[artinfo] Curating Post-Nation Symposium: Friday 15 and Saturday 16 September 2006

[e-Flux]

Curating Post-Nation Symposium
Rethinking the Survey Exhibition
for the Biennial Age

Friday 15 and Saturday 16 September 2006

Location
Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA

<
http://www.situations.org.uk> http://www.situations.org.uk


Occurring every five years, the British Art Show 
is the most ambitious survey of new and recent 
developments in art from the UK. The curators of 
the sixth incarnation of the survey exhibition 
set out to distinguish key influences on current 
British practice, and in doing so, observed the 
increasingly diverse cultural makeup of what is 
considered ‘British art’. Their selection 
reflects a multiplicity of artistic strategies 
and their determination to introduce a dynamic 
and changing element to the exhibition as it 
tours from one city to the next.

Timed to coincide with the final weekend of the 
British Art Show in Bristol, UK, this symposium 
will explore the structure of national survey 
exhibitions, their potential to reflect on new 
tendencies in contemporary art and to produce 
dynamic contexts for the consideration of artists 
living or working within a defined geographic 
context. By bringing together acclaimed curators 
and critics to reflect on the international 
context of biennale curating and new 
institutionalism, it will also explore, through a 
range of position papers and discussions, 
potential alternatives to conventional exhibition 
models.

The symposium offers the opportunity to see the 
British Art Show across Bristol from 11am on 
Friday 15 September and will then commence at 
Arnolfini from 3.30pm. Evening performance by 
artist Doug Fishbone.

Speakers:
• Alex Farquharson & Andrea Schlieker: Co-curators, British Art Show 6
• Chrissie Iles: Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz 
Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York 
and Co-Curator of the Whitney Biennial 2004 and 
2006
• Nina Möntmann: Curator and author of Art and 
its Institutions: Current conflicts, critique and 
collaborations, Black Dog Publishing
• Neil Mulholland: Reader in Contemporary Art Theory, Edinburgh College of Art
• Hans-Ulrich Obrist: Co-Director of Exhibitions 
and Programmes and Director of International 
Projects, Serpentine Gallery, London
• Ralph Rugoff: Director, Hayward Gallery, London


Moderators:
• Claire Doherty: Director of Situations and 
Senior Research Fellow in Fine Art, University of 
the West of England, Bristol
• Mark Godfrey: Art Historian and Critic, and 
Lecturer in History and Theory of Art at the 
Slade School of Fine Art, University College, 
London

Tickets
To purchase tickets, email boxoffice at arnolfini.org.uk or call + 44 117 917 2300

Curating Post-Nation is organised by Situations 
in association with the Bristol Visual Arts 
Consortium (BVAC) and the Hayward Gallery, and is 
funded by Arts Council England South West.

Situations is a research and commissioning 
programme led by the University of the West of 
England, Bristol, and is dedicated to the 
investigation of place and context in 
contemporary art. For further information visit < 
http://www.situations.org.uk> 
http://www.situations.org.uk