ROTTERDAM DIALOGUES
THE PERIPHERY COMPLEX
8-10 Feb 2007
Daily 1.30 5.00 p.m.
Witte de With
Center for Contemporary Art
Witte de Withstraat 50
3012 BR Rotterdam, NL
Witte de With presents a three-day symposium exploring three hot topics faced by contemporary arts institutions: new money, new audiences and new locations.
Taking complex both to suggest insecurity and a constellation of complexities, this symposium explores whether contemporary art is located on the social, economic and geographical periphery.
Key figures from the local, national and international art world will share their thoughts and experiences, in dialogue with one another and with the public.
Thurs 8 February: New money
1.30 pm
Case study by Isabel Carlos (independent curator, Lisbon and curator 2004 Sydney Biennale) on the shift from public to private funding in contemporary art.
2.30 pm
Dialogue between Brian Butler (Director, Artspace, Auckland) and Charles Esche (Director, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven) on the current funding debates in the Netherlands and beyond.
3.45 pm
Panel discussion exploring the economic pressures on programming:
financial security versus artistic freedom? Olav Velthuis (economist, art historian and Volkskrant journalist), Maria Lind (Director, Iaspis, Stockholm), Suhail Malik (Senior Lecturer, Goldsmiths College, London), Jaime Stapleton (Associate Research Fellow, Birkbeck College, London), Hans Abbing (Professor of Art Sociology, University of Amsterdam).
Fri 9 February: New audiences
1.30 pm
Case study by Tobias Berger (Director, Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong) examining the changing audiences for arts institutions in Europe and in Asia.
2.30 pm
Dialogue between Rachida Azough (Artistic Director, Kosmopolis, House for Cultural Dialogue, Rotterdam) and Tirdad Zolghadr (independent curator, Berlin), exploring differing approaches to using culture as a tool for mediating between cultures.
3.45 pm
Panel discussion on the relationship between an art institution and its public(s):
what do we want from our audience? Tirdad Zolghadr (independent curator, Berlin), Gitta Luiten (Director, Mondriaan Foundation), Niru Ratnam (co-director, STORE gallery, London, and initiator of Arts Council Englands Inspire curatorial program), Nina Möntmann (independent curator and writer, Hamburg), Simon Rees (curator, CAC Vilnius).
Sat 10 February: New locations
1.30 pm
Dialogue between Laurent Le Bon (Director, Centre Pompidou-Metz) and Ruud Visschedijk (Director, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam) concerning relocating cultural institutions.
2.30 pm
Case study by Claire Doherty (Director, Situations, Bristol) on the complexities of rooting a nomadic curatorial practice in a specific geographic region.
3.45 pm
Panel discussion on the question of de-centralisation and gentrification:
why is it still a matter of location, location, location? Marc Spiegler (journalist and art critic, Zurich) Nikolaus Hirsch (architect, Frankfurt), Adrienne Goehler (publicist and independent curator, Berlin), Dirk Snauwaert (Director, Wiels contemporary art centre, Brussels), Wouter van Stiphout (architectural historian and member of Crimson collective, Rotterdam).
General information:
Names and dates are subject to change. All discussions will take place in English.
To reserve a place, please email info@wdw.nl – early booking is recommended.
ALSO BY WITTE DE WITH:
Brian Jungen solo exhibition, open until February 11 2007 at Witte de With.
DEPICTION, PERVERSION, REPULSION, OBSESSION, SUBVERSION,
a film series in five units, as part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
29 January 2 February 2007, daily from 4 to 6 pm
Pathé Cinema, Screen 6, Schouwburgplein, Rotterdam.
ALSO IN ROTTERDAM:
Art Rotterdam 2007 is an art fair now in its 8th year, taking place from 8 to 12 February at the Cruise Terminal, in the Kop van Zuid area of Rotterdam, featuring over 70 international galleries. For details please visit www.artrotterdam.nl
Rotterdam Dialogues: The Periphery Complex is curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen, Ariadne Urlus and Zoë Gray. It is supported by Art Rotterdam and the Stichting Bevordering van Volkskracht.
For details of this symposium and all other Witte de With programs, please see our website www.wdw.nl , email info@wdw.nl or call us on 31 (0)10 411 0144.
