Ariel Reichman, artist, on the notion of safety explored through body and sound exercises, developed in collaboration with dancer and performer Stephanie Amurao, and musician and sound artist Maya Shenfeld.
This program is at capacity for in person participation. We are no longer accepting registrations. Please scroll down or click here for a detailed schedule, and Zoom links to participate virtually.
What if we consider the recent pandemic, and the crisis mode that it engenders, as a disruption in an aesthetic-political constellation--one that severely curtails movement and momentum, unleashes paranoia, and morphs the ways in which we can act, perform, and perceive the world around us? Through such a reading, can we explore current curatorial and artistic practices as a method to voice urgencies in new ways? As curators, artists, performers, activists, and researchers, how can we stimulate a renewed understanding of the world during this moment of crisis and as the ground beneath us is shaking?
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly amplified the challenges facing societies worldwide: inequalities have increased in a severe way, accelerating acute gaps in class, race, and labor, and creating immense needs in healthcare and social services; the media, big tech, and other algorithm-based modes of communication have stirred up significant social fragmentation, creating divided communities that can no longer find a common language; human activities have provoked disastrous climate change that is wreaking havoc on our lived environment; alienation and singularization have become magnified. The need for serious and systemic change in the order of things seems both palpable and out of reach.
Where do contemporary artists and art institutions find themselves at this very moment? What other contemporary dilemmas and conflicts might be identified and understood through curatorial practice, which would otherwise be hidden in plain sight? How can curatorial platforms re-organize social space or re-articulate knowledge during times of crises?
Curating on Shaky Grounds is a series of symposium, workshops and performative gatherings, investigating ways in which re- thinking the curatorial can evoke ideas on subjectivity and situated knowledge. Questioning traditional hierarchies of knowledge and power structures, we will look at the possibility of transferring conflictual aesthetics to a curatorial realm, and collaboratively examine the ways that curating can unleash radical positions. Through meetings and experiences, participants will be invited to think through the role and responsibility of curators and artists as critical mediators in a time of crisis, and examine ways in which curating can provide possibilities for regaining differentiated and nuanced viewpoints. The program is part of a year-long series of workshops that will culminate in a publication.
Additional details about the workshops and symposium will be published soon. We encourage participants to register early as spaces are limited due to compliance with COVID regulations.
This program will adhere to necessary health guidelines and regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Curating on Shaky Grounds is organized by Ronald Kolb, Elena Levi, Dorothee Richter, Rotem Ruff, Maayan Sheleff, Hillit Zwick. The graphic for this program is designed by Avi Bohbot.
Schedule is subject to change.
Additional details about the workshops and symposium will be published soon.