Talk with Dushko Petrovich, director of the New Arts Journalism program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
within the frames of Curating Institution series
How should art institutions function today?
During a talk within the framework of the Curating Institution series, Magdalena Ziółkowska will speak with Dushko Petrovich about how the role of art institutions changes in the face of contemporary politico-socio-economic upheavals. The discussion will center around the volume As Radical, As Mother, As Salad, As Shelter: What Should Art Institutions Do Now?, the latest publication of the Paper Monument.
Dushko Petrovich is not only an artist, writer, activist, editor and academic teacher (currently the director of the New Arts Journalism program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago). Also in 2007 he established the Paper Monument in which a number of volumes have already come out: On Fire, about the impact that a fire in an artist’s workshop had on her art, Draw It with Your Eyes Closed: The Art of the Art Assignment, about the tasks set for students in art schools, as well as I Like Your Work: Art and Etiquette, about manners in art world. Petrovich is also the founder and author of Adjunct Commuter Weekly (adjunctcommuterweekly.com), a newspaper for academic teachers commuting to universities and employed on junk contracts. Most of all he is a critical observer of the changes in the contemporary field of culture and knowledge production.
The talk will be focused on As Radical, As Mother, As Salad, As Shelter: What Should Art Institutions Do Now?, a collection of interviews, statements and essays written by people active in the Chicago art and visual culture scene. Every day they face the brutal impact of politics and economy of the new ruling regime on the structure of the world of art, culture and education. In their contributions they talk about how the global political crisis and the rise of nationalist sentiments influence the functioning of institutions in social life. How does the position of small non-governmental organizations and state-funded galleries and museums change? Together with Petrovich we will talk about whether art institutions can take an active part in social change. How does politics determine their position and the way they are perceived by the society? Is it possible to establish a community through contemporary art and what role is played by the curators in this process?
