangju Biennale became part of the Gwangju Biennale. Thus, what was Anti- became Pro- Biennale, and the 2nd Gwangju Biennale became a more people-engaging, as well as striving to strike a right balance between international and national artists.[The theme of the 2nd Gwangju Biennale (1997) was ‘Unmapping the Earth’] Directed by Lee Young Chul, one of the highlights of the Biennale was the show entitled ‘Speed’, curated by Harald Szeeman. It is interesting to note that when Harald Szeem an directed the 48th (1999) and 49th (2001) Venice Biennale, he brought a larger representation of artists from Asia and Eastern Europe.

The founding of the Gwangju Biennale, with its large financial and manpower support from the government, naturally awakened a sense of envy, as well as the sense of being side-lined, especially in the regions where the international art exhibitions and art fairs were being organized and held with minimal support from the government. One such city was Busan, which lies approximately 280km east of Gwangju. Although geologically quite close, city of Busan, and the surrounding Kyung Sang-Do area was relatively more developed and affluent than Gwangju, and has held international art festivals for some time. Privately funded and organized by Busan Art Association, Busan Youth Biennale held its 7th edition open in July 1994. Presented works included video, installation, performance, with invited artists from countries such as France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Russia, Taiwan and USA. This art exhibition was thus aimed to be cutting edge, with a clear focus on experimental, education and youth.

The perceived success of Gwangju Biennale prompted the Busan Art Association to organize an international art exhibition which, if not equal in size, at least equal in prestige, discourse and impact in the international art scene. Three separate art festivals, i.e. Contemporary Art Exhibition, Sea Art Festival and Busan Sculpture Project were rolled into one, and resultant festival was renamed as PICAF i.e. Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival. The aim was to, along with expounding on the themes chosen for that particular festival, to include the city of Busan into the ongoing theme such that the city itself, in terms of its geo-political and geographical identity.

The first edition of PICAF opened in Nov 1998, its theme being 'Light on the New Millennium - Wind from Extreme Orient'. The ambition of the organising committee in making the PICAF to be of importance in academic discourse was evident by the inclusion of the organisation of Academic Seminars. The second edition of PICAF (2000) edition was more noteworthy as the Art Director Lee Young Chul was joined by Rosa Martinez [Then co-curator of Manifesta 1 (1996), Curator of 3rd Intl SITE Santa Fe Biennial (1999), curator of 4th EVA 2000 Biennial (Limerich, Ireland)], Hou Hanru [Curator of Shanghai Biennale 2000, Cities on the Move (1997)] and Tom Van Bleat, who joined the team as co-curators. In addition to the normal three exhibition shows, Contemporary Art Market and Academic Seminars were included in the mix. Although in the fringe (and still considered to be in the fringe), the exhibition focused on artists under 40, and included lively Q&A sessions in seminars, giving rise to interesting discourses. It should be remembered that Hou Hanru’s article ‘Towards a New Locality’ which was reprinted in Yu(2002) and Vandelinden & Filipovic (2005), was originally presented and printed in the 2000 PICAF Seminar Catalogue. The total budget was approx USD 1.2M, of which USD 600K was provided by the City of Busan by public funding. The rest was provided by commercial support and other means. The total expenditure was 10% of Gwangju Biennale, showing the discrepancy between the financial support for Gwangju Biennale compare to that in Busan.

In 2002, PICAF was renamed as the 3rd Busan Biennale, with the former PICAF editions being renamed as Busan Biennale retrospectively. Removing the academic seminar and art market of the show and focusing more on the presentation of contemporary show, each exhibition had an indigenous director, with invited commissioners from who would provide knowledge and support for selecting artists. [Contemporary Art Exhibition : Artistic Director was Kim Airyung, Commissioners: Kim Levin (USA), Catherine Francblin (France) & Akira Tatehata(Japan). Sea Art Festival: Artistic Director was Kim, Kwang-Woo, Commissoner: Yeon In-Mo (Korea), Busan Sculpture Project (Artistic Director Song, Keun Bae), Commissoner: Heinz Hermann Jurczek] The Busan Biennale still hung on to the tradition of focusing on young artists, with Contemporary Art Exhibition presenting works by artists who were mostly under 40. However, this unwritten rule was being relaxed on the Sea exhibition and Busan Sculpture project.

Another noteworthy event in Korea is the Seoul Media Art Biennale. Originally planned as annual event and named Media City Seoul, the event was founded in 2000, with special focus on media art through various channels such as mobile phones and large outdoor screens. Making use of the diverse media portals available in the city of Seoul, this event, whose 5th edition opened to the public in Sep 2008, introduced various international media to the general public. Seoul Media Art Biennale is very much international in flavour in that whilst the main creative director is Korea, curators were all foreign.

There are other Biennale events in Korea such as Taegu Photo Biennale and Eechun Ceramic Biennale, and there are other large scale events which are currently in the planning stage. However, this is more of a result of cultural development policy since the de-centralization of the Capital management policy launched. Also it provided substantial funding to allow an almost carte-blanche development of regional culture scene. This policy, which is now more than ten years old, is in a need of urgent revision, as the mission statements or visions which may have been applicable ten years ago is certainly not applicable now.

The current administration is in fact in the process of reviewing the art policy and the art support infrastructure, with focus on removing the reliance of civil service and more on art professionals in terms of running these events, as well attempting to impose a more of a long term view. It is also interesting to note that the funding for these art events is to remain the similar amount as before, but the process and directions by which the funding would be awarded is expected to change drastically, although the details are currently not known.

Although provided with strong government and public support, Gwangju, Busan and Seoul Biennales had mixed successes over the years. These events are now established as major contemporary art events in East Asia, attracting attracts international attention, but there have been criticisms that these events, especially the Gwangju Biennale, absorbed disproportionately large percentage of the cultural fund of Korea, without discernible impact of Korean contemporary art in the world art scene. Also, some critics (Lee YW 2006, Morgan 2006) have stated that this event-based art exhibitions have negative aspects in the development of the contemporary art scene in Korea, as the art infrastructure and art scene were working in the year of work – year of no work cycle, with pressure to come up with new ideas every other year. Also, there have been criticism that this event-based structure, where the people involved in them were replaced by events, the lessons learnt were not properly transferred to the next team, resulting in same organizational, operational errors being committed. Also, Gwangju Biennale’s position as the foremost periodic art fair in East Asia is coming into question as more and more Biennales are coming into forefront, especially those in China and Japan. We are entering a new period of biennales, where both Gwangju and Busan biennales have to re-discover and re-print their identities, both in national and international art scene.

