Politics of Curating Contemporary Art – B-learning

Apresentação do Curso

The Politics of Curating Contemporary Art Programme offers a dynamic and intensive experience that develops a shared vocabulary and critical framework in which we discuss phenomena ranging from post-colonialism to decolonizing the museum, from environmental change to sustainability in curatorial practices, from human rights to feminism and permacultures in artistic institutions.

There is a long tradition of interaction between questions of politics and questions of art and curatorial practices. However, arguably in the current decade this dialogue between art, the curatorial and politics has intensified, leading to a fundamental interrogation: What is at stake now in the different intersections of art, the curatorial and the political? How are the notions “politics”, “policies” and “the political” articulated within the practices of curating contemporary art? What, if any, is the specific political agency of curatorial practices?  These questions have acquired ever-greater urgency in the wider political context of ascendant national populisms and systemic racism; mass displacement and anti-migrant mobilisations; the failure of governance structures to respond effectively to ecological breakdown; changing formations and strategies of political mobilisation.

Through taking this course you will have an opportunity to build your own map of the multiple intersections of curating contemporary art and the political. We will also explore together how this may now be changing under the impact of recent changes in the wider social and political fields.  We work responsively to your changing needs as individuals. We also encourage collaborative projects in relation to your work.

This year the course is delivered in partnership with: the Appleton Associação Cultural; the Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa, and the Campus Cultura of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. We will undertake studio visits to Lisbon based artists, as well as field visits to various institutions (commercial, non-profit, and independent) in Lisbon, and attend openings and other events. This will not only increase networking opportunities but, above all, provide the space and time for fruitful discussions with both emerging and established professionals. Every year we will have a series of Masterclasses with international speakers.