Institutional Spaces

Discussion of the exhibition "Spaces of Conflict" by
Mike Bode & Staffan Schmidt in the Kunst-Werken, KW Institute for Contemporary Art
On Jan. 8, 2005, 7 - 9 p.m.

Organized by Nina Möntmann and Anselm Franke


In what way does an art space contribute to a community, a city, or a society? Are there expectations that an art institution must deal with or fulfill? Could changes in the architectural space improve institutions' work and communication?

The artists Mike Bode and Staffan Schmidt, who live in Malmö, portray six art institutions in six countries by interviewing curators and art students, documenting characteristic and/or revealing views of the architecture and its surroundings, and commenting upon their own observations and research. They thereby uncover differences and similarities by opening themselves to questions of the concrete spaces for art, beyond official program design. The interview questions deal primarily with the expectations that curators and artists have of the spaces, and with the architecture, but also with the motives, desires, and expectations involved in art and its forms of presentation.

The discussion takes up the questions of institutional exhibition practice and of the relationship between the architectonic and the social space of the institution; it seeks to initiate today questions about the requirements and design of institutional spaces. Which models are available? How have these changed in recent years? And what aesthetic economies and processes of creating value are tied to these models?

Anselm Franke, Kestutis Kuizinas, and Marianne Torp, three of the curators who took part in the interviews, will be present, along with the artists Mike Bode and Staffan Schmidt, as well as the project curator, Nina Möntmann. Beyond that, Beatrice von Bismarck, Judith Hopf, and Jan Verwoert will contribute forward-looking statements and ideas on the current discussion about the conception and reality of institutional art spaces from a curatorial, art-critical, and artistic perspective. They will thereby raise questions about the current and future relationship between artistic and institutional practice in the societal context.

The discussion will be held in English.


Participants:

Beatrice von Bismarck (Professor for Art History and Visual Culture; artist; Director of the Gallery/Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig; curator and author, Berlin)
Mike Bode (artist, Malmö)
Anselm Franke (curator/KW Inst. for Contemporary Art, Berlin)
Judith Hopf (artist, Berlin)
Kestutis Kuizinas (Director, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius)
Staffan Schmidt (artist, Malmö)
Marianne Torp (curator /Statens Museum for Art - the x-room, Copenhagen)
Jan Verwoert (Guest Professor/Art Academy Umeå, Sweden; critic and author, Hamburg)

Moderation: Nina Möntmann (curator/NIFCA; author and critic, Hamburg and Helsinki)


We would be very happy to answer any questions you may have. For now, we remain, with the best wishes for the New Year,

Markus Müller
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Auguststrasse 69
10117 Berlin
T: ++49 30 24 34 59 41 / 42
F: ++49 30 24 34 59 99
presse@kw-berlin.de
www.kw-berlin.de


"Spaces of Conflict" was curated by Nina Möntmann, NIFCA.

Produced by NIFCA (www.nifca.org), presented by the Kunst-Werken, Berlin.


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Further information:

Markus Müller I Maike Cruse
t: ++49 30 24 34 59 41 / 42
press@kw-berlin.de