Professional Documents
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Curatorial and Artistic Research
Curatorial and Artistic Research
Artistic Research
dpa-indaco
MeLa* Project
European Museums in an age of migrations
www-mela.project.eu
European Commission
European research Area, 7th Framework Programme
Funded under Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities
March 2011 – February 2015
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Acronym
Title
MeLa*
Funding scheme Collaborative Project (CP): small and medium scale research project
EU contribution 2.699.880,00 €
* Mela is a Sanskrit word meaning “gathering” or “to meet.” Today is used for intercultural gatherings, intended as opportunities
for community building that can perform a strong socially cohesive function.
Fig. 1
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1. Executive Summary
The new millennium has witnessed a dra- This summary publication highlights not only
matic increase of interest in modern and con- the challenges now facing art museums, but
temporary art across the globe, marked by the also the opportunities that are emerging from
building of spectacular new museums, the new types of collaboration to inform both cul-
rapid expansion of international art fairs, the tural and museum policies of display, acquisi-
founding and government sponsorship of tion and research.
major new biennials in emerging world econ-
omies, and an ever-expanding unregulated art Focused on Curatorial and Artistic Research, the
market, estimated in 2014 to be worth $1.6 aim of MeLa Research Field 04 was to examine
billion. Despite this apparently healthy state how the relationship between art, migration, and
of interest, and despite significant high visitor representation is being addressed in contempo-
rates, European museums of modern and rary artistic and curatorial practices, and what
contemporary art are in crisis. questions this raises for artists, museums and au-
diences in terms of traditional concepts of ‘herit-
Essentially defined by 20th century ideas of age’, ‘the archive’, and ‘the art object’.
modernity, and governed by the principles of
Fig. 2 Modernism, the impact of globalisation, digi- As the research concludes, the anxiety national
tal transformation, and changing patterns of art museums are experiencing as they grapple
migration, are aggressively challenging mod- with narratives of nation could be productively
ernist ideas of how artists work, the kind of overcome by embracing the opportunity of
work they produce, and how it should be dis- technology and a more fluid concept of ‘herit-
played and collected. Audiences and audience age’. This would underpin acquisition policies
expectations are changing too - driven by in- that recognise expanding forms of ‘intangible
stant, self-selecting access to a multiplicity of heritage’ that equally embody the essential and
visual cultures presented by everyday technol- protected principles of art museum collection
ogy, and accustomed to consumer cultures of policies - creative innovation, artistic signifi-
contemporary designed display. cance and historical value.
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2. Introduction 3. Approaches and Results / Key Observations
‘We can think of the museum in the 21st emerging that fall outside of the market cate- Phase One: Exhibition Histories and synonymous with the production, consump-
century as a new kind of mass medium’ gory of the contemporary, or purposefully re- Museum Practices tion, and global marketing of international
(Chris Dercon, Director, Tate Modern) ject it – including work with sound, music, contemporary art, creating a uniformity of dis-
dance, radical performance, artistic collectives, Following a matrix analysis of the research play that renders the specifics of history, time
The research project began as an exploration urban communities, and documentary forms data gathered through desktop research, an au- and place invisible. Increasingly rejected by
of curatorial and artistic research into the his- of art production. dit and historical review of contemporary art artists, museums are just beginning to consider
tory of exhibitions concerned with migration, exhibitions in Europe concerned with migra- the changing nature of contemporary art prac-
representation and identity. It rapidly identi- For the art museum whose role is to collect tion, identity and representation, and work- tice and production.
