Daily from Wednesday, June 4, until Saturday, June 7, 2008
10 – 11 a.m.: Panel Discussion
11 – 11.30 a.m.: Meet the Panelists
Location: Hall 1, Messeplatz, Basel
Art Basel Conversations
This year’s Art Basel Conversations again promise a varied program. The forum premieres with a conversation between artists Lawrence Weiner and Jorge Pardo, and the panels that follow feature members of the international artworld discussing the development of new cultural institutions in Eastern Europe, the collection and preservation of new-media art, and galleries working at the edge of a globalized art market.
Art Basel Conversations are a forum encouraging the exchange of ideas by means of panel discussions and personal contact with the panelists and other guests. The participants include well-known artists, collectors, gallerists, and museum directors. Presenting their current and forthcoming projects and reflecting on their experiences and the challenges they face, they provide an inside perspective on the international art scene.
WEDNESDAY | June 4 | ARTIST TALK | Lawrence Weiner, Artist, New York
In conversation with Jorge Pardo, Artist, Los Angeles
THURSDAY | June 5 |
PUBLIC/PRIVATE | FORMING CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS IN EASTERN EUROPE
What is the role of an Eastern European art institution and how has it changed in the last twenty years? What are the effects of globalisation on the local artists and art scenes? Which are the challenges, opportunities and risks posed by public-private partnerships in terms of defining an institution’s vision? How does the development of auction houses, galleries, foundations and private collectors influence the programming of such institutions? And what kind of activities do institutions focus on generating a public for their program?
Speakers:
Zdenka Badovinac, Director, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana; Vit Havranek, Curator and Project Leader, tranzit, Prague; Magda Kardasz, Curator, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw; Joanna Mytkowska, Director, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw
Moderator: Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Gallery, London
FRIDAY | June 6 | ART COLLECTIONS | Collecting, Protecting and Projecting New Media supported by ZURICH Insurance Company
What role do new media play within a museum collection? What does it mean to maintain a collection of new media? Which technical challenges do new-media collections pose in terms of conservation and future presentation? What are the challenges, risks and opportunities of collecting new media? And what are the specifications and focus for creating such a collection?
Speakers:
Christoph Blasé, Head of Laboratory for Antique Video Systems, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe; Stuart Comer, Film and Video Curator, Tate, London; Pamela Kramlich, Kramlich Collection, San Francisco; Pip Laurenson, Head of Time-based Media Conservation, Tate, London
Moderator: Chrissie Iles, Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
SATURDAY | June 7 | GALLERY AGENDAS | WORKING FROM THE EDGE OF THE GLOBAL MARKET
What are the challenges of running a gallery from a far corner of the (art)world?
How does such a gallery remain connected with the international contemporary art scene, despite the distances involved and the need for maintaining interpersonal contacts? Or is it perhaps actually an advantage to work from an ‘exotic‘ locale?
Speakers:
Orly Benzacar, Ruth Benzacar Galeria de Arte, Buenos Aires; Pi Li, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing; John McCormack, Starkwhite Auckland, Auckland; Gregor Podnar, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana/Berlin
Moderator: Philip Tinari, Director, Office for Discourse Engineering, Beijing
