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- Pedagogies of Transitions | WCSCD
Pedagogies of Transition MARCH 2 I 2023 Join us for an online discussion series with Dr Frances C. Koya Vaka’uta, Larys Frogier, Elvira Espejo Ayca, Manuela Moscoso, Zena Cumpston and Vanessa Machado de Oliveira. The series is initiated by Biljana Ciric, Madeleine Collie and Susie Quillinan (Study Pattern Collective) and co-facilitated by: Deniz Kırkalı, Ka Yuet Lau and Iris Long and organised by Monash University and Goldsmiths, University of London . March to April 2023 For so long, we have been implicated in ongoing systemic and institutional crises. We understand these crises as political, economical, epistemological and ecological. As cultural workers we recognize a need to move towards structural change. In this series of gatherings we will share possibilities for epistemic shifts—some speculative, others involving very practical and concrete steps—towards undoing institutional working rituals. We share these conversations as a process of continuously composting knowledge that will contribute to our collective struggle. In these public moments we have invited people who have had an intimate impact on us and our way of thinking and doing, and in whose work we glimpse possibilities for breathing, imagining and instituting otherwise. We are a study group of three cultural workers, curators and artists—Biljana Ciric (What Could Should Curating Do), Madeleine Collie (initator of Food Art Research Network) and Susie Quillinan (Hawapi)—who are currently all undertaking a PhD in Curatorial Practice at Monash University, and who share an interest in imagining and practising different modes of instituting within the arts. Since 2021 our gatherings have been composed of invisible and visible encounters as a need to learn with each other, and also from peers in intersecting fields who share the same concerns. What are the ‘pedagogies of transition’ (Rolando Vazquez, 2021) towards different modes of instituting? For us, instituting is closely connected to the curatorial, which we understand as a gesture of caring with others that can collectively lead us to more sustainable working methodologies. I. Discussion Oceanic visions – 29 March Larys Frogier – Artist at Ocean & Wavz with Alfie Chua, researcher, advisory member and previous director of the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai. Dr Frances C. Koya Vaka’uta Team Leader, Culture for Development, Pacific Community (SPC) · UK (Goldsmiths) – 9am (BST) · Melbourne (MADA) – 7pm (AEDT) · Lima – 3am (PET) · Paris – 10am (CEST) · Fiji – 8pm (FJT) II. Discussion – Crianza Mutua12 April Elvira Espejo Ayca – director of the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in La Paz Manuela Moscoso – CARA Director, New York · La Paz -8.30am (BOT) · NYC – 8.30am (EDT) · UK (Goldsmiths) – 1.30pm (BST) · Melbourne (MADA) – 10.30pm (AEST) · Lima – 7.30am (PET) III. Discussion Metabolisms – 26 April Zena Cumpston – Curator Emu Sky and CoAuthor of Plants: Past Present and Future Vanessa Machado de Oliveira – Professor and author of Hospicing Modernity: Facing humanity’s wrongs and implications for social activism · Melbourne (MADA) – 10am (AEST) · UK (Goldsmiths) – 1am (BST) · Vancouver – 5pm (PDT 25 April) · Lima – 7pm (PET 25 April) Note that the first event is in Melbourne (AEDT) time and the second and third dates are in Melbourne (AEST) time. There is also an issue with EventBrite’s “save to calendar” function. Please ensure that you have noted the correct time of this event
- Borderlines | WCSCD
Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Borderlines July 2024 – ongoing Organized by WCSCD in collaboration with Sreda Obitaninya WCSCD is honored to announce a series of lectures, workshops and gatherings with and at Sreda Obitaninya, a cultural space established by two scientists from Saint Petersburg. This collaboration with Sreda Obitaninya is an extension of our educational program and alliances that welcome new communities that call Belgrade their home in recent years. According to Chicana feminist Gloria Anzaldúa, the term “borderlands” refers to both a physical and metaphorical space of crossing and intersection, particularly concerning cultural, social, and identity boundaries. In her seminal work, “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza”, Anzaldúa describes the borderlands as a space of hybridity and tension where different cultures, languages, and identities meet and interact. For Anzaldúa, the borderlands are not just geographic regions, but also psychological, social, and spiritual spaces where individuals navigate and negotiate their complex identities. This concept highlights the experiences of those who live on the margins or in between different worlds, emphasizing the fluidity and multiplicity of identity and the transformative potential of these in-between spaces. The borderlands represent a place of struggle but also a site of creativity and resistance, where new identities and ways of being can emerge. In the post-pandemic world, we have witnessed the migration of humans and more-than-humans due to climate change, wars, political and economic recessions, and tighter border controls of the European Union. In the past three years, the influx of Russian communities and those from economically struggling regions, engaging in precarious work in Belgrade, has become our everyday reality. Through collaboration with Sreda Obitaninya, we aspire to equip both locals and new neighbors with the tools needed to comprehend and navigate a place like Belgrade. This will allow us to situate ourselves within the city and facilitate the collective production and exchange of knowledge. The city of Belgrade, with its rich history of migration, has long played a pivotal role in fostering Global South alliances and navigating Cold War politics between the so-called Former East and Former West, while consistently remaining on the periphery of the European Union. However, its troubled history is marred by power struggles and political missteps, which have ignited deadly civil conflicts throughout the Yugoslav region. In the present day, as Belgrade undergoes gentrification and the commercialization of its public spaces, new waves of migration are once again transforming the city into a complex and multifaceted environment. Bringing different communities together is essential for fostering a harmonious and progressive society. When diverse groups interact, they become more familiar with each other's cultures, experiences and perspectives, which helps reduce stereotypes and prejudices. This engagement promotes mutual respect and understanding, leading to social cohesion. Using culture as a means of integrating different communities