JAG CONSULTATIONS 2019: SESSION 1

MUSEUMS FOR WHOM, MUSEUMS FOR WHAT?

THE CENTRE FOR THE LESS GOOD IDEA, 264 FOX STREET, CITY AND SUBURBAN, JOHANNESBURG

Sunday 12 May 2019

MUSEUMS FOR WHOM, MUSEUMS FOR WHAT?

Museums of art have played a significant role in the way that the modern state has sought to define the public good. However, history has demonstrated that the subject of modernity has often been very narrowly defined according to race, nationality, gender, geography class, etc… – with the rest of humanity becoming mere subjects. Whereas post-colonial critique, class analysis and gender politics have vigorously interrogated the institutional, discursive as well as representational models of the modern museum of art, for the most part existing hierarchies have remained stubbornly intact. In addition to this, the socio-political and economic constitution of traditional museum audiences have shifted in such a way that the issue of transforming museums is no longer an abstract premise but a matter of survival.

The question is: are museums willing and able to re-imagine themselves in the radically new conditions in which they find themselves? Are Museum professionals and museum administrative arms able to succinctly identify, craft and implement new methodologies that can speak to new audiences and constituencies?

PANELISTS:

  • Khwezi Gule (JAG)
  • Thomas J. Lax (MoMA, New York)
  • Ingrid Masondo (Iziko SANG)
  • Molemo Moiloa (MADEYOULOOK)
  • Cláudia Rocha (MnBA, Rio de Janeiro)

Museums of art have played a significant role in the way that the modern state has sought to define the public good. However, history has demonstrated that the subject of modernity has often been very narrowly defined according to race, nationality, gender, geography class, etc… – with the rest of humanity becoming mere subjects.