If it is possible to think of our time as a time of interregnum—much in line with how political thinker Antonio Gramsci spoke of the period characterized by a “great variety of morbid symptoms,” as a crisis that “consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born”—what, then, is our art to do? Everywhere, we see extant hegemonies losing their grip as we part from the legacy of the modern under the pressures of new contemporary realities. As we hover over the end of one era, unable to grasp the not yet, how can we—with and through art—trace from here the prospective itineraries pointing towards what we once used to call the “future”?
In order to address these questions, in her Curator's Perspective talk Maria Hlavajova will speculatively draw upon her research within two interrelated projects she has engaged with, FORMER WEST and Future Vocabularies. The former aims at developing a critical understanding of the legacy of the radical resistance to power in 1989 in order to reevaluate the global present and speculate about global futures. The latter attempts to act out concrete propositions that explore the shifts in our existing conceptual vocabulary within artistic, intellectual, and activist practices.
This event is organized in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. It is free and open to the public. To attend please RSVP to rsvp@curatorsintl.org with MARIA in the subject line.
