Announcement: «Curating Difference – Different Curating?»

Long Table Discussions at Kunstmuseum Basel, Vortragssaal (entrance Picassoplatz): Dec. 4, 2023, 18.15–20.00, in English. Free entry!

The event is open to the public. All are welcome!

Take a seat at a table, discuss with experts in the art world or just listen. Together we will address persisting challenges and changing notions of leadership and curation as well as therefore necessary coalitions and supportive structures. An adapted version of Lois Weaver’s format «long table» allows for in-depth discussions at four thematic tables: 

1 leadership & power
moderated by
Yasmin Afschar, Director interim Kunsthalle Mainz
Ann Demeester, Director Kunsthaus Zürich
Elena Filipovic, Director Kunsthalle Basel, des. Director Kunstmuseum Basel

2 supportive structures & powerful allies
moderated by
Katharina Brandl, Head of Visual Arts, Pro Helvetia
Katrin Grögel, Head of Department of Culture, Basel-Stadt
Maja Wismer, Head of Art after 1960, Kunstmuseum Basel

3 curating: challenges & interventions
moderated by
Kabelo Malatsie, Director Kunsthalle Bern
Dorothee Richter, Prof. Dr. ZHdK and University of Reading & editor-in-chief of On-Curating.org
Nadine Wietlisbach, Director Fotomuseum Winterthur

4 coalitions & networks
moderated by
Melanie Bühler, Senior curator, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen
Kadiatou Diallo, Curator, researcher and lecturer, University of Basel
Marianne Guarino-Huet, Prof. Dr. HEAD Genève & Collectif microsillons
Ana Vujić, Committee Visarte Region Basel

Every table will seat three to four moderators and provide empty chairs for interested participants.  We will repeat this three times which will allow participants to visit three different tables.

The public «long table» exchange is preceded by an intense research lab (by invitation only). Invited are leading women in the Swiss art world, e.g. directors and head curators of Swiss arts museums, professional associations for visual artists and curators, freelance curators, cantonal and national cultural officers.

The event is organized by aoi in conjunction with Swiss Association for Gender Studies SAGS (Dominique Grisard & Andrea Zimmermann), hosted by Kunstmuseum Basel (Maja Wismer & Alice Wilke), and funded by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences SAGW. In cooperation with Pro Helvetia, Swiss Center for Social Research, Visarte Region Basel (Irene Maag & Ana Vujić).

Why is this important?

In the quest for gender equality in the visual arts, the goal of this research lab (by invitation only) and public long tables discussion is to critically reflect the main findings of the pilot study «Gender relations in the Swiss cultural sector» (Zimmermann et al. 2021) and the current endeavor of developing a gender and diversity monitoring for Swiss cultural institutions. Together we will address persisting challenges, changing notions of leadership and curation, and necessary coalitions and supportive structures.

Cultural labor is only possible under certain conditions: To thrive in the visual arts, for example, depends on the successful separation of private life/family and work/art and on invisibilizing the former. This separation of life worlds will be the starting point for our exchange. Informed by various genealogies of queer-feminist critique, the event proposes to shed light on the exclusion mechanisms in the arts while opening up a space for reflection, critique and transformation with a focus on best practices in an international context. What are the tools we need to intervene and transform art institutions from the inside – on a personal and structural level?

Entrance Picassoplatz:
To find the entrance at Picassoplatz, follow the road from Kunstmuseum Basel main entrance towards Aeschenplatz (Dufourstrasse) until you encounter the back of the main building of Kunstmuseum Basel.

Image: Collage based on a photograph by Efe Kurnaz on Unsplash.