enriches the social fabric. Cultural exchange broadens the collective worldview and promotes global awareness, fostering a deeper appreciation for the richness of human diversity and helping to overcome the isolation of diaspora communities. The encounters in Sreda Obitaninya that will start from July will share marginal histories, silenced histories, from feminist and partial perspectives that will serve as a platform for exchange of ideas and dialogue through presentation and workshops. Format Every month we will be organizing lectures, workshops, and gatherings led by local artists, curators, and cultural workers that will be set around the extensive history of Belgrade that is relevant to understanding the current city's constantly changing environment and social fabric. Migrant communities have the potential to create a wide array of presentations through collective music listening, reading groups, food tastings, and workshops that share their culture, experiences, knowledge, and perspectives with diverse audiences. Storytelling sessions provide a platform to share folktales, personal stories, and historical narratives from their countries of origin, fostering understanding and empathy. Discussions with speakers from diverse backgrounds tackling topics such as cultural identity and migration policies. Cross-cultural workshops foster mutual understanding by allowing participants to share their backgrounds, beliefs, and customs interactively. Anti-discrimination sessions can raise awareness about challenges like racism and xenophobia, promoting inclusivity and respect. 1) July 4, 7 pm Part 1. Feminizing the City: A Workshop on Gender, Mapping, and Memory A workshop with Dunja Karanović Language: English Duration: 2 hours Admission fee: 900 RSD We invite you to take part in Feminizing the City: A Workshop on Gender, Mapping, and Memory, led by journalist and visual artist Dunja Karanović. This workshop will serve as a follow-up to our Walking as a Way of Knowing program, a series of artist-led walks organized in Belgrade from March to June 2024 by the educational platform WCSCD. Participants will have a chance to engage in a feminist reading of cultural policy and politics of remembrance in the city of Belgrade, investigating questions like who gets commemorated in public spaces, how women’s bodies, names, and actions show up in monuments, what’s missing and what we can learn from looking at margins. Street names, squares, and monuments often reflect a revisionist, one-sided historical narrative that celebrates violence and oppression – by looking into what gets sidelined and forgotten, we will attempt to co-create a more caring perspective, mapping out the contributions of feminist activists, scholars, artists, and community leaders. By engaging in collective reading, discussion, mapping, and collage, we will have an opportunity to learn about women who shaped the city’s history with their pioneering initiatives, personal histories, and artistic endeavors. 2) July 18, 7 pm Part 2. “Not in Our Name”: Women’s Anti-war Movement in the 1990’s A lecture by Dunja Karanović Language: English Duration: 2 hours Admission fee: 900 RSD A lecture and discussion continuing our exploration of feminist perspectives on Belgrade’s history. The 1990s conflicts in the ex-Yugoslav region prompted a re-traditionalization of gender roles and heightened nationalism, evident in contemporary cultural policies and public spaces. The lecture will delve into the historical and social backdrop of the 1990s Yugoslav wars, highlighting the critical role women played in opposing the conflict. It will cover the formation and actions of anti-war groups and their connections with the Yugoslav feminist traditions of the 1970s, focusing on prominent figures like Žarana Papić, Jelena Šantić, Borka Pavićević, the origins of Women in Black (Žene u crnom), Center for Anti-war Action, and other initiatives, their strategies, challenges, and legacy of bravery, resilience, and solidarity. Part of the lecture will also involve discussing how remembrance culture, archiving, and feminist heritage equip us for reading, recognizing, and resisting revisionism and media obfuscation in today’s increasingly polarized world. Location: Sreda Obitaniya, Šafarikova 6, Belgrade Dunja Karanović is a visual artist and journalist based in Belgrade, Serbia. She holds an MA degree from the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Arts in Belgrade and an MFA from the China Academy of Arts. In her practice, she explores ways of bridging cultural policy, theory, and practice through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches that foster radical friendship and collective care. Her research is focused on mainstreaming care in cultural institutions and reimagining them as slower, softer, and more inclusive spaces. She is a regular contributor of Liceulice magazine. She is passionate about feminist art histories, embroidery, the small, and the marginal. 3) August 1, 7 pm Feminism in Iran A lecture by Rosie Raha Language: English Duration: 2 hours Admission fee: 900 RSD This lecture will explore the history and current state of women's rights in Iran, beginning with the first women's rights movement during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution between 1905 and 1911. While significant legal advancements were made, any activity towards achieving more freedom and rights for women was allowed only under government supervision during Reza Shah's rule. After Reza Shah, during the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, new groups and organizations were formed, but their activities were also under government control and monitoring. Most of the legal advancements made during the previous decades were slowly dismantled following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, leading to increasing restrictions on women under the new regime. Despite widespread protests, the regime's grip has remained unyielding. We will examine Iran's Islamic constitution, where political leadership is dominated by clergymen and religious figures. The Supreme Leader holds absolute authority over politics, religion, governance, military power, and social affairs, and has the power to implement laws impacting and discriminating against women. Beyond these laws, we will discuss the institutional misogyny evident in daily life, such as the criminalization of non-compliance with 'Islamic standards' of dress, leading to severe penalties. Women live under constant surveillance, stifling their individuality and personal freedom. The focus will be on the resilient ways a large group of Iranians, both women and men, resist oppression and strive for self-expression despite restrictions on forming groups. In a society where a