Application deadline: February 20, 2019
The German federal state of Hessen, the city of Kassel, the documenta and Fridericianum Museum gGmbh and the University of Kassel have agreed to pursue the development of a documenta Institute in Kassel, Germany. They aim at establishing an independent scholarly institution of international renown that takes the history of the documenta and its ongoing present day continuation as starting point for transdisciplinary research initiatives. Under the thematic frame of the “exhibition,” understood as a means by which societies encounter and address themselves, the relationships between art and society, art and knowledge as well as between art and various economies shall be analysed and explored. The inventories of the documenta archiv will serve as an important foundation for the work of the documenta Institute. This facility should become a leading research institute and cultural meeting place for an international public as well as for citizens of the region in the periods between documenta exhibitions. To realise this concept, a call for applicants is being made for three professorships which will be established in addition to the existing documenta Professorship (see below). For all of the professorships a further membership in the Kunsthochschule Kassel and involvement in the planned interdisciplinary Centre for Exhibition Studies at the University of Kassel is expected.
Professorship “Art and Society”—Faculty of Humanities
The professorship involves research and teaching on the connections between contemporary art and society in the context of exhibitions. The main focus are questions of the public discourse on contemporary art, the scholarly reflection on art, the linguistic and communicative approaches to art, the aesthetic (literary, filmic, visual, etc.) engagement with art, as well the societal expectations with regard to contemporary art and the reception of art in the public sphere. In addition, questions concerning the mediation of art in the public sphere (public programmes, art educati-on, exhibition catalogues, art criticism, etc.) are subjects of research and teaching for this professorship. Particular attention is to be directed to perspectives pertaining to the humanities, to cultural studies and to art historical studies. Prof. Dr. Andreas Gardt, Department of German (gardt [at] uni-kassel.de) as well as Prof. Dr. Nora Sternfeld, Kunsthochschule Kassel (nora.sternfeld [at] uni-kassel.de) are available to answer any questions that applicants for this position may have.
Professorship “Art and Knowledge”—Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning, Landscape Planning
The professorship involves research and teaching on the knowledge prac-tices of artistic and applied design in the context of exhibitions. On the one hand, the creative processes of artistic, curatorial and design prac-tices and their knowledge cultures are to be investigated. On the other, questions of how knowledge is inscribed in these artefacts, how artefacts are received and how knowledge is produced by them will be examined. The spatial dimension of the exhibition medium will receive particular attention. Teaching and research will make use of analytical as well as experimental methods. Prof. Philipp Oswalt, Department of Architecture (oswalt [at] asl.uni-kassel.de) as well as Prof. Dr. Nora Sternfeld, Kunsthochschule Kassel (nora.sternfeld [at] uni-kassel.de) are available to answer any questions that applicants for this position may have.
Professorship “Art and Economies”—Faculty of Social Sciences
The professorship involves research and teaching on the intersections between an economy of artistic production, an economy of discursive valorisation, an economy of presentation in exhibitions, as well as an economy of pricing in the art market. In this regard, relevant scholarly publishing is just as important as contributions concerning artistic rese-arch. Particular attention is to be directed to perspectives pertaining to the social sciences or art studies/art historical studies. Prof. Dr. Heinz Bude, Department of Sociology (bude [at] uni-kassel.de) as well as Prof. Dr. Nora Sternfeld, Kunsthochschule Kassel (nora.sternfeld [at] uni-kassel.de) are available to answer any questions that applicants for this position may have.
The complete announcement can be found at www.uni-kassel.de.
