Functions of the MuseumArt, Exhibitions and Audience Today
International conference
Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome
3-4 April 2009
http://www.maxxisymposium.it
The conference Le funzioni del museo/Functions of the Museum is the first in a series of events that MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts is organising prior to the opening of its Rome premises, which have been designed by Zaha Hadid. Scholars, curators and artists of international renown will be taking part in the conference to discuss the topic of museums as places where artistic creation intersects with the most lively cultural and social interactions of the present-day world.
Consisting of two sessions, to be held this coming 3 and 4 April, the conference will provide Italy's first opportunity to further the debate prompted by the positions of the Institutional Critique, a line of artistic and theoretical research that is aiming to bring out the historical nature of aesthetic judgement and to critically examine the ways in which works of art are experienced. The first session, introduced by Anna Mattirolo, director MAXXI Arte, will be of a more historical nature and will focus on the debate concerning the critique of institutions, as it has appeared in its theoretical and artistic developments since 1968. The second will tackle issues that are more specifically linked to the role of museums and exhibitions within the present art system.
Discussions about crucial aspects such as exhibition space, the response of the audience, and linguistic and philosophical aspects that are characteristic of art operations, will all help in this attempt to define one of the fundamental roles of contemporary museums: that of bringing out the full value of more recent works by offering suitable critical instruments. A publication will later collect the speeches and transcriptions of the round tables, and as well as critical and bibliographic instruments to provide an overall and up-to-date overview of the issues involved, and to arouse interest among scholars and all those who are keen on the subject. Curated by Stefano Chiodi
Participants
Speakers: Daniel Buren, artist (Paris); Jimmie Durham, artist (Berlin/Rome); Boris Groys, art historian and theorist (Karlsruhe/New York); John C. Welchman, art critic and historian (Los Angeles).
Round tables: Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, director of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna (Rome); Wouter Davidts, architecture critic and historian (Amsterdam); Federico Ferrari, philosopher (Milan); Maria Grazia Messina, art historian (Florence); Joanna Mytkowska, director of the Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej (Warsaw); Cesare Pietroiusti, artist (Rome); Giorgio Verzotti, curator and art critic (Milan); Marc-Olivier Wahler, director of the Palais de Tokyo (Paris).
In collaboration with Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, Rome.
Information:
Venue: Palazzo Esposizioni, via Nazionale 194, Rome
Dates and hours: Friday 3 April, 2.00 pm - 7.00 pm; Saturday 4 April, 10.00 am - 3.00 pm.
Website: www.parc.beniculturali.it; www.maxxisymposium.it
Contacts: lefunzionidelmuseo.maxxi@alfa-international.it; tel. 06.32282214, fax. 06.3222038