woman's body is seen as a source of sin, any act of feminine self-expression is attacked. Yet, more women than ever are fighting back in unique ways. When the regime constrains women within rigid societal frames, even the smallest public acts of femininity become powerful symbols of defiance. Location: Sreda Obitaniya, Šafarikova 6, Belgrade Rosie Raha is an accomplished educator and researcher with a diverse background in English Language and Literature, Fine Arts, and Art History. Born in Iran, she pursued a BA in English Literature and explored her passion for fine arts by attending classes at the University of Art in Tehran. Preparing for an MA in Art History and Research, Rosie also wrote a column on fine arts for a widely circulated newspaper in Iran. Throughout her career, Rosie has continually engaged in writing and painting, learning from various artists and educators. Her professional experience spans multiple roles in education, including assisting a social worker for a Dutch NGO in Iran, serving as an educational manager at a language academy, and working as a researcher at the University of Medical Sciences, focusing on the internationalization of education. Rosie's international experience includes teaching English in China for two years. In 2021, she moved to Serbia to pursue an MA in Cultural Policy and Management. Subsequently, she worked as a 4th grade teacher at an international school in Belgrade. Over the past year, Rosie has shifted her focus towards painting and writing. Together with her husband, she is developing the idea of opening a cultural center that emphasizes permaculture and sustainable practices in art. < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >
- To be enjoyed endlessly | WCSCD
Events Lecture Series Participant Activities To be enjoyed endlessly – a zine final project by WCSCD2019 curators Seda Yıldız and Ewa Borysiewicz NOVEMBER 14, 2019
- Precarious Improvisation: The Past and | WCSCD
Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Precarious Improvisation: The Past and The Present, maybe The Future | WCSCD 2020/21 Annual Lecture Series The curatorial program What Could/Should Curating Do is proud to be continued in 2021 with public program through lecture series The eighth talk in the 2020/21 series is titled: Precarious Improvisation: The Past and The Present, maybe The Future by Zairong Xiang Date: March 17, 2021 Time: 12:00 pm Belgrade / 10:00 pm Melbourne / 07:00 pm Shanghai / 6:00 am New York Registration: Link One of the most widely used tools for survival by the improvised majority of the world is that of the quick-fix or make-shift, be it jugaad in India, gambiarra in Brazil, or to some extent shanzhai in China. These are at once embedded in traditional space-time and specific to the condition created by neoliberal global capitalism. Not merely a socioeconomic and anthropological phenomenon of improvisation, quick-fix methods across the world emerge from an onto-epistemology of profound connectivity of things and an ethics of pervasive permissibility. In this lecture, we will look at different registers of improvisation anchored in artistic practices and critical and curatorial reflections, from quotidian knowledge to ingenious improvisation, from communitarian politics to capitalist appropriation; and discuss what lessons can be learnt (both from and against) these theory-practices, especially in the context of an all-exposing pandemic. About Speaker Zairong XIang is Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Associate Director of Artat Duke Kunshan University. He is author of Queer Ancient Way: A Decolonial Exploration (punctum books, 2018). Chief curator of the “minor cosmopolitan weekend” at the HKW Haus der Kulturen der Welt (2018), he is also the editor of its catalogue minor cosmopolitan: Thinking Art, Politics and the Universe Together Otherwise (Diaphanes 2020). He is co-curating the 2021 Guangzhou Image Triennial tougher with the Hyperimage Group and is working on two projects, respectively dealing with the concepts of “transdualism” and “counterfeit” in the Global South especially Latin America and China. He was Fellow at the ICI-Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry (2014 – 2016) and postdoctoral researcher of the DFG Research Training Group minor cosmopolitanisms at Potsdam University(2016-2020). All his writings could be read here: www.xiangzairong.com The lecture is hosted by KHiO in collaboration with the curatorial program WCSCD. WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? (WCSCD) WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? (WCSCD) was initiated and funded in 2018 in Belgrade as an educational platform around notions of curatorial. From 2020 WCSCD started to initiate its own curatorial inquiries and projects that should unpack above -mentioned complexities keeping educational component as a core to the WCSCD. The WCSCD curatorial program and series of public lectures have been initiated and organized by Biljana Ciric. WCSCD 2020/2021 public program series has been done in collaboration with Division of Arts and Humanities, Duke Kunshan University and they co-stream all public lectures. Strategic media collaboration is done with Seecult and they will co-host all public lecture series. Project Partners Media Partner For more information about the program, please refer to www.wcscd.com Project contacts: what.could.curating.do@gmail.com Follow us: FB: @whatcscdo Instagram: @whatcouldshouldcuratingdo < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >
- Participants | WCSCD
WCSCD 2023/2024 Educational Program Participants Anna Ilchenko (b. 1987, Sri Lanka) is a curator based in Belgrade. She holds MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London and MA in Art History from the Russian State University for the Humanities. Her curatorial practice is inextricably linked to visual culture studies, and implements interdisciplinary and transhistorical approaches. Over the years her line of work has been related to institutional critique, politics of memory and amnesia, notions of public space, and questions around image production and distribution. Her current interests also include the exploration of a large spectrum of performativity, body and gender issues in the age of Big Tech and queer practice. Recent residency projects and exhibitions include: In their own words: The Next Generation Women Artists Residency(2021–2022); General Rehearsal. A show in three acts from the collections of V-A-C, MMOMA and KADIST (Moscow, 2018); Vladislav Shapovalov. Image Diplomacy (Moscow, 2017); Space Force Construction (Venice, 2017); Process. Case Studies at the Museum. (Moscow, 2016–2017). Anna has lectured on methodologies of art history and artistic practices in