I, We, Us: On Collectivity

While the field of contemporary art is often structured around the singular author, a persistent counter-current insists on the power and importance of the collective. This year’s Master’s Symposium, “I, We, Us: On Collectivity”, departs from a central question: how do we go back and forth between “I”, “We” and “Us”? How is the impulse to work together born? What does it mean to navigate between a singular artistic practice and a shared practice, and how does this, in turn, create new forms of community and belonging?

The spectrum of collectivity is vast, and the Master’s Symposium aims to explore the complex terrain between the individual artist, the artistic duo, the collective as a mode of production, and the broader “Us" that such collectives address, constitute, or defy. The path from “I” to “We” to “Us” and vice versa is not predetermined, but complex and multifaceted. That is why the symposium wants to shed light on questions of authorship, power dynamics, intention, and impact. How to build an "Us" that resists exclusion? What is the relationship between the individual, the collective and the concept of community, particularly for groups operating from the margins? And where to place and challenge the institution?

To probe these questions, the symposium will bring together artists, collectives, and thinkers whose practices offer diverse models of collectivity. We will examine the collective not just as a subject of representation, but as a lived structure.

All contributions, conversations and screenings are open to the public. All workshops are for students only. 

The symposium takes place on the October 21 and 22 at ZHdK, Room 5.K12 and is facilitated and hosted by Pauline Curnier Jardin, Marie-France Rafael, Johanna Terhechte and Judith Welter.