The other important development in the Korean contemporary art scene which we cannot ignore is the development of alternative space. These could almost be said to be an anti-theses of Biennales, in that they run on shoe-string budget, with more focus on art-production (compared to art-showing by Biennales). They developed almost out of necessity, as Biennales and other large-scale events developed under the Regional Culture development policy siphoned off the majority of cultural budget, leaving a relatively small amount for local artists in institutions for use in art production and exhibitions. The average government funding for local artists or alternative space owners for purpose of art production or exhibition is about UDS 5000 per annum, and it would be up to the artists or alternative space directors to procure the remaining budget by whatever means possible. At the same time, it was the alternative spaces, and their director/ owners who provided the opportunities and impetus for young artists in terms of art production, discourse and exhibition. It is with little exaggeration that we can say that these alternative spaces were the art factories of Korea for the last ten years. Most noteworthy of these are Ssamzie (est. 1992, also provides residency for artists), LOOP (est. 1998 run by Suh Jin Suk, known for providing exhibition for artists who came back from international education as well setting up a media art archive), POOL (run by Park Chan Kyung, with more emphasis on political-socially orientated art) and Sarubia café space.

The activities of these large scale events and small-scale hotbeds, the Korean contemporary artists became aware of the context, as well as their place in the international art scene, and also provided the impetus for them to further activities in the last ten years.


Jiyoon Lee is an independent curator, writer and advisor specialising in contemporary arts.



REFERENCES
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45th Venice Biennale 1993. Venice, Italy
BELTING, H.(1994) Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image before the Era of Art, tr. Edmund Jephcott, University of Chicago Press, Chicago,USA.
CHOI, IB 2003. "Korean Diaspora in the Making: Its Current Status and Impact on the Korean Economy". In: Bergstein, CF and Choi, IB (eds). The Korean Diaspora in the World Economy. Institute of International Economics, pp.9-29
CHOI, JH. 2007 [Personal communication] 17th June 2007
GOH, CH 2006. "Changes in Korean Art Policies and Related Issues in 2005". In: 2006 Culture and Arts Yearbook. Seoul: Art Council of Korea. pp.125-130
HANRU H. 2005. "Towards a New Locality: Biennales and Global Art". In: Vandelinden and Filipovic (eds) The Manifesta Decade – Debates on Contemporary Art Exhibitions and Biennials in Post-Wall Europe, Roomade Press, p. 57
JEONG, HJ. 1999. "Japanese Art policy for colonised Korea". Korean Modern Art History, 7, pp 158 – 178, published by Association of Korean Modern Art History.
JOHAN, HJ.2005. "Living with Conflicting Subjectivities: Mother, Motherly Wife, and Sexy Woman in the Transition from Colonial-Modern to Postmodern Korea". In: Lee JY and Kyander P,(eds). Seoul: Until Now! City and Scene. Copenhagen: Charlottenborg Udstillingsbygning
KIM, BK, Ho, KY and Lee, NY. 2007. "Painting = Money! Who are the current blue chip artists?". Art in culture. pp. 96-105, May.
KIM, HH. 2003a. Feminity and Art. Seoul: Noonbit Press
KIM, HH. 2003b. Korean Art Scene and Contemporary Art. Seoul: Noonbit Press
KIM, JH and RYOO, HS (eds). 2006. Young Korean Artists 45: Interviews. Seoul: Da Vinci Gift Press
KIM, OJ. 2001. Biennale Report, SangJi, Gwangju, Korea
KIM, SY. 2006. "Circulation and auction of antiques during the Period of under the rule of Japanese Imperialism", Modern Art Research. pp. 151 – 172. published by National Contemporary Art Museum.
KIM, Y. 2005. Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea. New Jersey: Hollym International Corporation.
KIM, YN. 1998. Art of Twentieth Century Korea, YaeKyung Press, Seoul (Korean)
KYUNG, BH. 2007. [Personal Communication] 3 March Bae Hae Kyung, President of Christies in Korea (March 2007)
LEE, JW. 2006. Crazy Art Made in Korea, Galleon Press, Seoul, Korea
LEE, KB. 1984. A New History of Korea, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA LEE, SY 2006. "Current Trends in Art Exhibitions". In: 2006 Culture and Arts Yearbook. Seoul: Art Council of Korea. pp.131-137.
LEE, YJ. 2004. Image Critic: From Sesame leaf to artificial satellite, Noonbit, Seoul, Korea
LEE, YW. 2000. Baik Nam June, his art and life, YeulEum, Seoul
LEE, YW. 2006. "2006 Art Biennales in Asia". Wolgan Misool. (261) pp. 88-91
MARTINEZ, R 2000. "Biennials on the Fringe". In: 2000 PICAF - The Art Theory and Criticism Seminar, Oct 2000, Busan Busan: Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival Organising Committee, pp.23-25
MORGAN, R. 2006. "Advancing/Retreating Two Biennales". Wolgan Misool (261) pp. 92-93
OH, KS. 1998. Critical Art History of Korean Contemporary Art, Mijin Press, Seoul
OH, SK. 2006. "Korean Art History of – 1977 to 2006". In: 2006 Culture and Arts Yearbook. Seoul: Art Council of Korea. pp.177-188
VANDELINDEN, B. and FILIPOVIC, E(ed) 2005. The Manifesta Decade – Debates on Contemporary Art Exhibitions and Biennials in Post-Wall Europe’, Roomade Press
YANG, A 1998. Why Asia? – Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art. New York: New York University Press
YOUN, JI "2007. Korean International Art Fair and Korean Art Market". Art in culture. pp. 106-115, May

5 August - 7 August 2011
Yokohama, Japan

ICF responds to the theme of Our Magic Hour through the frame of the ephemeral and the temporary, inviting curators, artists and audiences at Yokohama 2011 to consider the ways in which performance disturbs and activates a sensibility in which art objects become unstable and volatile subjects.
From Gutai through Fluxus, to contemporary artists such as, Sachiko Abe and Tatsumi Orimoto Japan is a crucible of innovative and challenging performance and media art. In the context of the thematic strategy of the Yokohama Triennale we will explore the legacy and future of performance internationally.
The symposium will be staged in three acts followed by Q+A for the audiences.
The two pop up workshops will last two hours.