museums and contributed articles to several art journals and online platforms. In 2019 she became a research fellow at Delfina Foundation where she further studied various residency programmes and cultural initiatives in London. Based on this research in 2021 she launched a residency programme for artists working at the intersection of theatre, music, dance and video. Asida Butba is co-founder of and a curator at SKLAD, the first contemporary art space in Abkhazia. SKLAD is a self-organized initiative, working at the conjunction of art, education and international cooperation with the aim of providing the best structure to support the capital Sukhum/i’s creative minds in the context of scarce resources and international isolation. Since it’s opening in late 2015 it has been home to 30 local and international art exhibitions and more than 250 public events such as film screenings, artist talks, lectures and workshops. These include In the shade of Big Trees (2022), Back to the Archives (2018), Deletion Marks (2017) and Games in the Open Air (2016). SKLAD has hosted 25 artists from across the globe and from 2016 has worked in partnership with the Swiss Artas Foundation. In the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, SKLAD now has to deal with a much harsher isolation and look for new ways to keep up the exchange. Laura Rositani is an art writer and independent curator from Vicenza, Italy. After a degree in foreign languages and literature, she attended a master in economics and management of art and cultural events at Cà Foscari University in Venice. She collaborated with several galleries, museums and foundations in Paris, Amsterdam, Bologna, Milan and Venice. After her experience at Fondazione Bonotto, she specialized in Fluxus and Experimental Poetry. She is co-founder of the art platform Contemporary Caring and art writer for the independent magazine Mulieris. Mirjana Savic is an artist working within the spaces of sculptural and installation practice. Attending to materials and material determination. Shifting, transforming, sliding. Contained and coming undone. Un-restricting materials and re-contextualising through transformative processes. Materials existing as themselves. Bringing attention to, observing; transformations. Revealing the materiality of materials. Focusing on potentials, on marks, columns, walls, weight, on dust, cracks, expansion, tension, space, bodies moving. Actions and reactions. Actions that ask questions. Stacking, folding, compressing. Interrogating the space. Waiting for what will happen. Transformations, whether they are physically visible or not. What happens when you construct an action (visible or invisible) to be open to the effects of chance? Actions: waiting to happen, in motion, on the verge but never arrive, eventual. Limits that reveal uncertainty, chance. Following a path of resistance. Mirjana has completed her undergraduate degree in Fine Art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Her Honours research project at RMIT, 2022, considered a deep material investigation,focusing on actions that question and reveal potentials within structured spaces. I live and create on the unceded sovereign land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging. Andrey Parshikov (b. 1985, Podolsk, Moscow region) is a curator and art-critic, curator in V-A-C foundation, Moscow. He has made numerous (around 30) exhibitions in Russia, US and Europe, including General Rehearsal (in collaboration with curatorial group of V-A-C, KADIST and MMOMA, Moscow, 2018), A Rose Has Teeth in a Mouth of a Beast (APALAZZO Gallery, Brescia, 2015), Underneath the Street, the Beach (Fondazione Sandretto Re-Rebaudengo, Turin, 2015), We Have Nothing that is Ours Except Time (Central Park, Vienna), I Remember It Differently from You (MUZEON park of Arts, Moscow, 2013), Great Repression (White Box gallery, New York, and SB gallery, Paris, 2008), Ultra-New Materiality (MMOMA, Moscow, 2009). He has been a teacher in British Higher School of Art and Design, Moscow Institute of Contemporary Art, Moscow School of Gender Studies, Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, Russian State University for the Humanities. His texts were published in Springerin magazine, Manifesta Journal, Moscow Art Magazine, Art Chronicles magazine, Openspace.ru web-site. He made residencies in Fondazione Sandretto Re-Rebaudengo in Turin. He also made a class of Maria Lind and Juan A. Gaitan in Salzburg Academy. Сurator’s career of Andrey Parshikov began from the keen interest to the systems of creative industries and relations within them (Ultra-New Materiality project). Now, for a few years already, he has been involved in the issues of non-materialistic knowledge and options of its re-appropriation at right-hand discourse. This was the topic of the large exhibition in an ancient castle in Italy — A Rose Has Teeth in a Mouth of a Beast. Within investigation of everything magic and weird in art he also distinguishes the queer-theory issue as the last bulwark of the system as it is (capitalist, androcentric, religious) and post-internet practices which the curator directly relates to sealed knowledge, for ‘telepathy is just the well-developed peer-to-peer technology. < About Educational Program Alumni >
- Projects: Astrobus-Ethiopia 2021 | WCSCD
Astrobus - Ethiopia 2021 The COVID19 crisis is affecting everyone everywhere. No county is safe from the social and economic disruptions caused by the pandemic. Consequently, like every activity that involves gathering people in one space, the Astrobus-Ethiopia program has been revised to adapt to this new reality. We plan to hold Astrobus-Ethiopia 2021 both virtually and in person. The virtual component is to substitute for the movement of people across cities and countries. Astrobus-Ethiopia team members outside the region from where the event will take place will connect to the event through pre-recorded video, and live streams when possible. The local organisers, which we will mobilise from local universities and art clubs, will hold the usual Astrobus gathering on the university grounds. Location Astrobus-Ethiopia’s ambition is to reach students from all corners of Ethiopia through this series of events. In the past, the team travelled to the north and the south of Ethiopia. This year, the team plans to travel to the south west of Ethiopia. Due to current situations in Ethiopia, some areas are inaccessible. As a result of this, we have chosen locations in Ethiopia that are relatively stable, with a high cultural and economic significance, for the next Astrobus event. The Omo region, for example, is a place for the Ari Blacksmiths, who specialize in iron and woodwork, and live on the periphery of settlements. Despite their indispensable