fied, however, a more fraught relation be- and display contemporary art as part of con- shops and interviews with artists and curators,
tween these issues and wider urgent concerns temporary culture and future heritage, funda- the following research findings emerged: Collection and Object – The work of modern
about the current condition of contemporary mental challenges are being posed to its way and contemporary art museums is still pre-
art in a global context, the role of curating, the of collecting, archiving and displaying. These Representation – Through a critical reading dominantly organised around institutional
impact of the art market on curatorial prac- challenges are further exacerbated by the im- of colonial modernity, exhibition histories, and structures and modes of management rooted
tices and the museum, and the changing rela- pact of globalisation and technological the emergence of new artistic subjectivities and in the modernist museum of the 20th century,
tion of artists to audiences. change. If the art museum is to survive the regions for the production and dissemination centered on the conservation and display of the
new millennium, it needs to better under- of art (the ‘Global South’) it is clear that there single, unique modernist ‘art object’. The stable
Curating is increasingly being discussed as part stand the changing conditions and nature of is a growing consensus that the politics of rep- identity and status of the European fine art ob-
of the ‘fiction’ of ‘contemporary art’, created by artistic and curatorial practice both inside and resentation are near exhaustion for artists (and ject is being brought into question by immate-
a complicit relation between the art market, outside the museum and to anticipate the by implication audiences) and this needs read- rial practices and art practices of diasporic and
corporate sponsorship and private patronage changes needed to engage with and respond dressing in curatorial practice. The practice of non-Western artists.
of the arts, through the agency of the museum. to future generations of visitors. targeting artists and audiences based on ethnic
The self-contained, self-referential, modernist or racial representation invariably reproduces Globalisation – The new socio-spatial and
‘art object’ of the 20th century art museum has the conditions of difference and marginalisa- geo-political paradigm of transnationalism
never been so radically challenged. tion that are trying to be overcome. and its relations to art practice and curating is
resulting in a new form of distributed cultural
New forms of art, curatorial practice and types Exhibition – The 20th century modernist authority and displacement of Eurocentric art
of exhibition and project spaces are rapidly white cube gallery space has become histories produced in the European Academy.
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Despite the globalisation of the art market and and physically safe environment. Compared to Technology – The expansion of new media and
proliferation of contact, artists and curators often other specialist types of museums defined by a the digitisation of the visual has resulted in the
struggle to assume and retain ownership over pure knowledge base, the types of learning and disruption of the historical status and material
practice and interpretation in exhibition-making knowledge on offer in the art museum are as di- value of the art object which museums are
due to lack of mutual knowledge and under- verse as the interests of artists and the art col- struggling to address at both the practical and
standing. Working collaboratively with artists lected and displayed. Despite prevalent curatorial conceptual level of resource. Many artworks and
supports exhibitions of contemporary relevance, modernist emphasis on the art object that ‘speaks contributions by artists working with immate-
audience interest, and institutional diversity. for itself ’, the rapid development and success of rial forms such as sound, music, performance are
Fig. 3 public programming in recent years highlights currently not being appropriately documented
Programming – There has been a significant the demand for more direct learning and interac- or collected and can be understood within
increase in addressing issues of diaspora, migra- tion within the art museum. UNESCO’s 2003 terms of reference to consti-
tion, and modernity in relation to the new dis- tute forms of ‘intangible cultural heritage’. Data
courses and conditions of globalisation, and dig- Audiences – With the rise in participatory content management systems need to be under-
itisation through public programming. In (visual) culture and technological access to cul- stood as forms of historical management of
particular, there has been an increase in the ‘pro- tural engagement there has been a significant meaning and interpretation.
gramming’ of ‘culturally diverse artists’ and of shift recorded by museum curators in the way
non-object based practices (in museological audiences relate as individuals to artworks,
Fig. 4 terms) such as performance, sound installation, rather than as members of a coherent collective
film, video. This can lead both to opportunities public, which is presenting new challenges for
of experimentation, but also to instrumentalisa- curatorial practice. Despite wider social chang-
tion as a means to offset policy demands and es in cultural consumerism towards on de-
funding expectations of inclusive programming. mand, user-centered engagement, museums of
modern and contemporary art are still operat-
Education and Learning – Museums occupy a ing in a ‘broadcast’ mode of one-to-many com-
special place in the lives and imaginations of their munication. This is clearly evident in curato-
audiences, offering knowledge and understand- rial approaches to exhibition-making.
