September 2016
Boston Common
Boston, MA
www.bu.edu
Boston University Professor Lanfranco Aceti curated The Market Will Save Us, a banner installation and performance that premiered in Boston Friday, September 30, 2016, from 1 to 2pm at Boston Common.
The performance
The Market Will Save Us premiered on the Boston Common during Art Week Boston. Curated by Dr. Lanfranco Aceti, director of Boston University’s Arts Administration program, the performance was sponsored by the BU Arts Initiative (http://www.bu.edu/arts/) and the Museum of Contemporary Cuts as part of THE SOCIAL, the 4th International Association for Visual Culture Biennial Conference ([email protected]), hosted by Boston University from September 29 to October 1, 2016.
The Market Will Save Us is a banner installation and performance created by international artist Bill Balaskas. It debuted in 2013 on the façade of the storied Royal College of Art in London. Its aim was not merely to disrupt the visage of a prominent public building, but to disrupt the concept of being a working artist in today’s socioeconomic conditions of austerity and insecurity. In his curatorial statement, Aceti wrote: “The performance presents a message that exists beyond the collapsing frameworks of the market itself, that, even if it were able to save the world, is unable to provide a framework for a vision that moves beyond the short term processes of exploitation of resources, people and histories.”
For the United States premiere of The Market Will Save Us, the banner was paraded around the Boston Common, accompanied by a marching band. The performance, part of Art Week Boston, included a brief talk by Boston University’s Director of Arts Administration Lanfranco Aceti.
Balaskas was born in 1983 in Thessaloniki, Greece, where he studied economics before moving to the UK in order to study art. His background has influenced significantly his artistic practice, especially ever since the outbreak of the global financial crisis of 2008 that seriously affected his home country. Read more about Bill Balaskas at www.billbalaskas.com.
The Market Will Save Us was sponsored by the Museum of Contemporary Cuts and BU Arts Initiative with the support of ArtWeek Boston.
Learn more about the [email protected] conference at Boston University at ocradst.org.
Boston University Arts Administration program
MET’s Arts Administration program emphasizes excellence, creativity, economic problem solving, internationalism, and a commitment to the technologies of our age as core values. The program includes a master’s degree and graduate certificates that challenge students to understand the value of a mission-driven approach to managing arts organizations—and to place that goal ahead of maximizing revenues. The curriculum underscores a deep conviction in the centrality of the role of the artist, and the fundamental importance of artistic excellence, as issues central to the health of all arts organizations. Graduates are prepared for the global responsibilities of the arts in the 21st century, and to hold leadership roles in visual, performing, and service organizations in the arts in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
Founded in 1839, Boston University is internationally recognized as a top institution of higher learning and research. One of BU’s 17 schools and colleges, Metropolitan College was established in 1965 to broaden the reach of BU—ensuring that the resources of a leading research university remain accessible to the community and the world via part-time study during the evening or through innovative online and blended programs.
