Spatial Encounters #1: Exhibition-Making as Political Practice
We are living through turbulent times. Rhetorics of hate and racism spreads like wildfire, while the far right is on the rise across the globe. In response, cultural institutions are becoming more aware of their responsibility towards society and especially those who have been long marginalized and excluded. Increasingly, museums are beginning to confront their authoritative, exclusive, and colonial legacies, and to engage with urgent sociopolitical themes, often through contemporary art.But what happens with their spaces and the ways exhibitions themselves are designed? Curation and exhibition design are not neutral; they can be powerful tools for conveying socially engaged, even radical, messages.
How can exhibitions help visitors engage more actively with complex sociopolitical themes? Can a space itself be activating — bringing forward underrepresented voices. inviting visitors to listen carefully, and opening room for reflection? Can we experience the messages of an exhibition by moving through its spaces, rather than only reading about them?
This roundtable, a collaboration of VOX-POP and NARDIV hosted at Goethe-Insitut, brings together scholars and practitioners from the cultural field to reflect on these questions. Together, they will explore how the synergy between art and space can critically activate audiences, foster new forms of engagement and counter passivity against the grim backdrop of our times.
Practical
This Roundtable takes place at Goethe-Institut (Herengracht 470). The programme starts at 18:00 and lasts until 20:00. Entrance is free.