contribution to society, Blacksmithing communities are widely regarded as the most marginalised of artisan groups, not just within the Ari but throughout southern Ethiopia where they are known for their craft [1] . Economically, the region hosts Gilgel Gibe III [2] , the largest hydroelectric power plant in Ethiopia with an estimated production capacity of 6,500GWh a year. Being the largest Ethiopian power plant, the Gibe III project is used for floodwater regulation and maintenance, as well as power generation. Astrobus-Ethiopia 2021 will take place in the Arba Minch, Konso, and Jinka cities. The mission of Astrobus-Ethiopia is to stimulate a culture of scientific thinking in Ethiopia by promoting science-art-technology-innovation education and creating public awareness around these. We plan to achieve this by focusing on abstraction and composition, which are the fundamental ideas underpinning the natural sciences, art, technology, and innovation. We design activities to provide an opportunity for the public to explore, learn and understand the main elements of modern civilisation, and how these are realised, i.e. how ideas are created, imagined, tested, mixed, visualised, transformed, and then applied to help improve the state of the world. We create an environment which facilitates new insights into the spaces of science and/or art, and encourages the composition of these insights to solve real challenges in society. Through interactions with role models – especially for underrepresented groups, such as young women – we help challenge negative stereotypes and reshape the students’ perception of their individual abilities, which in turn also impacts society’s perception. The art-science-technology ecosystem we create not only allows students to appreciate these essential human endeavours within their fields, but also fosters trans-disciplinary awareness. For example, by allowing students to use artistic methods to demonstrate their understanding of scientific concepts or objects, we help them make transitions and connections that are not only important for communication, but also the development of innovative problem-solving skills. Reference 1 [1] Lucy van Dorp et al., “Evidence for a Common Origin of Blacksmiths and Cultivators in the Ethiopian Ari within the last 4500 Years: Lessons for Clustering-Based Interference,” PLoS Genet 11(8): e1005397 (Aug 2015): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1005397 [2] Power Technology, “Gilgel Gibe III Hydroelectric Power Project,” https://www.power-technology.com/projects/gilgel-gibe-iii-hydroelectric-power-project/ Reference 2
- The educational program What Could/Shoul | WCSCD
Events Lecture Series Participant Activities The educational program What Could/Should Curating Do is proud to announce lecture by Massimiliano Mollona hosted by Kolarac Venue: Student square no 5 Date: December 5th 2022 18:00 Small Hall On constellations and earth by Aslıhan Demirtaş Taking departure of his recently published book Art/Commons that looks at the commons from the perspectives of contemporary art history and anthropology, focusing on the ongoing tensions between art and capitalism, lecture will trace relationship between the art and commons through practice of Institute of Radical Imagination that Mollona is engaged in. The lecture is grounded in an analysis of contemporary artistic and curatorial practices, which the author describes as practices of commoning, based on co-production, participation, mutualism and the valorization of reproductive labour. Mollona proposes a novel theoretical approach to current debates on the commons, and shows that art can provide both a language of anti-capitalist and post-colonial critique as well as a distinctive set of skills and practices of commoning. About Speaker Massimiliano (Mao) Mollona is a writer, filmmaker, and anthropologist. He is associate professor at the Department of the Art (DAR) at the University of Bologna. He has a multidisciplinary background in economics, anthropology and visual art, and his work focuses on the relationship between art and political economy, with a specific angle on work, class, and post-capitalist politics. His fieldworks combine pedagogy, artistic prefiguration, and activism. He is a co-founder and member of the collective freethought; the Institute of Radical Imagination (IRI); and the Laboratory for the Urban Commons, (LUC) Athens. The event is free and open to the public. The WCSCD educational program and series of public lectures have been initiated and organized by Biljana Ciric. The lecture by Massimiliano Mollona is supported by Instituto Italiano di Cultura Belgrado. Project Partners We thank following partners for supporting selected participants for 2022 program: Romanian Cultural Institute. Artcom platform , Kadist Foundation, William Demant Foundation For more information about the program, please refer to www.wcscd.com Project contacts: what.could.curating.do@gmail.com Follow us: FB: @whatcscdo Instagram: @whatcouldshouldcuratingdo < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >
- Cells | WCSCD
Times Museum Guangdong Times Museum is a non-profit institution funded by private sectors, and Times China has been the core funder since the inauguration of the Museum. In 2003, Times Property (former name of Times China) and Guangdong Museum of Art (GDMA) co-founded the temporary pavilion as a branch of GDMA at Times Rose Garden in 2003. When Wang Huangsheng, the Former Director of GDMA and the curator Hou Hanru invited Rem Koolhaas and Alan Fouraux to conceptualize an architectural proposal in the D-Lab of the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial in 2005, the Museum was incubated as a hub for artistic experiments in the region of Pearl River Delta. After the completion of its facility, Guangdong Times Museum became independent and officially opened its door to the public in December 31, 2010. In November 2018, Guangdong Times Museum initiated Times Art Center Berlin as its parallel institution in Europe with the support of Times China. We program up to 4-6 exhibitions in our gallery space, introduce over a hundred artists and art works to the city of Guangzhou, and commission more than a dozen new works every year. We reach out to our audience through curated events on weekly basis. We engage with both the artists and the public to develop ideas, produce artworks and test receptions. We value our public role as a cultural institution, and endeavor to formulate conversations and document social changes. While supporting artists to present their critical ideas and to produce ambitious art works, we also attempt to indigenize the language of contemporary art. After a decade of robust programming, Guangdong Times Museum has become a