Programme

Friday, 5 August 2011
9.30-11.30

The future is disturbed
This workshop will address the ways in which artists and curators conceive of the relationship between the artwork and its mediation and how curators working with museums can expand exhibitions beyond the gallery and traditional taxonomies of order.
Keiichi Miyagawa (Director Gallery Soap): What is a medium or Futures for Art Museums?
Meiro Koizumi (Artist) will discuss the animation of the uncanny in his performances.
Nicola Hood (Director Spacex Gallery): What is the future of performance in the museum?
Yelena Gluzman (Director Science Project): Performance Problem Presents. What is the context of performance in Japan?
Moderator: Mark Waugh.

Saturday, 6 August 2011
Yokohama Museum, 13.30-17.30

The legacy of Performance: Culture, counter culture, from elites to everyone
Tatsumi Orimoto (Artist), Masafumi Fukagawa (Curator Kawasaki City Museum): Moderator Mark Waugh.

How to add one metre to an unknown Mountain or how to perform within a physical and political landscape?
Adelaide Bannerman (Curator), Ben Ponton (Director Amino) and Blanca de la Torre (Senior Curator Artium).

Translated Acts or the impact of curators on the geography of art.
Paul Domela (Director of Programmes, Liverpool Biennial), David A Baily (Director, ICF), Sally Lai (Director, Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester).

Sunday, 7 August 2011
10.00-12.00

Curators have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.
This workshop will explore the role of the curator as a catalyst for infrastructure transformation and how to implement cultural change.
Tom Trevor (Director, Arnolfini, Bristol): Can artworks survive the gallery?
Anthony Gross (Director, The Old Police Station): Is a DIY vision sustainable?
Sook Kyung Lee (Curator, Tate Liverpool): Why do we collect the ephemeral?
Moderator: Mark Waugh.

24 February - 1 March 2011
Bridgetown, Barbados / Fort-de-France, Martinique

A major Caribbean symposium that links the past with the present and will present a series of historical works as well as existing contemporary works based on the legacies of two major 20th century figures:
the Trinidadian writer and intellectual C.L.R. James and the Martinique poet and intellectual Aime Cesaire.

In his seminal book The Black Jacobins (1938), C.L.R. James (1901-1989) examines the Haitian (Sainte-Domingue) Revolution of 1791-1803. He analyses revolutionary potential and progress according to economic and class distinctions, rather than racial distinctions. The book is also focused on Toussaint L’ Ouverture as the revolutionary spearhead and organizational leader. Thus, The Black Jacobins discusses Caribbean revolt within the context of colonial slavery and furthermore establishes the first black diasporic anti colonial figure hero.
Aime Cesaire (1913–2008) formulated – together with Leopold Senghor and Leon Gontian Damas – the concept and movement of Negritude, the “affirmation that one is black and proud of it”. Cesaire’s thoughts about restoring the cultural identity of black Africans were first fully expressed in Cahier d’un retour au pays natal (Return To My Native Land, 1939), a mixture of poetry and poetic prose that celebrates the ancestral homelands of Africa and the Caribbean. Negritude has been seen as a major intellectual force that has influenced countless liberational leaders to artistic movements from the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Power Movements.

This symposium is not about re-appraising these two Caribbean lives but about the re-examining their ideas within a visual art performative 21st century Caribbean diaspora context. Both these writers were using their art (in the form of the discourse of literature) as a political weapon. Today, Black Jacobins: Negritude In A Post Global 21st Century refers to the historical movement of diaspora artists from the past to the present rising above the singular narrative or notion of ‘Caribbean art’ to produce works that have a unique signature in style and content. The symposium has two major strands: Historical Iconographies (Barbados) and Contemporary Dialogues (Martinique)

Historical Iconographies explores the period spanning World War II, the movement for Federation within the West Indies, and the move towards Independence as a period of evolving ideologies of self-definition and determination. The work and ideas of both C.L.R. James and Aime Cesaire are evident in or parallel those of several artists (their contemporaries) within the Caribbean and from the diaspora. Perhaps most direct is the meeting and collaboration in 1941 between Cesaire and Cuban artist Wifredo Lam. Cesaire’s exploration and affirmation of Afro-Caribbean culture, which influenced and paralleled Lam’s own, reinforced and expanded his visual-poetic expressions of Afro-Caribbean culture and identity. This occurred in the context of fertile collaboration with surrealists Andre Breton, and Andre Masson; and their encounter with Hector Hyppolite in Haiti. Pioneering art movements led by artists such as Karl Broodhagen (Guyana, Barbados), Edna Manley (UK, Jamaica), and Carlos Enriquez and Amelia Pelaez (both from Cuba) combine art deco and African imagery to project a newly emerging aesthetic that could speak to national and regional identity. Outside of the region, the innovative performer and choreographer Katherine Dunham introduced ideas of negritude into black modern dance during the 1940s after visiting the Caribbean with Zora Neale Hurston. Jacob Lawrence in 1938 produced a series of 41 paintings entitled Toussaint L’Ouverture. And the image of the black angel as performed by Feral Benga in Jean Cocteau’s film Blood Of A Poet (1930) embraced the iconic moving image work with surrealist ideas (which was at the heart of negritude).

Contemporary Dialogues explores existing moving image and other art works that emerged following the achievement of political independence within much of the West Indies, the revolution in Cuba and the attendant waves of migration north. The 1980s short documentary interview between the Jamaican intellectual Stuart Hall and C.L.R. James, the moving image works by Haitian film director Raul Peck (Man Of The Shore) and by Martinique artist Euzhan Palcy established the centrality of James and Cesaire for successive creators in the region and wider diaspora. Edouard Duval Carrie (Haiti), Jose Bedia (Cuba), Tony Capellan (Dominican Republic), Nick Whittle (UK, Barbados) and Stanley Greaves (Guyana) explore themes of politics, migration and transculturation that convey the challenges and the insights that displacement and exile bring. The place of popular artists such as Amos Ferguson (Bahamas), Francis Griffith (Barbados), Everald Brown and Leonard Daley (Jamaica), and Philip Moore (Guyana) within the evolving national identity also needs greater articulation and contextualizing. Other artists in this context include Lubania Himid, Marc Latime, Isaac Julien and Martina Attille, Joscelyn Gardner, Sonia Boyce, Steve McQueen, Alfredo Jaar, Peter Doig and Luc Tuymans.

