The Constituent Museum in Dialogue A Series of Talks
Museums have the potential to become powerful spaces for experiencing different forms of participation. However, they are often hampered by their structure, which reflects many present-day cultural, material and political tensions.
This can be a consequence of the institutions’ neoliberal governance – exemplified by the people involved in museum patronage and the tyranny of ticket sales – and/or political instability and increasing authoritarianism, particularly in Eastern Europe. Museums’ tremendous emancipatory potential, therefore, has been stymied on two fronts: by neoliberal normalisation, with its compulsive craving for constant growth, profitability and visibility, on the one hand; and by the political impostures of populism and historical revisionism, on the other. As institutions, we can sometimes be highly experimental, yet we tend to have very conventional governance. We face the challenge of remaining critical amid wider tendencies to “neutralise” politically problematic contexts and content.
On Riots, Grief and Parties
MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 29:12 min
This dialogue reveals the experiences, emotions and interactions between participants during research and development for the exhibition On Riots, Grief and Parties within the framework of the Independent Studies Programme.
This film focuses on The Blyzkist Project. The name Blyzkist (from the Ukrainian for ‘closeness’) refers to community and togetherness, both physical and emotional.
Omuz was launched by a group of people working in the arts and culture who believe in the urgency of unreciprocated resource-sharing and cooperation, something which will only be sustainable with the support of others.
This dialogue is based on a video recording of Zdenka Badovinac’s workshop at the international summer school The Big Shift − The 1990s; The Avant-Gardes in Eastern Europe and Their Legacy.
Reclaimed by gay activists in the 1970s and 1980s, the Pink Triangle has become an icon of dissident sexualities’ political struggle for liberation.