cultural landmark of the city where people can discover art, connect with each other, feel inspired by unexpected learnings and worldly experiences. ArtCom ArtCom is a contemporary art and public engagement platform, established in 2015 as a non-profit community-based organization. Founded by independent curator, Aigerim Kapar, with support from the art community. Artcom aims to connect local contemporary art practices in urban, cultural and social milieux. In doing so, Artcom unites art practitioners, social scientists, philosophers, architects and urban planners, as well as students and the wider public, to exchange experiences and skills, engage in knowledge production, research local issues, and be involved with and create local art and interdisciplinary projects. Artcom is committed to creating and sustaining the best environment for contemporary art and culture in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Our mission is to support artists, curators and art professionals; and strengthen their communities, especially the young and emerging among them. Since 2017, we have run Art Collider, an informal school where art meets science and technology. Together with art practitioners and academics, we present a series of public lectures, discussions, and workshops in order to find a language to describe our postcolonial situation and decolonial future. MG+MSUM Moderna galerija is a national museum that works, in accordance with its mission, in the fields of modern and contemporary art. It was founded in 1947 as a museum of modern art. With Slovenia’s independence in 1991, Moderna galerija became the principal national institution of modern and contemporary art and an increasingly active link between the local and the international, in particular Central and Eastern European, contexts. During the transition following the downfall of the Communist regime, Moderna galerija suffered financial problems and personnel shortage. Today’s vision of Moderna galerija is based on its history from the founding to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the downfall of Socialism, on the strong experience of the Balkan wars, the transition period and critical awareness of the increasing globalisation processes. The concept of museum advocated by Moderna galerija follows its own way and resists the existing hegemonic models. In the crucial period of the 1990’s, Moderna galerija refused to become a postmodern museum of sensations and intense experiences; on the threshold of the new millennium it fairly clearly developed the concept of an art museum that advocates the plurality of narratives and priorities of local spaces that intend to enter equal dialogues with other spaces only with their own symbolic capital. Since 2011, Moderna galerija has operated on two locations: in the original building of Moderna galerija (MG+) in the centre of Ljubljana and in the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (+MSUM) located on the renovated premises of former military barracks. The concept of Moderna galerija as a museum of modern and contemporary art was initiated in the early 1990’s, at the time of a strong need to allow more space for the previously neglected contemporary art and form closer links with the international space as well as with the national history and the historical moment then marked by the war and the new political geography of Europe. In contrast to the past decades, Moderna galerija began to show the interest in the present moment, which involved a different, but no less responsible addressing of the past. This initiated the processes that acquired their first tangible form in the Instrument of Constitution of Moderna galerija (2004) that defines the difference between the museum of modern art and museum of contemporary art as follows. As a museum of modern art it systematically explores, collects, and presents the art of Modernism and its traditions. It deals primarily with Slovenian 20th century art from the beginnings of Modernism around 1900, but also with contemporary artists who continue the tradition of Modernist trends. As a museum of contemporary art it covers contemporary practices in the field of the visual arts. It presents new contents in and new ways of expressing, exhibiting and interpreting contemporary art. By regularly purchasing works by Slovene artists, it is building a permanent collection of the 21st century art and adding to the international Arteast Collection 2000+ by purchasing works by foreign artists. The museum of modern art is defined as a museum devoted to the notion and tradition of Modernism as a historical style. Although established as a museum of contemporary art, the museum of modern art had gradually turned into a museum of the past that accumulated through time and eventually opened the door to the museum of contemporary art. But even if the art displayed in the museum of modern art is mostly from the previous century, the ways of addressing it are determined by the present time and its priorities. A museum of contemporary art does not necessarily differ from a museum of modern art in terms of historical period: in this respect, the two may even overlap as the tradition of Modernism is still alive while contemporary art draws from different art traditions. The programme of the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova thus reaches back to the new art practices of the 1960’s although its social and political contemporaneity begins especially with the crucial events from the early 1990’s. Moderna galerija addresses both the museum of modern art and the museum of contemporary art from the aspect of multi-temporality derived from the critique of linear time and its universal validity. Different activities of both museums point out antagonisms rather than cover them by different virtual pluralities. Moderna galerija attempts to develop a different model of museum based on the criticism and redefinition of democratic institution. Its priorities include the construction of a local context and dialogues with different localities that follow especially similar priorities and interests in developing different institutionality and new models of cultural production. Rockbund Art Museum Inaugurated in 2010, Rockbund Art Museum is a contemporary art museum located on the Bund in Shanghai. With a strong reputation for our innovative curatorial approach, we look to conceive different art projects from research to alternative learning programs, from exhibition-making to unexpected para-performative formats. By supporting bold contemporary art practices, we aim to continually remake local histories, whilst also responding to global art challenges and social mutations. We regard the role of exchange as an essential process required