2013 - NEW YORK: ROAMING ACADEMY GOES NYC / from Museum El Barrio to High Line and all places in between / meeting with Chus Martinez, Nato Thompson, Tom Miller, Sal Randolph, Jeff Raven, Marisa Jahn, Josh MacFee, Gregory Sholette and numerous others
May 3 - May 17
Travelers: Hanan Benammar, Anna Dasovic, Aziza Harmel, Anneke Ingwersen, Sarah Jones, Liu Yi, Marianna Maruyama, Quenton Miller, Sofia Ocana Urwitz, Kim Schonewille, Tommy Soro, Larraitz Torres Zumelaga, Silvia Ulloa plus Renée Ridgway (project leader/curator) and Jacq van der Spek (project assistant).
The 'Roaming Academy'- research project 2013 for DAI-students in their first year, addresses alternative formats of knowledge production within the position of mobility in an ever-changing, dynamic world. This privilege – to have the ability to collaborate with various institutions worldwide - has unfolded throughout the year. Fourteen DAI students from all over the world come together once a month at DAI in Arnhem for one week, ten times a year, for seminars, visiting lecturers and workshops. This year Roaming Academy kicked off in Liverpool for a two-day seminar in collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University whilst visiting the Liverpool Biennale, then to Utrecht for BAK's 'No more Fascism' exhibition by WHW and Casco Projects.In December we participated in the Kunstvlaai in Amsterdam and in February we visited various institutions in Arnhem, including the panopticon prison De Berg, which is now scheduled for closure because of austerity measures. As part of the our continuing itinerant curriculum, we are now headed to New York City for a two-week research-trip, visiting various institutions, artists, curators, architects, project spaces and museums, as well as alternative venues and off–the-radar projects. With mobility as a keyword in contemporary art practice how does this privilege affect the larger world economy, bio-politics, sustainability and ecology?
This year's subtext is art and economy, looking at artistic practice and curatorial positions whilst investigating models of sustainability. With the increasing loss of state and public monies, privatization is becoming more and more prevalent and almost an accepted means with neo-liberal governments.
How will this affect the culture industry, an expansive sector that is increasingly incorporating other fields of inquiry, along with their financial systems and structures of support, in processes of art-related activities? In an attempt to answer some of these questions our New York trip brings us to various museums; New Museum, MOMA, P.S. 1, Museum El Barrio, Queens Museum, Studio Harlem), smaller institutions, Apex Art, e-flux, Printed Matter), artists initiatives (16 Beaver, REV, Artists Space, Proteus Gowanus, Interference Archive.
Galleries: Third Streaming, McKee, Kansas, Chelsea openings), public centers (Eyebeam, Creative Time, High Line), along with the auction house Sotheby's and the Frieze Art Fair.
We will also be meeting up with NYC based artists, curators, architects and other practioners: Chus Martinez, Nato Thompson, Tania Brugera, W.A.G.E., Caroline Woolard, Tom Miller, Sal Randolph, Jeff Raven, Marisa Jahn, Josh MacFee, Gregory Sholette, Bard CCS, to name just a few.
In which ways can we best navigate through these plausible artworlds, alternative economies and various markets in order to produce engaged works that are connected to greater society? The efficacy of art and its impact on cultural, social and political issues, the choices we make as artists when we exhibit our work, the agency we have or do not have or whether we do or do not engage remain lingering questions. We expect that these NYC visits will provide clarity as well as inspiration.
http://dutchartinstitute.eu/page/3088/roaming-academy-edition-2012-2013
Photo-credit: Jacq van der Spek. Sitting in the middle, surrounded by the DAI-clan is Tom Miller.