[spectre] Fwd: 3rd FORMER WEST Research Congress, Part One, Vienna, 19–20 April

[Andreas Broeckmann]

3rd FORMER WEST Research Congress, Part One
Beyond What Was Contemporary Art
19–20 April 2012

Venues:
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and Secession, Vienna*

http://www.formerwest.org


The 3rd FORMER WEST Research Congress, Part One: /Beyond What Was
Contemporary Art/ takes place on *19 and 20 April 2012* at the Academy
of Fine Arts Vienna and Secession, Vienna. The Congress offers a space
to speculate about possibilities for art vis-à-vis the increasing forces 
  of antagonism across the world and the emerging imaginaries that 
accompany them.

Is it possible to think of Contemporary Art as art—or an art historical
period even—emerging from 1989 and developing in parallel to other
hegemonic formations such as global neoliberalism? Could it then be
argued that, in sync with the current seismic shifts in society,
politics, and economy, it now also faces if not a dead end then a number
of challenges that take it to task? Is Contemporary Art, as an
iconographic source of the political architecture of the world of the
last two decades on its way out so to speak, together with the system
that made it possible? What kind of challenges and possibilities might
then lie before us in the space of art in times like ours? Can we
speculate collectively on how to move beyond the present confines of
Contemporary Art's practices, and begin articulating what can appear
from its "formerness?" What are our responses to—and proposals for—the
times ahead?

In order to consider these questions, Part One of the Congress brings
together artists, curators, and scholars including *aaa/atelier
d'architecture autogeree* (urban research collective platform,
Paris),*Nancy Adajania* (cultural theorist and curator, Mumbai),*CAMP
*(collaborative project and platform, Mumbai),*Ekaterina Degot *(artist
historian and curator, Moscow), *Jesko Fezer (*artist and architect,
Berlin), *H.arta* (artist collective, Timisoara)/,/*Christian H*ö*ller*
(writer, Vienna),*Irit Rogoff* (theorist and curator, London), and *Ruth 
  Sonderegger* (philosopher, Vienna). Part Two is scheduled to occur 
this autumn in Utrecht (dates to be announced). The Congress is 
developed by BAK, basis voor actuele kunst and co-curated by FORMER WEST 
research advisor Marion von Osten.

The notion of "former West" is proposed as a tool for seeking
reflections and for imagining another possibility of being together in
the planetary condition of our times in which the so-called West is
envisioned differently than through its own narrative of domination.
FORMER WEST is a research, education, publishing, and exhibition project 
(2008–2014) aimed at a critical reinterpretation of our recent post-1989 
histories and at speculating about our global future by casting new 
light on art in relation to developments in society and politics. It is 
realized with a dense international network of researchers and 
institutional partners and curated by Maria Hlavajova (artistic director 
of BAK and FORMER WEST), and Kathrin Rhomberg (independent curator, 
Vienna). The 3rd FORMER WEST Research Congress is part of a series of 
public forums aimed at rendering visible and furthering the artistic, 
curatorial, and academic research in which the project FORMER WEST is 
grounded.

The Congress is in English. Admission is free, however, due to limited
seating*registration is recommended *to guarantee a seat. A registration
form is available online at: http://www.formerwest.org
Please submit the completed form no later than *30 March* *2012* to:
info at formerwest.org . Program updates can be
found on our website and Congress proceedings can be followed via live
stream and are archived on the FORMER WEST Digital Platform.

For more information on the previous Congresses or to explore the
research archive, please visit the Digital Platform: www.formerwest.org

Part One of the Congress is realized in collaboration with the Academy
of Fine Arts Vienna and Secession, Vienna and is generously supported by 
the Mondriaan Fund, Amsterdam; ERSTE Foundation, Vienna; and the Embassy 
of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Vienna.

*Venues for program activities:
*Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Schillerplatz 3
1010 Vienna

Secession
Friedrichstraße 12
A-1010 Vienna**

*For further information, please contact:
*BAK, basis voor actuele kunst
Lange Nieuwstraat 4
3512 PH Utrecht
t: +31 (0)30 2316125
f: +31 (0)30 2304866
e: info at bak-utrecht.nl <mailto:info at bak-utrecht.nl>