SPRING 2009

22 January - 23 January 2009

Symposium exploring the theme of translation in the context of the Middle East, Part One. This will be the ICF's most ambitious project and it will take place at three sites: Tate Modern and Tate Britain in London and we are in discussion about making our third site the opening of the Sharjah Biennial.

The main partner of this project is Tate National. In this symposium, we want to explore how the Middle East is defined? How does the interpretation of modern and contemporary art from the Middle East and its diaspora effect its understanding at home and abroad? How have ideas about tradition and modernity emerged in art practice? What will be the impact of new and emerging spaces for seeing and exhibiting modern and contemporary art in different parts of the Middle East? This two-day symposium brings together artists, curators and writers to discuss recent developments in contemporary art from the Middle East and its diaspora.

Tate National reflects the growing importance of the ways in which Tate relates to other organisations in the UK and abroad. It includes sections on the Tate Partnership Scheme launched in early 2000, with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund; Visual Dialogues, funded by the DCMS, which documents a project initiated and managed by Tate in partnership with a range of art galleries around England; and Tate International, which covers Tate Collection exhibitions and loan exhibitions made in partnership with other museums and galleries and National Collections, and which features the new arrangements for loans between national institutions.

This symposium is organised by Tate and the International Curators Forum and is part of the World Collections Programme in association with NAFAS online magazine. The World Collections Programme is a collaborative initiative between six UK organisations which aims to develop greater access to their collections and expertise by building partnerships with organisations in Asia and Africa.

13 February - 14 February 2009

BLACK DIASPORA VISUAL ART

This conference is part of a series a series of symposiums and exhibitions that explore visual art in the Black Diaspora.

It is a major collaboration with the National Art Gallery Committee in Barbados, AICA Southern Caribbean and the Arts Council of England.

The conference takes as its starting point Stuart Hall and the question he poses in his essay “Modernity and its Others: Three Moments in the Post – War History of the Black Diaspora Arts”. The essay offers an analysis of three ‘moments’ in the post-war black visual arts in the UK. The main contrast identified is between the ‘problem space’ of the artists–the last ‘colonials’–who came to London after World War II to join the modern avant-garde and who were anti-colonial, cosmopolitan and modernist in outlook, and that of the second generation–the first ‘post-colonials’–who were born in Britain, pioneered the Black Art Movement and the creative explosion of the 1980s, and who were anti-racist, culturally relativist and identity-driven. In the work of the former, abstraction predominated; the work of the latter was politically polemical and collage-based, subsequently embracing the figural and the more subjective strategy of ‘putting the self in the frame’. This generational shift is mapped here in relation to wider socio-political and cultural developments, including the growth of indigenous racism, the new social movements, especially anti-racist, feminist and identity politics, and the theoretical ‘revolutions’ associated with them. The contemporary moment–less politicized, and artistically neo- conceptual, multi-media and installation-based–is discussed more briefly.

The symposium will explore some of these themes in Hall’s paper with particular reference to their applicability to the contemporary Caribbean context and the relationship of the contemporary moment to earlier developments. Questions include:
❍ Is there a Caribbean canon?
❍ Can we discuss a Caribbean aesthetic in the 21st century?
❍ What are the institutional models?
❍ How do we identify the different ways forward?

The Symposium takes place at the Frank Collymore Hall in Bridgetown in conjunction with a number of site-specific artists’ projects.

The National Art Gallery Committee Barbados was established for the benefit of all. With a commitment to free admission, a central and accessible site, and extended opening hours, the gallery has ensured that its collection can be enjoyed by the widest public possible, and not become the exclusive preserve of the privileged. The committee continues to pursue a vigorous and socially inclusive outreach programme and caters for the needs of all groups in society.

March 2009

For the second part of the symposium exploring the theme of translation in the context of the Middle East we are in discussions with the Sharjah Biennial. The Sharjah Biennial, the only international contemporary arts event of its kind in the Gulf region, will showcase the works of over 70 artists from 36 countries, at both the Sharjah Expo Centre and Sharjah Arts Museum venues. A dedicated exhibition area was specifically designed within the Expo Centre to house a total of 20 artworks, spread over an area of 4,000 square metres. Artists, critics, academics, historians and media from around the globe are expected to descend on the Emirate for the biennial, which promises a regionally unique arts event that will run until 6 June. Displaying works from diverse cuttingedge contemporary artists from around the world, the event promises to interest visitors of all ages, backgrounds and tastes.