[Nettime-ro] 1st Former West Congress organized by BAK, basis voor actuele kunst

[Cosmin Costinas <cosmincostinas2004@yahoo.com>]

September 3, 2009

								

							
						
					
				
				
					

				
			
		
		
			
				
					

				
				
					

				
			
			
				
					

					1st Former West 
Congress, Utrecht
				
			
			
				
					

						
                    

                        Heimo Zobernig
Proposal for visual idenity of Former West, 2009 
                    

                
					

                
                
					

				
				
					
						







1st Former West Congress

5 - 7 November 2009 



Organized by BAK, basis voor 

actuele kunst
					


					
						Venue: Ottone

Kromme Nieuwegracht 62

Utrecht, the Netherlands



http://www.formerwest.org
					
					

				
			
			
				
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						In the days leading up to the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 2009, BAK, basis voor
actuele kunst, Utrecht hosts the 1st Former West Congress, which gathers some of the most influential
curators, artists, theorists, and thinkers of the past two decades from the field of art. This is the first major
public program of the long-term, multifaceted international research, education, publishing, and exhibition project
Former West (2008â2013).



Former West aims at articulating the processes of the West "becoming former" that, however unacknowledged by the
West itself, began with the demise of the Cold War construct of a bipolar world in 1989. The project is an attempt to
rethink the West and its art out of their hegemonic self-narration and to propose another, speculative view of the
history of western art after 1989, one evolving around significant social and political changes and in active dialogue
with post-communist and postcolonial thought.  



Through dynamic and critical exchange with contributors and participants, this inaugural Congress begins mapping the
artistic and theoretical developments surrounding the problematic of the "formerness" of the West, and charts the
practices in art through which we can identify and engage with the post-1989 landscape and its impact on cultural
production. Each day of the Congress is framed under a general thematic field and is comprised of different formats,
including keynote lectures and a series of conversations. 



5 November 2009

The first day commences with a position paper delivered by the Former West curators: Charles Esche
(director Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven), Maria Hlavajova (artistic director BAK, basis voor actuele kunst,
Utrecht), and Kathrin Rhomberg (curator, Berlin Biennial 6, Berlin), followed by a response from Rosi
Braidotti (director Centre for the Humanities, Utrecht University, Utrecht). This is followed by a second session
entitled Histories and Narratives: Between the Post-communist and the Postcolonial (1989â2009), which includes
keynotes delivered by Sarat Maharaj (art historian, Lund), Renata Salecl (philosopher, Ljubljana/London),
Boris Groys (theorist, New York), and Paul Gilroy (sociologist, London). 



6 November 2009

The second day's session, Art, its Discourses, and the World at Large (1989â2001â2008), is openend by
Cosmin Costinas (curator BAK, Utrecht) and Georg SchÃllhammer (theorist, Vienna) who jointly deliver the
keynote. The rest of the day is structured around a series of conversations with David Riff (art critic, Moscow),
Jalal Toufic (artist, Istanbul), Pablo Lafuente (managing editor Afterall, London), Catherine
David (curator, Paris), Kerstin Stakemeier (curator, Berlin), Marion von Osten (artist,
Berlin/Vienna), Stefan Heidenreich (writer, Berlin), Christian Hoeller (editor, Vienna), and Helmuth
Draxler (curator, Stuttgart/Vienna), and concludes with a plenary session.



7 November 2009

The concluding day of the Congress, entitled Representations of Art in the Former West: Exhibitions, Art
Institutions, Art Market (1989â2009) is opened by a keynote from Simon Sheikh (curator, Berlin). Further
contributions on this day are organized as conversations between two interlocutors: Claire Bishop (art critic,
London/New York) and Douglas Gordon (artist, Berlin); Mihnea Mircan (curator, Bucharest) and Piotr
Piotrowski (art historian, Poznan/Warsaw); Thomas Boutoux (curator, Paris) and Okwui Enwezor
(curator, New York/San Francisco); Nuria Enguita-Mayo (curator, Valencia) and Ana Longoni (art historian,
Buenos Aires); Sven LÃtticken (art critic, Utrecht) and Tom Holert (art historian, Berlin/Vienna). The
day ends with a plenary session and the concluding remarks of the Former West curators.



The Congress continues with a series of closed sessions on Sunday 8 November 2009, dedicated to in-depth discussion on
the issues and themes raised during the public days.



Practical Information: 

The 1st Former West Congress takes place at Ottone, Kromme Nieuwegracht 62 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
All sessions of the conference are held in English. Further information about the Congress, including participation,
registration, etc. is available at http://www.formerwest.org and http://www.bak-utrecht.nl Due to limited seating registration for the
Congress is required, and is open until Wednesday 30 September 2009. To register, please send an e-mail with
contact information to info@bak-utrecht.nl.



Former West is initiated by Maria Hlavajova, curated by Charles Esche, Maria Hlavajova, and
Kathrin Rhomberg, and coordinated and produced by BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht. It is developed
together with a team of research advisors: Claire Bishop, Boris Groys, Marion von Osten, Piotr Piotrowski, Simon
Sheikh, and Georg SchÃllhammer; and a network of institutional partners: Afterall Journal and Books,
London (http://www.afterall.org); BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht
(http://www.bak-utrecht.nl); Centre for the Humanities, Utrecht
University, Utrecht (http://www2.hum.uu.nl/cfh); International
Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), Amsterdam (http://www.idfa.nl); Museo
Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofÃa, Madrid (http://www.museoreinasofia.es); Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (http://www.artmuseum.pl); and Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (http://www.vanabbemuseum.nl).



The 1st Former West Congress is realized in partnership with the Centre for the Humanities, Utrecht
University.



For more information please visit http://www.formerwest.org.
					

					 

					
						
					
					

					

				
			
			
				
                    
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