The conference is organised by:
David A. Bailey: artist, curator and exhibition organiser; Director, International Curators Forum – London / Bahamas
Dominique Brebion: Advisor for Visual Arts, Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles – Martinique
Allisandra Cummins: Director, Barbados Museum and Historical Society, President, National Art Gallery Committee, Barbados
Alain Hauss: Regional Director of Cultural Affairs, Martinique
Allison Thompson: Director, Department of Fine Arts, Barbados Community College; Member, National Art Gallery Committee, Barbados


Programme

Thursday, 24 February 2011
Barbados: Savannah Hotel, Bridgetown
Participants arrive / Registration
7.30: Welcome reception – Introduction by David A. Bailey
8.00: Film Screening: CLR James in conversation with Stuart Hall (1984) by Mike Dibb

Friday, 25 February 2011
Barbados: Savannah Hotel, Bridgetown
8.30–9.30: Registration
9.30–9.45: Madam of Ceremonies: Alissandra Cummins
9.45–10.15: Welcome address by the Minister of Culture: The Hon Steven Blackett
10.15–11:00: Introduction / overview: David A. Bailey
11.00–12.00: Response / panel discussion: Yona Backer, Imruh Bakari, Valerie John, Keith Piper, Andrea Wells
12.00–2.00: Lunch
2.00–4.00: Workshop 1: Euzhan Palcy’s Film Practice – discussion led by Imruh Bakari / Moderator: Suzy Landau
7.30: Film Screening: Aime Cesaire (part 2) (1994) by Euzhan Palcy / Introduction: David A. Bailey

Saturday, 26 February 2011
Barbados: Savannah Hotel, Bridgetown
9.00–12.00: Workshop 2: Mike Dibb – The Art Documentary / Moderator: David A. Bailey
12.00–2.00: Lunch
2.00–4.00: Workshop 3: The Diasporic Black Moving Cube: Yona Backer, Christian Bertin, Valerie John, Suzy Landau, Annette Nias, Keith Piper, / Moderators: David A. Bailey, Allison Thompson
7.30: Film Screening: Muxima (2006) by Alfredo Jaar

Sunday, 27 February 2011
5:00 Flight to Martinique

Monday, 28 February 2011
Martinique: Salle Frantz Fanon - Atrium, Fort-de-France
8.30–9.30: Registration
9.30: Opening remarks
10.00–12.30: Richard J. Powell: The Legacy of CLR James and Aime Cesaire / Moderators: Keith Piper and David A. Bailey
12.30–2.00 Lunch
2.00–4.30: John Franklin: The Legacy of Aime Cesaire / Suzy Landau: Colour Of Words / Moderators: Alissandra Cummins and Dominique Brebion
7.30: Film Screening: Zétwal by Gilles Elie-Dit-Cosaque / Introduction: Dominique Brebion

Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Martinique: Salle Frantz Fanon - Atrium, Fort-de-France
9.30–12.00: Curating in the Caribbean: Dominique Brebion: Think global and act local / Veerle Poupeye and O’Neil Lawrence: New curatorship in Jamaica / Claire Tancons: Curating Carnival / Barbara Prezeau: Haïti au 21eme siècle : l’art des mutants / Jennifer Smit: Curating in Curacao: The Challenges
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch
1.30–4.00: Curating in the Caribbean (Part 2): Haydee Venegas: Paradigms on Latin American and Caribbean art / Sara Herman: Unconscious Curatorships / Winston Kellman: The invisibility of the visual arts in the Barbadian conciousness / Krista A. Thompson: How to Install Art as a Caribbeanist? / Moderator: Allison Thompson
4.00: Vote of thanks: Alfred Alexandre
7.30: Closing Reception

Friday, December 10, 5 p.m.:
Book Launch @ Printed Matter, 195 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10111.
Saturday, December 11, 5 p.m.:
Discussion @ e-flux Space, 41 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002.

In recent years there has been increased debate about the incorporation of pedagogy into art and curatorial practice – about what has been termed 'the educational turn'. In this follow up volume to the critically acclaimed Curating Subjects, artists, curators, critics and academics respond to this widely recognised sense of art's paradigmatic re-orientation towards the educational. Consisting primarily of newly commissioned texts, from interviews and position statements to performative texts and dialogues, Curating and the Educational Turn also includes a small number of previously published writings that have proved pivotal in the debate so far. This anthology presents an essential enquiry for anyone interested in the cultural politics of production at the intersections of art, curating, and educational praxis.
On the occasion of the launch for Curating and the Educational Turn, please join Printed Matter and the author for a signing and celebration on December 10th. The book can be purchased in store or online. The launch is free and open to the public. Printed Matter is located at 195 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10111.
Join us at e-flux on December 11th for the discussion You Talkin' to me? Why are artists and curators turning to Education? Organized to coincide with the US launch of Curating and the Educational Turn in association with e-flux, International Curators Forum (ICF), Open Editions, GradCam and Printed Matter. Followed by a drinks reception.
Speakers will include Ute Meta Bauer, Dave Beech, Liam Gillick, Paul O'Neill and Mick Wilson.

18 September - 23 November 2010
CUC, Liverpool

“How are we to write the histories of non-western societies in relation to modernity? Modernity is, as we know, an extremely slippery signifier, and appears here with as many quote marks as I can muster: and ‘the modern’ in its many derivatives – early modern, late modern, post-modern, modernity, modernism – has long been effectively appropriated to the story of the west, monopolizing for western civilization the privilege of living to the full the potentialities of the present ‘from the inside’. It is therefore difficult to imagine this story in any way other than as a binary polarity: modernity and its ‘others’. Only two narrative alternatives then seem possible. Either the story is told from within the perspective of modernity itself: in which case it is difficult to prevent it becoming a triumphalist narrative in which the ‘others’ are permanently marginalized. Or one reorients the story within its margins, seeking by this move to reverse and disrupt the normalised order of things by bringing into visibility all that cannot be seen from, or is structurally obscured by, the usual vantage point.”
Modernity and Its Others: Three ‘Moments’ In The Post-war History of the Black Diaspora Arts by Stuart Hall.

In his groundbreaking essay Stuart Hall re-visits modernity through three historical art movements from the perspective of the Diaspora. It is our intention to use this discourse as the theme of Three Moments, the Caribbean pavilion at the Liverpool Biennial, where these moments are symbolised by the three Caribbean islands states: the Bahamas, Martinique and Barbados.The featured artists – Ewan Atkinson, Ras Ishi Butcher and Ras Akyem-i Ramsey from Barbados, Christian Bertin and David Damoison from Martinique and John Beadle, Blue Curry, Lavar Munroe, Lynn Parotti and Heino Schmid from the Bahamas – were selected on their ability to make work that responds to contemporary and historical global themes. For the fi rst time artists from the Caribbean region are collectively making new work that responds to the city of Liverpool while maintaining a distinctive stance on what Stuart Hall might call a 21st-century Caribbean modernist aesthetic. Three Moments is selected and curated by Dominique Brebion (Martinique), Alissandra Cummins (Barbados), Holly Parotti (Bahamas) and Allison Thompson (Barbados) in collaboration with the ICF.

