Artists do research, humanities scholars do research, but their interests and practices are not necessarily congruent with dominant practices of the sciences as they never rid themselves of politics, of struggle, of urgencies. The arts and humanities are usually interested in conditional and situated knowledge, knowledge in society and in history. But if we zoom into the very practices of science we will find a myriad of competing epistemological arts and entanglements with society. The difference might not even be that decisive if we look at practices and not at truth claims. The workshop will first discuss a possible conceptual frame for curating with artistic research. It will then present a long-term artistic research and curatorial project with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Colombia which was conducted by Mobile Academy Berlin and resulted into a film and a Blackmarket for useful Knowledge and Non-Knowledge in November 2019. We will address questions such as: How can artistic research enter a situation of violence and trauma in a responsible/response-able way? What methods (participatory, speculative, communicative) can be used to create a curatorial event that feeds into the process at stake (in this case: the building of (post)conflict narratives)? What is “usefulness” in artistic research and curating? How to deal with conflicting quality criteria (aesthetic, research related, activism related)?
The presentation was recorded, to watch the video on YouTube click below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvHvrzqelnI
BIO KAREN HARRASSER: Karin Harrasser is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Art and Design Linz and Vice Rector for Research there. After studying history and German language and literature, she received her doctorate in 2005 with a dissertation on the narratives of digital cultures at the University of Vienna. This was followed by a research assistant position at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and various guest professorships in Germany and Colombia. Afterwards habilitation at the Humboldt University in Berlin on “Prostheses. Figures of wounded modernity” (published 2016 by Vorwerk 8 Berlin). In addition to her academic activities, she has been involved in various artistic-curatorial projects, e.g. at Kampnagel Hamburg, Tanzquartier Wien or with MAPA Teatro and the Colombian Truth Commission in Bogotá. Together with Elisabeth Timm she publishes the journal for cultural studies. She is currently working on two publications on transatlantic linkages: A book on asymmetric cultural transfer in connection with the Jesuit mission in Bolivia and a book on the father-daughter team Hans and Monika Ertl as a network of symptoms of globalised contemporary history.
While explaining the details and circumstances that have shaped the realization of WHW Akademija, an independent, tuition-free interdisciplinary study program for emerging artists founded by WHW in 2018 I will also deliberate on aspects of knowledge production as integral part of curatorial methodology. WHW Akademija accepts 8–12 fellows per year and its aim is to work with the participants in Zagreb over the course of seven months on new forms of self-determination based on modes of critical reflection, curiosity, and encounters among artists, artworks, arts professionals, scholars, and practitioners in various disciplines. The program consists of a series of intensives, experimental exercises, workshops, and seminars, as well as a range of exhibitions, performances, and discursive programs that are in large part open to the public.
The presentation was recorded, to watch the video on YouTube click below:
BIO WHW: What, How & for Whom/WHW is a curatorial collective formed in 1999 and based in Zagreb and Berlin. Its members are Ivet Ćurlin, Ana Dević, Nataša Ilić and Sabina Sabolović, and designer and publicist Dejan Kršić. WHW organizes a range of production, exhibition and publishing projects and it has been intensively developing models based on collective way of working, creative use of public space and collaboration between partners of different backgrounds. Primarily shaped by the format of the exhibition, WHW projects are conceived as platforms for progressive modes of cultural production and reflections of social reality. Since 2003 WHW collective has been running the program of Gallery Nova, a city-owned gallery in Zagreb. In March 2019 members of WHW Ivet Ćurlin, Nataša Ilić and Sabina Sabolović were appointed in 2019 as artistic directors of Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna. WHW as a collective will continue working in Zagreb with collective activities coordinated by WHW member Ana Dević.