Fig. 5
ing in a non-instrumentalised, non-competitive, Fig. 6
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Phase Two: Collaborative Research opportunity and disconnection between the
Connoisseurial Modernist Transcultural Exhibition and Publication: working assumptions and practices of both
Museum of Modern / Museum of the Future / 21st Transfigurations artists and curators. A key research objective in
National Art Museum this phase was to examine the extent to which
Contemporary Art Century
Following the interim findings of Phase One change itself is enacted through situated, prac-
Social / interactive Art the project recognised the need to remodel it- tice-based methodology as a form of knowl-
The Art Academy Art Museum
Museum self as a practice-based, ‘problem-solving’ form edge-exchange. This method has been previ-
of collaborative research between artists and ously termed ‘post-critical’ by the author in a
Historical / Chronological Movements / Thematic curators to address the issues raised in and previous collaborative research project.
Remediated Displays
Displays Displays through practice.
The five collaborations were:
Narrative Time Periodic Time Distributed Time
Five artist / curator collaborations were forged in
Authority of the partnership with national museums and galleries ÆÆ MACBA in Barcelona with curator
Authority of Curator Authority of the Viewer in England, Spain, the Netherlands, and France Bartomeu Marí and artist Lawrence Abu
Connoisseur
which also drew on further collective professional Hamdan
Canon based on History of Canon based on History of Canon based on Inter- experience gained in Germany, Portugal, Algeria, ÆÆ Bétonsalon - Centre for art and research
Taste Modernism media Practices the Dutch Caribbean, and across the Middle East. in Paris with curator Mélanie Bouteloup
For each collaboration, a particular set of questions and artist Camille Henrot
Audience: Educated in Audience: Educated Audience: Educated
were addressed through a joint commission which ÆÆ Whitechapel Gallery in London with cura-
Formal Culture through Formal Education through Everyday Culture
would be fully documented in process and final tor Sofia Victorino and artist Kader Attia
Figure 7: Table indicating historical and projected development of the art museum research material presented in a research exhibi- ÆÆ Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam with
tion at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de curators Jelle Bouwhuis / Kerstin
Barcelona (MACBA) in June 2014. Winking and artist Quinsy Gario
ÆÆ Royal College of Art in London with cura-
As part of the research a publication was also tor Paul Goodwin and artist Leo Asemota
produced which carried raw data from each
commission to help identify points of tension,
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4. Implications and Key Recommendations
The following recommendations are aimed at sound, music, performance, new media.
the funders, policy-makers, directors and
senior curators of museums of modern and Modes of Production
contemporary art:
3 Financial and institutional resources should
Modes of Inclusion be prioritised and committed, particularly
in times of limited financial resources, to
1 Targeting, based on ethnicity or race and commissioning artists and developing new
adopted as a method to achieve cultural and models of artist / curator collaboration.
social inclusion in relation to both artist and
audience, should be replaced by exhibition, Such models should aim to increase the
display and collection practices that ac- institutional appetite for risk to support
knowledge and understand cultural identity creative innovation, cultural diversity, au-
in the 21st century as a fluid form of dience development and museological
transcultural and transnational subjectivity. change. Good models of collaborative
work may also lead to high quality new
Modes of Collecting work for collection creating an effective
cycle of mutual benefit.