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14 - 15 May 2010
Sydney

ICF is a Public Program Partner of the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Opening Week Forum. Framed within a lens that acknowledges and consults the field of Comparative Aesthetics, the Forum will bring together a cross-disciplinary community of practitioners and theorists to critically consider within panel discussions, roundtable events and presentations the external forces and hierarchies that affect and structure our perceptions of art.

ICF representatives in these debates include: David A. Bailey, Amareswar Galla, Leah Gordon, Teka Selman and Allison Thompson.

David A. Bailey MBE is the founding Director of the International Curators Forum and Acting Director of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. Bailey has established an international reputation, commitment and investment in a variety of issues on the themes of history, race and representation over the past twenty years. Past exhibitions and projects include: The Critical Decade: Black British Photography, MIRAGE: Enigmas, On Race, Difference & Desire, Rhapsodies In Black: Art From the Harlem Renaissance, Back To Black, Shades Of Black, Veil, Remember Saro-Wiwa: The Living Memorial, Black Moving Cube, and in development The Red Shoes.
Allison Thompson is currently director of the Division of Visual and Performing Art, and coordinator for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Programme in Studio Art at the Barbados Community College where she has been teaching art history and critical theory since 1986. Thompson has written numerous articles and catalogue essays on Caribbean art and is the co-author, along with Alissandra Cummins and Nick Whittle, of the book, Art in Barbados: What kind of mirror image. Current research projects include contributions to books on Agostino Brunias, Popular Art in the Caribbean, and the work of Barbadian artist Ras Ishi Butcher.
Leah Gordon works as a photographer, filmmaker and curator. She visited Haiti for the first time in 1991, and continues to have a personal and professional relationship with the country. In 2006 she commissioned the Grand Rue Sculptors from Haiti to make 'Freedom Sculpture', a permanent exhibit for the International Museum of Slavery in Liverpool. Continuing her relationship with the Grand Rue artists, Gordon organized and co-curated the Ghetto Biennale in December 2009. She has also been involved in a range of projects as both creator and curator, including documenting experiences of homophobia in London, crossing-dressing in Vodou, links between the Slave Trade and the Thames and exhibitions of Haitian art. Her book 'Kanaval: Vodou, Politics and Revolution on the Streets of Haiti' will be published in June 2010.
Amareswar Galla is the first Professor of Museum Studies in Australia at the University of Queensland. Galla has provided professional leadership and support for the concept design and building of several inclusive museums and arts centres across the world. A champion of cultural democracy and indigenous cultural rights, Galla has addressed community, academic and professional conferences in over 50 countries during the past two decades. Currently he spends half the year building community grounded projects with the help of his graduate students in countries with low economic indicators. A long standing Board Member of Museum International, he is also the Editor-in-Chief of four leading knowledge platforms on Sustainable Heritage Development: Inclusive Museum (www.onmuseums.com); Intangible Heritage (www.ijih.org); Four Pillars of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability (www.sustainability.com); and Climate Change (www.on-climate.com).
Teka Selman is Exhibition and Program Coordinator, DocXArts at Duke University, an interdisciplinary MFA program incorporating film, video, documentary and experimental artistic practices. She was previously Partner at Branch Gallery, an art space that received national attention for its focus on the work of emerging artists. Prior to relocating to Durham, North Carolina, she was Director at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York City. Her writing on artists such as Mark Bradford, Coco Fusco and Kara Walker has been featured in publications including The Black Moving Cube (The Green Box Kunstedition, 2006), Freestyle (Studio Museum in Harlem, 2001), and OneWorld Magazine. She is a 2010 Fellow of the International Curators Forum.

9 - 12 June 2010
Berlin

“Do you believe in reality? What a question, you’ll reply. Reality isn’t something you believe in. It proverbially catches up with you anyway – always. But then what are we talking about here? Maybe we could talk about the fact that you so often hear people saying something was different ‘in reality’? Or about why it has become so customary to add a ‘really‘ or an ‘actually’ or an ‘in fact’ to so many of the things we say? Let’s talk about the cracks in reality, about the gap between the world we talk about and the world that’s really there. But why this distinction? Because reality is always the other? Or the others? Everything that’s waiting out there?
Let’s talk about the self-deceptions where reality becomes too painful. Let’s talk about the fictional arsenal of the mass media and consumerism, about the rhetoric of distraction and appeasement. Won’t that ultimately lead us to question contemporary art, and its relationship to reality?” – BB6

On the occasion of BB6, the International Curators Forum will mediate a group response to the Biennale’s open question in the form of selected studio visits and presentations with Haegue Yang, Nasan Tur, Libia Castro and Olafur Olafsson, Thomas Kilpper, Ming Wong, Omer Fast, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Mayaan Amir and Ruti Sela. Thinking and moving around this question of what constitutes ‘reality’, each encounter will approach and consider the core question in relation to individual research and practice informed by the conditions of trans-nationality, migration, autonomy and community.

5 Bursaries to attend are available ... (BURSARIES)

31 March 2010, 8pm-10pm
Amsterdam

Faculty of Arts - VU University Amsterdam, Auditorium 12A00 (12th floor, main building) De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands (website »)

Discussion:
'You Talkin' to me? Why are artists and curators turning to Education?' has been organised in association with de Appel and VU University Amsterdam. Speakers will include: Mélanie Bouteloup, Binna Choi, Sonia Dermience, Annie Fletcher, Wouter Davidts, Hassan Khan, Paul O' Neill, Edgar Schmitz, Mick Wilson and others. Followed by a drinks reception.