for a wider transformation to occur by building up a network of multi-regional, international and cross-disciplinary partnerships. Through this process, we aim to cultivate a diverse and deep-rooted connection to our audiences, communities, and also different social and cultural organizations. More on www.rockbundartmuseum.org As you go… the roads under your feet, towards a new future collaborates with Rockbund Art Museum through Curtain project initiated by museum director Larys Frogier and number of collaborators Mathieu Copeland, Biljana Ciric, Cosmin Costinas, Hsieh Feng-Rong, Billy Tang. Initiated in 2020, CURTAIN is a long term research project, which will be articulated through a series of exhibition formats, discursive platforms and cross-institutional collaborations spanning a three-year period. Seeking to go beyond the fixed definition of an exhibition, the project looks to expand the dialogue with artists through the gathering of critical thinkers and practitioners from other social and cultural fields. The Public Library Bor Library and information activity in Bor and its environs dates back to 1869 when the first public reading room was opened in the village of Zlot. Since then, many libraries and reading rooms of various types were opened and closed in the town and its schools, factories, organizations, and nearby villages, especially in the above-mentioned Zlot, where the first workers’ or so-called socialists’ reading room was also temporarily opened in 1909. The purpose of the workers’ reading room was not just the acquisition and distribution of the reading materials, but also agitation against and awareness-raising of capitalistic and political exploitation of human resources among the villagers-workers. During the Second World War, the town of Bor was a forced labour camp, due to the large and valuable copper mine, and there was no public library institution. Books and other reading materials were allowed to circulate only among the Nazi occupants. The Public Library Bor (‘the Library’) was founded in 1962, when several smaller suburban public libraries and reading rooms were combined. Since then, it has been the central library for the District of Bor. Since 1972, the Library has been located in the House of Culture, in a dedicated space across four floors. The Library has changed its organization several times, and today it consists of six departments: Department for the Acquisition and Cataloguing, Information Services Department, Children’s Department, Department for the Adults (with two sub-departments – Languages and Literature, and Non-fiction), Local History Department, and Special Collections and Periodicals with the reading room. There is also a special broad and well-equipped hall for exhibitions, projections, concerts and other programs on the first floor. The Library has four branches in the nearby villages, too. Right now, 18 librarians work in the Library and its branches, with six of them being senior librarians and one of them an advisor. The Library continually acquires, catalogues and lends various print and non-print materials and sources of information – books, periodicals, non-book materials such as photos, maps, movies and videos, multimedia etc. The collections are mostly available for self-service and the majority of materials are for use outside of the library. Membership is obligatory for those who want to take the materials home, but the fees are symbolic (1.5–3.5 euros per year) and many categories of citizens, such as pre-school children or the unemployed, can become members free of charge. The Library collections are regularly renewed, according to the analysis and evaluation by staff of the collections and their purposes, the publishing production, and the users’ needs and demands. The acquisition is selective but non-discriminatory, because the main goal of the Library is to provide access to the reading materials and a variety of reliable and checked sources of information to all citizens who need them in all possible formats. The other important aim of the Library is to promote reading interests, knowledge, valuable fiction and non-fiction works, sources of scientific information, and literacies of all kinds, including media and information and digital literacy. In order to do that, library staff organize various programs such as book talks, literary evenings with the authors, lectures, panel discussions, workshops for kids, young adults or librarians, and photo-exhibitions, especially those designed to present and promote the Local History Department Photography Collection and/or local photographers and other visual artists. In addition to the materials, the users have 6 PCs with internet access at their disposal. Recently, the Library acquired a VR headset, so that new materials – educative VR content – have become available. There is the possibility of interlibrary loans, too. The Library participates in the national and international Cooperative Online Bibliographic System and Services (COBISS), so that the information about collections (catalogue records) and a user’s own history of loans, reservations, search terms, and organized saved records are online and freely accessible, searchable and personally manageable for the user. Since 1999, the Library has published „Beležnica“ (The Notebook) – a journal dedicated both to library and information science activities, especially the activities of the Public Library Bor, as well as the local scene, history, literature and other issues of local significance. The publishing activity of the Library also includes several books (edited collections) as the final results of the various projects. < About Curatorial Inquiries Activities >
- From steirischer herbst to Paranoia TV | WCSCD
Events Lecture Series Participant Activities From steirischer herbst to Paranoia TV: one festival reinventing itself | WCSCD 2020/21 Annual Lecture Series The curatorial program What Could/Should Curating Do 2020 is proud to continue in 2020 with public program through lecture series The third talk in the 2020 series is titled: From steirischer herbst to Paranoia TV: one festival reinventing itself By Ekaterina Degot and David Riff Date: December 10, 2020 Time: 12:00 pm Belgrade/ 10:00 pm Melbourne/ 07:00 pm Shanghai/ 6:00 am New York Venue: zoom link Meeting ID: 985 237 3109 Live stream/Facebook link Paranoia TV Zentrale by Nicolas Pleasure Galani Ekaterina Degot and David Riff speak about their curatorial experiences and challenges at steirischer herbst, a yearly festival of contemporary arts which emerged in 1968. Founded in the middle of the Cold War, based in a region right on the border with the communist East, in a country with unresolved issues about Nazi past and pertinent right-wing circles in the