e-flux Danish Contemporary Art Foundation Populist Politics and its Consequences for Cultural Production and Display Copenhagen, March 7th and 8th, 2003 Danish Contemporary Art Foundation Kongens Nytorv 3-5 DK-1050 Copenhagen K. Tel +45 33 70 74 70 Fax: +45 33 70 74 80 E-mail: dca-cdb@dca-cdb.dk http://www.dca-cdb.dk Populist Politics and its Consequences for Cultural Production and Display Copenhagen, March 7th and 8th, 2003 An international conference on art, culture and politics, organised by the Danish Contemporary Art Foundation The two-day conference Populist Politics and its Consequences for Cultural Production and Display focuses on art and politics, changes in the political structure in Europe and its consequences for artistic and curatorial practices. The conference is structured in five different sections, each focusing on specific aspects of populist politics and each presented by a high profiled panel of international specialists in the field. Populist Politics as a Tendency The opening issue of the conference focuses on the wave of populist politics in Europe in relation to culture in general. The speakers will give a historical and sociological survey on recent tendencies of populist politics in contemporary Europe and discuss how, eventually, it influences contemporary art. – Chantal Mouffe, Rudi Laermans, Dorthe Joergensen, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Jimmie Durham Populist Politics and its Consequences for Cultural Institutions Populist politics in today’s society has an immense impact on and consequence for the cultural industry. It seems as if the governmental sector is trying to enhance influence on the money it is handing out. Three curators are invited to discuss how cultural policies are experienced in different European countries. – Robert Fleck, Isabel Carlos, Ami Barak Tools of Politics or Political Tools Culture has become an important centre of attraction for political purposes. Making politics on culture is easy, as the politicians are well aware that the press will unavoidably cover the procedures. However, culture might also be a useful tool for artists in their endeavour to reach opinion makers. – Nancy Adajania, Thomas Hirschhorn, Martha Rosler Culture Incorporated Making institutions depend on private funding seems to be the aim of many governments throughout Europe. Outside of Europe this seems to have been the reality for a long time. What happens to the “free spirit” of art when it becomes financially dependent on a private sponsor? And is it any different from a public sponsor trying to practice censorship or state control? – Mark W. Rectanus, Sabine Breitwieser, Anthony Davies, Simon Ford The Necessity of Public Funding? In many cases, public funding is crucial. Many art projects would never be implemented without public support either from the state or from the EU. However, some institutions operate without any public funding at all, but is this a freedom or a limitation? – Helena Demakova, Vasif Kortun, Zdenka Badovinac Workshops: How to Survive/Resist (- if at all)? Saturday afternoon workshops are a vital part of the conference. The aim is to discuss the problematics raised during the conference and maybe find constructive ways to deal with the present conditions. The goal is to strengthen the existing networks and to generate an awareness of the political reality and its consequences. Workshops: – networking strategies – media strategies – political strategies – artistic strategies – institutional strategies Speakers: Chantal Mouffe, Professor of Political Theory, University of Westminster, London Rudi Laermans, Professor of Sociology, Leuven Dorthe J¯rgensen, Professor in History of Ideas, University of Aarhus Hans-Ulrich Obrist, curator, Paris Jimmie Durham, artist Robert Fleck, curator, Austria/France Isabel Carlos, curator, Portugal/Australia Ami Barak, curator, France Nancy Adajania, cultural theorist & filmmaker, Bombay Thomas Hirschhorn, artist, Paris Martha Rosler, artist, New York Mark W. Rectanus, Professor of German, Iowa State University Sabine Breitwieser, director, Generali Foundation, Vienna Anthony Davies, writer and organizer, London Simon Ford, artist & art historian, London Helena Demakova, curator and MP, Riga Vasif Kortun, director, Istanbul Museum for Contemporary Art, Istanbul Zdenka Badovinac, director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ljubljana For further information see http://www.dca-cdb.dk Danish Contemporary Art Foundation Kongens Nytorv 3-5 DK-1050 Copenhagen K. Tel +45 33 70 74 70 Fax: +45 33 70 74 80 E-mail: dca-cdb@dca-cdb.dk The DCA Foundation will close down on June 30, 2003. Parts of the activities of the DCA Foundation will be continued in the future Arts Council.