2 Bursaries to attend are available ... (BURSARIES)

Publication:
Curating and the Educational Turn by Paul O’Neill & Mick Wilson, eds.
(Amsterdam and London, de Appel and Open Editions)
This collection of texts will unravel the notable turn to pedagogical models across a range of recent contemporary curatorial projects, art practices and artwriting as evidenced in a range of projects in recent years: ‘Pedagogy’ adopted as one of the three leitmotifs of documenta12 in 2007; the unrealized Manifesta 6 experimental art school as exhibitionary construct for Nicosia and the associated volume ‘Notes for an Artschool’; unitednationsplaza; ‘proto-academy’; Cork Caucus; Future Academy; para-education; Free Copenhagen University; A-C-A-D-E-M-Y; Mark Dion’s School; Tanya Bruguera’s Arte de Conducta in Havana; ArtSchool Palestine; School of Missing Studies, Belgrade; and many other examples. Instances of curatorial models and art practice conceived as critical cultural pedagogies (often construed as speculative – ‘open’ – emancipatory projects) are widely in evidence across the international scene. These developments are consistent with a turn to discursive models within curatorial practice, especially noticeable since the mid-nineteen-nineties. ‘Curating, and the Educational Turn’ is an anthology, which seeks to critically describe, locate, reflect upon, and think through this turn to pedagogical models and practices. Each contributor was invited to write a text on some aspect of the ‘pedagogical’ or ‘educational turn’ in recent curatorial and art practice and related critical cultural practices.
Contributors include: 16 Beaver Group, Peio Aguirre, Dave Beech, David Blamey & Alex Coles, Daniel Buren & Wouter Davidts, Cornford & CrossCharles Esche, Annie Fletcher & Sarah Pierce, Liam Gillick, Janna Graham, Tom Holert, William Kaizen, Hassan Khan, Annette Krauss, Emily Pethick & Marina Vishmidt, Stewart Martin, Ute Meta Bauer, Marion von Osten & Eva Egermann, Andrea Phillips, Raqs Media Collective, Irit Rogoff, Edgar Schmitz, Simon Sheikh, Sally Tallant, Jan Verwoert, Anton Vidokle, Tirdad Zolghadr.

28 November - 3 December 2009
Bridgetown, Barbados

The three symposia for the conference are formed around the themes of "Breaking the Silence", "Reconstructing/Deconstructing Identity: Place and Memory" and "Generational Shifts Within The Caribbean Diaspora". Caribbean Curatorship and National Identity is an examination of how history is interpreted and heritage is shaped by communal memory for audiences, old and new, local and foreign. The topic allows for a broad array of issues to be examined in intensive consultation through a regional symposium and master classes to be developed in conjunction with the Museums Association of the Caribbean (MAC), the National Art Gallery Committee (NAGC), the International Curators Forum (ICF) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) (website »)

Speakers include: Peggy McGeary, Florence Alexis, Lonnie Bunch, Kevin Farmer, Alissandra Cummins, Hans-Martin Hinz, W. Richard West, Jr., George Abungu, Amareswar Galla, Okwui Enwezor, John Akomfrah, Ewan Atkinson, Janice Cheddie, Therese Hadchity, Winston Kellman, Tumelo Mosaka, Keith Piper, Maureen Salmon, Julien Anfruns, Delia Barker, Asif Khan, Leslie Taylor, Graeme Evelyn, Christine Eyene, Tom Finkelpearl, Florence Alexis, David A Bailey, Adelaide Bannerman, Tumelo Mosaka and Tom Trevor.

12 September 2009, 2.30 - 5.00 pm
Akbank Culture and Arts Centre
Istiklal Caddesi 14-18, 34435 Beyoglu, Istanbul

In the opening week of the 11th Istanbul Biennial, ICF continues its collaboration with international curators through a symposium, as part of its AFTER IMAGE season, using the Biennial's theme, What keeps Mankind Alive, as a contextual reference and starting point. This was inspired by A journey without return, a book of poems by the celebrated Turkish writer and political figure Nazim Hikmet, using the poems' themes of migration to look at the influence of Turkish migration on contemporary art. It explores the 'Gastarbeiter' programme and its effect in the UK, Germany and Turkey, through which Turkish workers were invited by Western European countries based on their need for economic development. This process has given birth to complex, hybrid family structures as well as blurring the concepts of identity and nationality. It has redefined lifestyles, tastes and social relationships. In What keeps Mankind Alive the artists, many of whom are migrants themselves, highlight the personal experience, the realities and connections between migrant communities and places.

In a discussion hosted by Akbank Culture and Arts Centre, curators and artists of the exhibition - Adam Chodzko, Alice Sharp, Peter Cross, Denizhan Ozer and Zineb Sedira – will be in discussion with David A Bailey.

The programme of ICF is supported by the Arts Council of England

Adam Chodzko has exhibited extensively in international solo and group exhibitions: Venice Biennale; Royal Academy, London; Deste Foundation, Athens; PS1, NY and was part of the British Council Group Show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade in 2007.
Alice Sharp is an Independent Curator based in London who recently worked on the Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, London.
Peter Cross is an Independent Curator, formerly at the Arts Council of England, and now based in Berlin.
Denizhan Ozer is the exhibition organiser and has exhibited extensively internationally including Busan Biennale, South Korea in 2003, Tirana Biennale, Albania in 2002 and Art Caucasus 2005, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Zineb Sedira has shown at the Venice Biennale (2001), Tate Britain, London (2002), the first ICP Triennial in NY (2003) "Africa Remix" at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, Hayward Gallery, London and the British Art Show 6.
David A Bailey is a founding member of the ICF which is a London based open conceptual network that meets to discuss emerging issues of curatorial practice in the context of key events in the international arts calendar. It offers bursaries and professional development opportunities to curators and works in partnership with key national and international bodies.

6 June 2009, 11 am-2 pm British Pavilion

AFTER IMAGE

This is the ICF's inaugural dialogue in a series of events addressing platforms of production and exhibition of the moving image, that is to be continued at the Istanbul Biennial in September and during London Film Festival in October of 2009.

In celebration of the work of Steve McQueen the symposium will ask a distinguished panel to reflect on the ways in which the contemporary moving image has become radicalised as a medium of democratic artistic enquiry.

Steve McQueen will present a work in the British Pavilion which has already generated considerable international expectation. Will his exhibition reflect the desire of the Director of the 53rd International Art Exhibition, Daniel Birnbaum, to explore through Making Worlds, the production of 'vision' or the projection of a world seen and modeled through the work of art?

In particular we are interested in discussing how artists have engaged with the mainstream processes of production in cinema whilst retaining their aesthetic and political edge. Does this dialogue between cinema, gallery and digital platforms challenge the curator to find new ways to make the staging of vision memorable. The focus of the discussion will be Steve McQueen and his work in the gallery and cinema.

With John Akomfrah, Daniel Birnbaum, Clive Gillman, Teka Selman, Allison Thompson and Mark Waugh.

Supported by the British Council, Arts Council England and engage, the National Association for Gallery Education.

