About the event
What exactly do museums of contemporary art stand for today? What are the most significant precursors of the contemporary museum—and what are its possible futures? This conference aims to tackle key questions around the museum as an institutional entity and contemporary art as an art historical category. Particular attention will be paid to the construction of historical narratives (or their abandonment) through collection displays, as well as the role of research
in relation to contemporary art. Panels and speakers will explore the alternative models that are already having an impact, and their relationship to more traditional museum infrastructures.
Participants include Bruce Altshuler, Museum Studies, New York University; Claire Bishop, PhD Program in Art History, the Graduate Center, CUNY; Carlos Basualdo, Philadelphia Museum of Art & MAXXI, Rome; Manuel Borja Villel, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Paul Chan, artist; Beatriz Colomina, Architecture, Princeton University; Okwui Enwezor, curator; Pamela M. Lee, Art History, Stanford University; Maria Lind, curator; Terry Smith, History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh; Philippe Vergne, Dia Art Foundation.
This event was held in conjuction with the James Gallery exhibition "The Making of Americans." For more information, click here.