2 Increased research and knowledge-ex-
change should be encouraged across Modes of Management
European museums of modern and con-
temporary art to establish more expansive 4 The project of digitisation should be under-
and progressive policies on acquisition, stood as an organisational opportunity to
conservation, archiving and display of re-examine the logic and design of content
contemporary artists’ practices, materials, management systems in order to reflect and
and forms that fall outside of European anticipate 21st century conditions of art pro-
Fig. 8
object-based, fine art traditions e.g. duction and display, knowledge generation
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5. Public Awareness of this Research
and interaction, and user-value. Digitisation and interpretation – rather than main- Publications Book Chapters, Essays, Articles, Papers
should not be exclusively understood by tained as a separate sphere of organisa-
museums as a form of increased access, tional activity. Trans— Walsh, Victoria, ed. 2014. Walsh, Victoria. ‘Post Critical Museology:
Trans figurations
marketing, or heritage management but as Transfigurations: Curatorial and Practice-based Research in the Museum’, in
figurations
part of heritage formation. Modes of Research Artistic Research in an Age of Katarzyna Murawska Muthesius, ed. 2014,
Migrations, London: Curating From Museum Critique to the Critical Museum,
Modes of Display 8 To effectively respond to the changes and Contemporary Art Programme Aldershot: Ashgate
5 Museums need to respond to the demand balisation, digitisation, and the diversifi- Walsh, Victoria and Dewdney, Andrew. ‘The
for more provisional, fluid and informal cation of artists’ practices and media, Books
Noack, Ruth, ed. 2013. Agency, Distributed Museum and the Crisis of
types of spaces that support collaborative, greater funding and policy emphasis Ambivalence, Analysis: Approaching European Representational Systems’, in Perla
approaching the museum with
migration in mind
project-based work, and embrace audi- needs to be placed on developing new the Museum with Migration in Innocenti, ed. 2014, Migrating Heritage:
studies of audiences show that contemporary
approaches to audience building result neither
in integration nor equal treatment of migrants,
and that it is worth looking at questions of edited by
migration through the lens of museum display Ruth Noack
and collection.
With contributions by: John Barker, Roger M
ence engagement, rather than deflect it. models of collaborative, practice-led re- Mind, Milan: Politecnico di Experiences of Cultural Networks and Cultural
Peter Osborne, and Victoria Walsh.
editor
Ruth Noack is head of Curating Contemporary
Art at the Royal College of Art in London.
Trained as a visual artist and art historian, she
has acted as art critic, university lecturer and
exhibition maker since the 1990s.
search between artists and curators, fo- cover image — Geneviève Frisson
Books
6 Museums need to critically review the role cused on exhibition and display.
isbn 978-88-95194-09-7
06
and function of exhibition and museum de- Dávila, Mela. ‘Process vs. Product. New Paths
sign in the 21st century that acknowledges Such research models would help develop Exhibitions for Archiving in the Field of Contemporary
the impact of technology in mediating the a more equitable, and critically grounded Artistic Practices’, in Luca Basso Peressut and
art museum experience as part of everyday relation between the work of the artist ‘Transfigurations: Curatorial and Artistic Clelia Pozzi, eds. 2012. Museums in an Age of
visual culture for both artist and audience. and the work of the curator, reducing Research in an Age of Migrations’, Royal Migrations. Questions, Challenges, Perspectives,
conditions of difference and pre-deter- College of Art / MACBA, Barcelona, Milan: Politecnico di Milano
Modes of Audience Development mined forms of representation. 19-26 June 2014
7 Public programming and the expertise of ‘Not Dressed for Conquering - Ines Doujak’s
education departments should be wel- Loomshuttles / Warpaths’, Royal College of
comed and directly incorporated into the Art Galleries, London, 13-21 March 2013
curatorial strategies of exhibition, display
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Public Lectures / Artist Presentations / 14-15 March 2013, Goethe Institute and 2014, Whitechapel Gallery, London Carolin, Clare and Fernández López, Olga (sci-
Interviews Royal College of Art, London entific organization and session chairing),
Walsh, Victoria and Goodwin, Paul (scientific ‘Coloniality, Curating, and Contemporary Art’,
Camille Henrot, ‘The Pale Fox’, Bétonsalon – Walsh, Victoria, ‘The Post-contemporary’ (lec- organization and session chairing), ‘Issues in 20-23 March 2012, UNIA – Universidad