22 January - 23 January 2009

CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Symposium exploring the theme of translation in the context of the Middle East, Part One. This will be the ICF's most ambitious project and it will take place at three sites: Tate Modern and Tate Britain in London and we are in discussion about making our third site the opening of the Sharjah Biennial.

The main partner of this project is Tate National. In this symposium, we want to explore how the Middle East is defined? How does the interpretation of modern and contemporary art from the Middle East and its diaspora effect its understanding at home and abroad? How have ideas about tradition and modernity emerged in art practice? What will be the impact of new and emerging spaces for seeing and exhibiting modern and contemporary art in different parts of the Middle East? This two-day symposium brings together artists, curators and writers to discuss recent developments in contemporary art from the Middle East and its diaspora.

Tate National reflects the growing importance of the ways in which Tate relates to other organisations in the UK and abroad. It includes sections on the Tate Partnership Scheme launched in early 2000, with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund; Visual Dialogues, funded by the DCMS, which documents a project initiated and managed by Tate in partnership with a range of art galleries around England; and Tate International, which covers Tate Collection exhibitions and loan exhibitions made in partnership with other museums and galleries and National Collections, and which features the new arrangements for loans between national institutions.

This symposium is organised by Tate and the International Curators Forum and is part of the World Collections Programme in association with NAFAS online magazine. The World Collections Programme is a collaborative initiative between six UK organisations which aims to develop greater access to their collections and expertise by building partnerships with organisations in Asia and Africa.

13 February - 14 February 2009

BLACK DIASPORA VISUAL ART

This conference is part of a series a series of symposiums and exhibitions that explore visual art in the Black Diaspora.

It is a major collaboration with the National Art Gallery Committee in Barbados, AICA Southern Caribbean and the Arts Council of England.

The conference takes as its starting point Stuart Hall and the question he poses in his essay “Modernity and its Others: Three Moments in the Post – War History of the Black Diaspora Arts”. The essay offers an analysis of three ‘moments’ in the post-war black visual arts in the UK. The main contrast identified is between the ‘problem space’ of the artists–the last ‘colonials’–who came to London after World War II to join the modern avant-garde and who were anti-colonial, cosmopolitan and modernist in outlook, and that of the second generation–the first ‘post-colonials’–who were born in Britain, pioneered the Black Art Movement and the creative explosion of the 1980s, and who were anti-racist, culturally relativist and identity-driven. In the work of the former, abstraction predominated; the work of the latter was politically polemical and collage-based, subsequently embracing the figural and the more subjective strategy of ‘putting the self in the frame’. This generational shift is mapped here in relation to wider socio-political and cultural developments, including the growth of indigenous racism, the new social movements, especially anti-racist, feminist and identity politics, and the theoretical ‘revolutions’ associated with them. The contemporary moment–less politicized, and artistically neo- conceptual, multi-media and installation-based–is discussed more briefly.

The symposium will explore some of these themes in Hall's paper with particular reference to their applicability to the contemporary Caribbean context and the relationship of the contemporary moment to earlier developments. Questions include:
- Is there a Caribbean canon?
- Can we discuss a Caribbean aesthetic in the 21st century?
- What are the institutional models?
- How do we identify the different ways forward?

The Symposium takes place at the Frank Collymore Hall in Bridgetown in conjunction with a number of site-speciï¬c artists' projects.

The National Art Gallery Committee Barbados was established for the benefit of all. With a commitment to free admission, a central and accessible site, and extended opening hours, the gallery has ensured that its collection can be enjoyed by the widest public possible, and not become the exclusive preserve of the privileged. The committee continues to pursue a vigorous and socially inclusive outreach programme and caters for the needs of all groups in society.

16 March - 20 March 2009

CURATING IN THE MIDDLE EAST

In partnership with the Sharjar Biennial and Tate, the ICF will continue its exploration of the emerging positions on contemporary curatorial practice through a week-long series of workshops for emerging contemporary art curators from the Middle East region. The programme will bring together 7 curators from across the region, from the Maghreb, North Africa, the Gulf, Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan together with 6 curators from the UK to participate together in a programme of intensive workshops over a week in March 2009. 6 Bursary places are available!

The programme will take place in Sharjah and Dubai, timed to coincide with Art Dubai and the Sharjah Biennial between Monday 16 March and Friday 20 March 2009. In addition to the published programme of events surrounding the launch of Art Dubai and Sharjah Biennial, participants will take part in a programme of workshops taking place every day during that week.

The programme of workshops will focus on three key areas:
- Commissioning artists and artworks –the process of commissioning artists and artworks from concept to realisation.
- Building institutions – from building capital infrastructure to developing an organisation's intellectual capital.
- Dialogue and exchange – the relationships between institutions and audiences, between the private and the 'public' sectors and between the national and international.

The programme will be led by David A Bailey, Paul Domela, Axel Lapp, Gilane Tawadros and Mark Waugh with contributions from other international curators and arts professionals. Our group of Middle Eastern Curators is made possible with the support of the World Collections Fund.

20 September - 30 November 2008

The Liverpool Biennial is the UK's largest festival of contemporary visual art. Established in 1998, this year will see the fifth festival take place. Since its inception, this international exhibition has commissioned well over 100 new works, many for the streets and public spaces of Liverpool, by established contemporary artists from around the world.

European Biennial Network &
International Curators Forum

Saturday, 20 September 2008
A Foundation
67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY

For reservations telephone +44 151 709 7444
or email rosy@biennial.com

11.00 - 12.30 Between Biennials: Short-term effect or long-term results?
Is it appropriate on the opening day of Liverpool Biennial to look at the long-term results of biennials? Or is the primary role of biennials to provide a short-term injection into the bloodstream of art and city. Can they do both? Since the expansion and proliferation of biennials in the 1990s, can we now begin to detect accumulative benefits within their local arts ecologies? If so, why does criticism focus mainly upon the reception of authored curatorial strategies in an ever-expanding global art world?

This debate brings a number of European biennials together to focus the spotlight behind the scene and looks at different approaches of biennials to connect curatorial models with the cultural infrastructure in their cities. An expert panel of invited international curators, artists, commissioners and writers will represent those responsible for the organisation of the biennials. Chaired by Paul O'Neill, Research Fellow Situations, University of the West of England; with Kerstin Bergendal, artist, and author of Kunstplan Trekoner; Paul Domela, Programme Director Liverpool Biennial; Annie Fletcher, curator van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; Bige rer, Director Istanbul Biennial; Jack Persekian, Artistic Director Sharjah Biennial; Renate Wagner, Berlin Biennale; Augustine Zenakos, founder and co-director Athens Biennial; and others.

