Populist Politics and its Consequences for Cultural Production and Display
07/03/2003 - 08/03/2003
Danish Contemporary Art Foundation
Kongens Nytorv 3-5
DK-1050 Copenhagen K.
Tel +45 33 70 74 70
Tel +45 33 70 74 70
dca-cdb@dca-cdb.dk
www.dca-cdb.dk
Populist Politics and its Consequences for Cultural Production and Display
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
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.
