Tag Archives: Chris Dercon

Video symposium ‘What is a ‘Postcolonial Exhibition’?’

Posted on 26/06/2012

The Stedelijk Museum and Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam proudly presented the symposium ‘What is a Postcolonial Exhibition?’, an SMBA initiative organized as part of the program of Temporary Stedelijk 3 – Stedelijk @. Click here to read the symposium’s info sheet and watch the video registrations below.

What is a ‘Postcolonial Exhibition’? has been made possible through the support of:
Mondriaan Fund
Amsterdam Fund for the Arts
SNS REAAL Fonds

Part 1: Mapping the Field (turn up volume)

– Margriet Schavemaker, Head of Collections, Stedelijk Museum. Introduction and Welcome.
– Elena Sorokina, art historian and freelance curator. Introduction to exhibiting the postcolonial.
– Jelle Bouwhuis, Curator, SMBA. Brief note on the Stedelijk’s global art history.
– Johannes Fabian, Anthropologist. Introduction to Time and the Other, after interviewed by Anke Bangma, curator at the Tropenmuseum.
– Discussion

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Report symposium What is a ‘Postcolonial Exhibition’?

Posted on 08/06/2012

In collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam organized the symposium What is a ‘Postcolonial Exhibition’? on May 25. During this day the institutional engagement with the colonial past and the postcolonial present was discussed. The symposium presented a range of institutional practices and scholarly insights to examine a specific aspect: the exhibition itself and the exhibition strategies that go alongside it.

Curator Christel Vesters wrote an extensive report on the symposium.

A first impression, by Christel Vesters

What is a ‘Postcolonial Exhibition’? kicked-off with an introduction by co-organiser Elena Sorokina, who eloquently outlined the framework for the symposium by unpacking its two primary questions: ‘what constitutes the postcolonial today?’, and ‘what is the language of an exhibition?’ If an exhibition today is no longer merely a space in which objects are put on display but has developed itself as a trans-disciplinary, narrative space in which the parameters of time and space are no longer fixed, how can exhibitions then respond to developments like globalisation, post-colonialism or to our multicultural societies?
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News: Curator International Affairs Tate Modern

Posted on 18/08/2011

Tate and Guaranty Trust Bank announced an important new partnership which will broaden Tate’s international reach to Africa, provide a platform for African artists to be seen by audiences world-wide and heighten awareness of the impact of African art on modern and contemporary practice. The legacy and current influence of art produced in areas outside Europe and North America has been a focus for Tate in recent years and this presents an unprecedented opportunity to examine Africa’s role at the heart of global artistic developments. The partnership will involve the creation of a dedicated curatorial post at Tate Modern to focus on African art, an Acquisition Fund to enable the Gallery to enhance its holdings of work by African artists and an annual project.

Chris Dercon, Director Tate Modern said:
“This important partnership between Tate and GTB marks the recognition of the significance of modern and contemporary art in Africa. We now have an unprecedented opportunity to work with colleagues in the region, with energy, curiosity and eagerness, to define new parameters in art. This is the beginning of being able to give African art the focus it deserves with audiences around the world.“


Click here to read the press release on the website of Tate Modern