present, steirischer herbst bears significant similarities with documenta, sharing with it a predilection for lowcase spelling. But as an interdisciplinary festival without its own exhibition spaces, its focus has often been on performances and interventions in public space, with a strong political touch. Last edition, under current pandemic restrictions, reinvented steirischer herbst as a fictitious media conglomerate under the name Paranoia TV, whose program runs online till the end of the 2020. Photo: Marija Kanižaj About Speaker Ekaterina Degot (1958, Moscow) is an art historian, researcher, and curator focusing on aesthetic and sociopolitical issues in Russia and Eastern Europe from the 19th century to the post-Soviet era. She began her five-year tenure as Director and Chief Curator of steirischer herbst in 2018. From 2014 to 2017 Degot was Artistic Director of the Academy of the Arts of the World in Cologne. Among other shows, she curated the 1st Ural Industrial Biennial in Yekaterinburg (2010, with Cosmin Costinas and David Riff) and headed the first Bergen Assembly with Riff (2013). Degot lives in Graz. David Riff (1975, London) is a writer, translator, artist, curator, and former member of the art group Chto Delat. He has been a curator at steirischer herbst since 2018. Among other shows, Riff cocurated the 1st Ural Industrial Biennial in Yekaterinburg (2010, with Cosmin Costinas and Ekaterina Degot) and headed the first Bergen Assembly together with Degot (2013). Over the last decade, Riff has been translating and researching the work of the Soviet aesthetic philosopher Mikhail Lifshitz, about whom he made a large-scale exhibition at Moscow’s Garage in 2018. Riff lives in Berlin. WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? (WCSCD) WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? (WCSCD) was initiated and funded in 2018 in Belgrade as an educational platform around notions of curatorial. From 2020 WCSCD started to initiate its own curatorial inquiries and projects that should unpack above -mentioned complexities keeping educational component as a core to the WCSCD. The WCSCD curatorial program and series of public lectures have been initiated and organized by Biljana Ciric. WCSCD 2020/2021 public program series has been done in collaboration with Division of Arts and Humanities, Duke Kunshan University and they co-stream all public lectures. Strategic media collaboration is done with Seecult and they will co-host all public lecture series. Project Partners Media Partner For more information about the program, please refer to www.wcscd.com Project contacts: what.could.curating.do@gmail.com Follow us: FB: @whatcscdo Instagram: @whatcouldshouldcuratingdo < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >
- EVA International | WCSCD
Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Lecture by Matt Packer / EVA International Saša Tkačenko, Flag from the WCSCD series, 2018. Photo by Ivan Zupanc THE CURATORIAL COURSE WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A PUBLIC TALK BY: MATT PACKER EVA International MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART BELGRADE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27 2018 AT 6 PM In collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, the lecture within the series of public programs organized by WCSCD will be presented by Matt Packer — the Director of EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art. The series is designed to offer new and different perspectives on the theories and practices of exhibition-making. The presentation by Matt Packer will evolve around EVA – Ireland’s longest running organisation of contemporary visual art. First established in 1977 to stimulate visual arts in the mid West region of Ireland, it since developed a model of inviting international guest curators to adjudicate (and in more recent editions curate) exhibitions of work by Irish and International artists. EVA adopted a biennial model in 2012 which continues today; the most recent edition, the untitled 38th EVA International, was curated by Inti Guerrero and took place across six venues in Limerick / Dublin in Spring-Summer 2018. Drawing on a number of specific episodes in EVA’s 40 year history, the recently appointed Director of EVA International will present examples of how EVA has coincided and responded to broader cultural and political changes, both within Ireland and internationally. These examples include EVA’s presentation of The Artists’ Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment during the 2018 referendum campaign to overrule restrictive abortion legislation in Ireland, and the recurring address of partition between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ABOUT THE LECTURER: Matt Packer is the Director of EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art. Previous roles include Director, CCA Centre For Contemporary Art Derry ~ Londonderry (2014 – 2017); Associate Director, Treignac Projet (2013-2016); Curator of Exhibitions & Projects, Lewis Glucksman Gallery (2008 – 2013). As an independent curator, he has curated numerous exhibitions in Ireland and internationally, including They Call Us The Screamers, TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, Galway (2017), Disappearing Acts, Lofoten International Art Festival, Norway (2015) (with Arne Skaug Olsen); When Flanders Failed, RHA, Dublin (2011) (with Stephen Brandes); and Ice Trade, Chelsea Space, London (2007) (with Kim Dhillon). He was part of the selection committee for the British representation at the Venice Biennale 2017. He has written for numerous magazines, journals including Frieze, Kaleidoscope, and Concreta. The WCSCD curatorial course and series of public lectures are initiated and organized by Biljana Ciric together with Supervizuelna. The lecture by Niels Van Tomme is made possible with the help of MoCAB and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the additional support of Zepter Museum and Zepter Hotel. Project partners: The Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade; GRAD—European Center for Culture and Debate; EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial, ’Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation and Zepter Museum. The project is supported by: the Goethe Institute in Belgrade; Istituto Italiano di Cultura Belgrado; the Embassy of Sweden; the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the Embassy of Ireland in Greece; the Embassy of Indonesia; the EU Info Centre; Pro Helvetia – Swiss Art Council; and galleries Eugster || Belgrade, HESTIA Art Residency & Exhibitions Bureau, and Zepter Hotel, Royal Inn Hotel and CAR:GO. Media partners: EUNIC Serbia, RTS3. < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >

