miart 2017 | MIARTALKS
12:45 - 13:00
Welcome speech
Ben Borthwick, Artistic Director, Plymouth Arts Centre and Curator of miartalks
Beatrice Bulgari, Founder, In Between Art Film
Diana Campbell Betancourt, Artistic Director, Samdani Art Foundation, Dhaka; Head Curator, Dhaka Art Summit 2018 and Curator of miartalks
Alessandro Rabottini, Artistic Director, miart 2017
13:00 - 14:00
The Biennial Factor: Impacting the Context
Since the 1980s the number of biennials has proliferated from just a handful to many hundreds. It is well understood that biennials are seen as a way to put a city ‘on the map’, but what is the actual impact of biennials and recurring exhibitions on the cities that host them from a more structural point of view? How can we make sense of the short and long-term effects on the local economy, on the architecture and built environment, and the social fabric?
Douglas Fogle, Independent Curator and Writer, Los Angeles
Rafal Niemojewski, Director, Biennial Foundation, New York
Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Partner, OMA/AMO, Rotterdam
Moderator: Stefano Baia Curioni, Associate Professor, Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management, Bocconi University, Milan
Language: English
15:00 - 16:00
The Occasional Alternatives
Artists and curators are developing alternative models of recurring collaboration that rethink the conventional biennial framework. Often small in scale, lasting just a few days, in places with limited access, what do these changed conditions offer the organisers, participants and audiences? This panel explores recent initiatives that design these specific kinds of dialogue between artists with different contexts, modes of production, and audiences.
Daniel Baumann, Director, Kunsthalle Zurich
Milovan Farronato, Director and Curator, Fiorucci Art Trust
Sandra Terdjman, Curator and Co-director, Council and Co-founder, Kadist
Moderator: Cesar Garcia, Founder, Director and Chief Curator, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles
Language: English
17:30 - 18:30
In Between Times: The Legacy of Biennials as Place Makers
Biennials are occasional structures operating within a very specific time-frame of presence and absence. What are the challenges artists and curators face in relation to the local context and artistic community, both during the biennial as well as the in-between time that separates two editions? In what ways is it possible — desirable, even — for a biennial to maintain its activity and generate a broader sense of community outside of the immediate logic of the event?
Suzanne Cotter, Director, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto
Eva González-Sancho, Maker and Curator, Oslo Pilot, Oslo
Sarah McCrory, Director, Goldsmiths Art Gallery, London
Moderator: Francesco Manacorda, Artistic Director, Tate Liverpool
Language: English
13:00 - 14:00
Wiring the Circuits: Global Biennials and their Future Scenarios
While the calendar of biennials is global, how does the thinking, format and scale need to be revised, adapted and reimagined to avoid becoming a homogenous and repetitive consolidation of what is already known? How can recurring international exhibitions occupy a position within the current scenario and its global changes that is both internationally relevant and meaningful at a local level?
Chus Martínez, Director, Art Institute at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel
Sally Tallant, Director, Liverpool Biennial
Kathryn Weir, Head of Cultural Development, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Moderator: Diana Campbell Betancourt
Language: English
15:00 - 16:00
Institutions and Biennials: Shifting Functions and Changing Models
From the early function of biennials as showcases of the latest developments in visual arts, in recent decades they have gradually evolved into large thematic exhibitions, often questioning the parameters of chronology, geography, and politics. Institutions, meanwhile, have simultaneously re-defined their modes of production and presentation of artistic commissions. What is the present state of relation between these two platforms?
Juliana Engberg, Programme Director, Aarhus 2017
Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director, Museu de Arte, São Paulo
Stephanie Rosenthal, Chief Curator, Hayward Gallery, London
Moderator: Ben Borthwick
Language: English
17:00 - 18:00
Thinking beyond the Nation in the National Pavilion Model
The model of the National Pavilions has been largely discussed by artists and curators, while still being a central framework within the context of the Venice Biennale. What are the benefits to this model, how has it been challenged in recent years, and in what ways can it be conceptualized and negotiated in the future?
Sebastian Cichocki, Deputy Director, the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw
Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, Director, MAXXI Arte, MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo, Rome
Mats Stjernstedt, Director, Malmö Konsthall
Moderator: Oliver Basciano, International Editor, ArtReview
Language: English
11:30 - 12:00
Awarding Ceremony - Premio Rotary Club Milano Brera per l’Arte Contemporanea e i Giovani Artisti
Laura Cherubini, Curator and Professor of Contemporary Art History, Accademia di Belle Arti, Rome
Christian Marinotti, Publisher, Professor of Contemporary Art History, School of Architecture, Polytechnic of Milan and creator of the prize
Ludovico Pratesi, Art Critic and Curator
Andrea Viliani, General Director, MADRE – Donnaregina Contemporary Art Museum, Naples
Language: Italian
12:30 - 13:30
Skulptur Projekte Münster or What’s So Special About an Exhibition Taking Place on a Decennial Rhythm?
Kasper König, Artistic Director, Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017
Introduction: Ben Borthwick, Diana Campbell Betancourt
Language: English
14:00 - 15:00
The Spectacle of the Useful: New Biennials of Design and Architecture
Design and architecture literally give shape to the spaces and labour of contemporary society. Traditionally represented through fairs and expos, what is the role of the increasing number of design and architecture biennials when it comes to discuss their strategies and impact? This talk explores recent examples of biennials of design and architecture and their relations with their host cities as well as their wider intersection with politics, environment and economy of work.
Beatriz Colomina, Professor of Architecture and Founding Director of the Media and Modernity Program, Princeton University
Angela Rui, Design Critic and Independent Curator, Rotterdam
Deyan Sudjic OBE, Director, The Design Museum, London
Mark Wigley, Professor of Architecture and Dean Emeritus, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York
Moderator: Marco Sammicheli, Design Curator, Abitare
Language: English
16:00 - 17:00
The Next Documenta Should Be Curated by an Artist – 14 Years Later
“The Next Documenta Should Be Curated by an Artist” was the title of Jens Hoffmann’s 2003 provocation made via e-flux to investigate artists’ relationship to curating. Artists were becoming increasingly involved in curating and that year Gabriel Orozco and Rirkrit Tiravanija served as co-curators of the Venice Biennale. It is now relatively common practice for artists to be invited to curate biennials and triennials, and not such a stretch to think that the next Documenta could be curated by an artist. Fourteen years later, Hoffmann and artists who have or are currently curating biennials revisit the ideas raised by this proposition.
Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Artists, Berlin
Jens Hoffmann, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, The Jewish Museum, New York; Artistic Director of FRONT International Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art.
Christian Jankowski, Artist, Berlin
Moderator: Kate Sutton, Writer, Zagreb
Language: English
17:30 - 18:30
Patronage and Production: Recurring Needs in Recurring Exhibitions
The invitation to be part of a biennial can be an exciting possibility for an artist. But even the most-high profile biennials do not always have production budgets, meaning artists can be caught between the will of the curator to produce a new work of ambitious scale, and the financial limitations of the artist. This is especially for artists who do not have a gallery willing to underwrite the production. This panel explores the various ways patrons are supporting artists make work for biennials, including an increase in art prizes to support production.
Lorenzo Fusi, Artistic Director, International Contemporary Art Prize, The Prince Pierre Foundation, Monaco
Giovanni Giuliani, Collector, Fondazione Giuliani, Rome
Beatrice Trussardi, President, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan
Moderator: Florence Derieux, Curator of American Art, Centre Pompidou Foundation & Curator at Large, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Language: English