Centre for art and research, Paris, 20 September ture), ‘Let the Museum Speak: Museums in an Curatorial and Artistic Research in an Age of Internacional de Andalucía, Seville. Seminar or-
2014 (research for exhibition and lecture sup- age of Migrations’, 5 September 2014, Cité Migrations’, 24 February 2014, Royal College ganised by the Royal College of Art and CAAC
ported as part of MeLa project) Nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration, Paris of Art, London – Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo
Abu Hamdan, Lawrence, ‘Received Walsh, Victoria and Dewdney, Andrew (lecture), Noack, Ruth (panel discussion participant),
Pronunciations’, Radio Web MACBA ‘Migrating Heritage – International conference’, ‘Para/Site International Conference’, 11 April
(RWM), 5 September 2014 3-4 December 2012, University of Glasgow 2013, Para Site, Hong Kong
Abu Hamdan, Lawrence, ‘Contra-Diction: Walsh, Victoria (keynote lecture), ‘Divercity - Noack, Ruth (scientific organization and ses-
Speech Against Itself ’, 28 August 2014, German Cultural Federation conference’, 24- sion chairing), ‘How to do Research with Art?’,
Whitechapel Gallery, London 26 October 2012, Kontext kulturproduk- 14 March 2013, Royal College of Art, London
tionen, Hamburg
Abu Hamdan, Lawrence, 20
June
2014, Fisher, Jean and Crimmin, Michaela (scientific
MACBA, Barcelona Research Seminars organization and session chairing), ‘Art and
Globalisation’, 8 January – 19 March 2013,
Gario, Quinsy, ‘A Town Called Gario’, Walsh, Victoria and Dewdney, Andrew (scien- Royal College of Art, London
20
June 2014, MACBA – Museum of tific organisation and session chairing), ‘Online
Contemporary Art of Barcelona, Barcelona Collections: What has the museum learnt Nash, Mark and Lundström, Jan-Erik (speak-
from the project of digitization of collections?’, ers), ‘Envisioning 21st Century Museums’, 31
Attia, Kader, lecture / performance, 1 May 2 June 2014, Tate Britain, London May 2012, Post and Tele Museum,
2014, Whitechapel Gallery, London Copenhagen. Seminar organised by CIID -
Attia, Kader; Walsh, Victoria; Goodwin, Paul; Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design
Hammonds, Kit (chair), ‘Whichever Europe’, Petersens, Magnus af; Victorino, Sofia, 2 May
20 21
Author and Acknowledgements Illustration Credits
This brochure was written by Professor Victoria Figure. 1: Installation view of Transfigurations,
Walsh, and compiled with the support of MACBA Capella, 20 - 26 June 2014 © Oriol
Pamela Sepúlveda. Thanks go to all the artists, Molas
curators, and academics who participated in the
Royal College of Art research project, and par- Figure. 2: Installation view of Lawrence Abu
ticularly to Professor Paul Goodwin whose in- Hamdan, Contra-Diction: speech against it-
put to the fieldwork and analysis of findings was self, MACBA Capella, 20 - 26 June 2014 ©
so valuable. Thanks also go to Bartomeu Marí, Oriol Molas
Director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani
Barcelona (MACBA), and to Maite Muñoz, Figures. 3: Research pictures and screenshots
Head of MACBA’s archive for creating such a related to Camille Henrot’s research index
productive research collaboration centred on the ‘Atlas of the Atlas’ from the Smithsonian
‘exhibition as a discursive tool’. Institution, Washington, 2013 © Camille
Henrot
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Polimi – Politecnico di Milano, Italy (Coordinator)
Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU)
Department of Design
Key Members: Luca Basso Peressut, Gennaro Postiglione
www.mela-project.eu | [email protected]
legal notice
The views expressed here are the sole responsibility of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
graphic design
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MeLa RF04 – Curatorial and Artistic Research
How are globalisation, digital media and changing patterns of migration
changing our understanding and experience of the contemporary work of
art, and how are contemporary artists engaging with curators to think
about the condition of the contemporary through their work, its display and
collection? How are curators working with new forms of artistic production,
particularly non object-based practices of making, that fall outside of
conventional modernist forms of display, collection and archive? These are
some of the questions examined by Research Field 04, led by the Curating
Contemporary Art Programme at the Royal College of Art in London, and
outlined in this brochure.
Reflecting on the challenges and opportunities of current curatorial and
artistic practice, the research highlights areas of museum practice and
organisation that are still rooted in the 20th century and urgently need
reconsidering to ensure the cultural relevance and vibrancy of museums of
modern and contemporary art in the 21st century.
www.mela-project.eu