14.00 - 15.30 Raising the Curtain: a conversation in two parts
We all experience artworks at different velocities and much has been said about the need for artworks to engage us in both the spectacular flash of first impact and the slow retinal aftershocks of perception. This vertiginous moment is perhaps most precarious within the context of the international biennial when as the curtain rises the accumulation of ideas is exposed and the work becomes a spectacle in an international melee of artworks.
Hosted by David A. Bailey, Director of ICF and Senior Curator at Autograph, with contributions from Lina Dzuverovic, Curator of Nordic Biennial 2009, co-founder and Director of Electra; Cedar Lewisohn, Curator of Tate Modern Street Art and Tate Triennial; JJ Charlesworth, Reviews Editor Art Review; Axel Lapp, publisher and curator; Liyoon Lee, Director of SUUM and Curator of Fantasy Studio Project; Artists Anonymous.

24 September - 09 November 2008

By invitation of Okwui Enwezor, the curator of the 2008 Gwangju Biennale, and in partnership with SUMM, the ICF will be introduce the forum and reflect on models of knowledge development between private and public visual arts organisations. A salon event will be hosted by Kukje gallery. Gwangju Biennale's importance can be seen in several ways. It is one of the key international cultural institutions to emerge from Korea's unique modern, national and historical experience and is linked to the dynamism of Asia in the 21st century. The significance of using the bienniale as a model for historical reflection is further underscored by Korea's postcolonial status. At the same time, the Gwangju Biennale has evolved into one of the few pioneering international exhibitions to engage in the task of analysing the impact of globalisation on the field of contemporary art, and to challenge the older system of international exhibitions based on the outmoded system of national pavilions. In so doing, Gwangju Biennale has provided the space in which to explore the changing nature of international artistic networks, and to examine new modes of artistic subjectivity and conditions of contemporary cultural production that extend beyond national borders or focus on regional modes of identification.

03 October - 16 November 2008

Entitled Memory of Fire: the War of Images and Images of War, Brighton Photo Biennial 2008 will explore photographic images of war, their making, use and circulation, and their currency in contemporary society. The writer and critic Julian Stallabrass will curate ten exhibitions presenting photography, film and online material produced and circulated in time of war, and analyse how images have been shaped by the changing social and political conditions from the Vietnam era to the present. The exhibitions will include images produced by photojournalists, artists and non-professionals.

Salon with Jason Evans

Saturday, 4 October 2008, 14.00 - 15.30
Permanent Gallery
20 Bedford Place, Brighton BN1 2PT

Telephone +44 791 918 4417

Following the precedent set in Berlin, the ICF is engaging with an exciting independent gallery showing work during the biennial that explores the impact of a biennial on the development of programmes at a grass roots level. The ICF will lead a curatorial research trip to the Biennial and host a salon event featuring a conversation with Jason Evans, whose work on the urban dandy was featured in the first Brighton Photo Biennial. He will talk about the different experiences of a contributing artist and the notion of a curatorial framework, the role of the photograph as an index of the incidental and the use of archival images in contemporary exhibitions.

Brighton Photo Biennial 2008 Conference
MEMORY OF FIRE: the War of Images and Images of War

Saturday, 15 November 2008, 9.30-
Sallis Benney Theatre
University of Brighton
Grand Parade, Brighton BN2 0JY

further details: www.bpb.org.uk

Among the major themes are: what changes are brought about in the use and memory of images by their new ease of making and circulation. How do these images change when seen in so many rapidly changing and antithetical contexts? How are the same images used in different ways by, for example, pro- and anti-war activists? What are the new conventions of online image display, and how do these differ from the print media? Does the plethora of conflict images in the new media realm work against the emergence of highly memorable key images that seem to summarise an event (as famously pictures by Nick Ut, Eddie Adams and Philip Jones Griffiths did for Vietnam)? How have artists responded to the changed media landscape, particularly in placing large-format images of conflict on museum walls? Speakers include: Julian Stallabrass, Courtauld Institute of Art and BPB 2008 Guest Curator; Hilary Roberts, Head of Collections Management, Imperial War Museum, London; Eyal Weizman, architect, writer and curator; Simon Norfolk, artist; Broomberg and Chanarin, artists; Harriet Logan, artist; Sarah James, Humboldt Fellow, Berlin; Stefaan Decostere, multi-media and online producer CARGO, curator and artist; Tom Hickey, Course Leader for the Cultural and Critical Theory MA at University of Brighton; Mark Waugh, Executive Director A Foundation and Co-Founder ICF

Friday, 31 October 2008, 14.00 - 16.00
New Art Exchange
39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham NG7 6BE

This is a collaboration between the British Art Show (BAS) and The New Art Exchange Gallery in Nottingham. The BAS is a major survey exhibition organised every five years to showcase contemporary British art. Each time it is organised the show tours to three UK cities. The last exhibition in the series, referred to as BAS6, was touring a number of major cities in the UK in 2005 and 2006. BAS has become so large that it usually requires a number of venues to accommodate it. As a snapshot of contemporary British art the exhibition has some equivalence to the biennial exhibitions of the Whitney Museum of American Art. The exhibition is normally selected by three people who are appointed for their knowledge of contemporary art. Previously these have been artists and critics, but more recently they have been selected from curators.

The New Art Exchange in Hyson Green, Nottingham, is the UK's only gallery outside London dedicated to black and Asian artists. Housing public galleries, workshop spaces, rehearsal rooms and offices, as well as a café and shop, it is hoped the centre will become the UK's 'very best' for multicultural arts. The ICF has been invited to curate a discussion on the issues underpinning the evolution of the BAS. Like Documenta this will evolve over a five-year period, allowing for new configurations and diverse approaches to the challenge of presenting a national survey. What is strategically significant is that the exhibition tours to partner cities that raise the resources to host the exhibition. For BAS7 one of the host cities is Plymouth, which has not previously benefited from an exhibition of this scale, raising the question of how infrastructural challenges impact on the curatorial choices. These and an array of questions will aim to navigate a path through issues that have, perhaps, been left unanswered since the last exhibition.

Speakers include:
David A. Bailey, Jason Bowman, Claire Doherty, Alex Farquharson, Hew Locke (tbc), Roger Malbert, Sandy Nairne, Mark Nash (tbc), Andrea Schlieker