July 22–25, 2016, 11am–5pm
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Centre Square
Middlesbrough TS1 2AZ
United Kingdom
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, part of Teesside University, is moving forward with a vision of itself as a “useful museum,” or “museum 3.0,” under the directorship of Alistair Hudson. The “useful museum” is a civic institution that promotes art as a tool for social change and is created by the sum of the actions of its users. The “museum 3.0″ establishes the gallery as a public site, beyond representation and participation and based on use value, with its meaning defined by its constituents.
Arte Útil summit and projects respond to current social issues and urgencies
Arte Útil—roughly translated into English as “useful art” or, more accurately, art as a tool or device—is an ongoing body of work that draws on artistic thinking to imagine and implement tactics that change how we act in society. Arte Útil questions the orthodoxies of art, contributing to its migration from its usual sustaining environments—the institution or the market—into the cut and thrust of ordinary life.
The Arte Útil movement, initiated by Tania Bruguera in 2011, has been growing through an expanding network of allegiances, partnerships, and platforms. This summit brings together the leading protagonists and affiliates of Arte Útil to reflect on the genealogy of the movement and its influence to date, and to plot its future course, particularly in relation to current social issues and urgencies.
The summit analyzes the history and lexicography of Arte Útil and presents its archive as a resource so that other institutions and constituencies can apply its methodologies. It speculates on the notion of “usology” and proposes a radical transformation of institutional practices. It explores the role of the art sector in forming a new political agenda and engages with communities in Middlesbrough to develop local problem-solving strategies.
Contributors
Assemble, Tania Bruguera, John Byrne, Sebastian Cichocki, Collective Works, Charles Esche, Annie Fletcher, Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust, Núria Güell, Investing in People and Culture, Gemma Medina & Alessandra Saviotti, Middlesbrough Council, New Linthorpe, Kuba Szreder, Stephen Wright
Organized as part of The Uses of Art – The Legacy of 1848 and 1989, a project by the European museum confederation L’Internationale realised with the support of the Culture Program of the European Union.
Also at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Through October 9
Teesside World Exposition of Art and Technology
This exhibition addresses the economic situation of Teesside—a region that in the nineteenth century was at the epicenter of the Industrial Revolution—in the context of today’s world economy. It includes works, objects, documents, and new technologies sourced from and contributed by local collections and archives, regional companies, and British and international artists.
The exhibition captures the character of Teesside’s key manufactures, showing how they formed around the extraction of raw materials and the export of goods. It also refers to the problems of the changing global economic landscape through such themes as labor relations, the delocalization of businesses, the power of transnational finance, and the dominance of the service sector.
Selected participants and contributors
Academy of Work, Bisan Abu-Eisheh, Arcus, Sammy Baloji, Beamish, Brett Bloom, Robin Dale, Dorman Museum, Eva Fàbregas, Cao Fei, Aikaterini Gegisian, Goldin+Senneby, Hackney Flashers, Hartlepool Museums and Heritage Service, Heatherwick Studio, Mikhail Karikis, Kirkleatham Museum, Materials Processing Institute, Adrián Melis, Middlesbrough Central Library, Moments in 3D, MVRDV, Myvillages, Farid Rasulov, Sock Monkey, STEM Centre, Len Tabner, Unknown Fields, Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor, Pilvi Takala, TeeGene, Teesside Archives
Through September 18
If All Relations Were to Reach Equilibrium, Then This Building Would Dissolve
This project—involving research, a display, and public programs—examines the migratory condition. It is predicated on the fact that Middlesbrough, in the northeast of England, is a key dispersal area for asylum seekers, and it references the feelings, memories, anxieties, and aspirationsof refugee-background groups there.The gallery features areas for learning, service provision, and discussion; documents; and works by artists, asylum seekers and refugees, activists, and scholars. Resources and activities include computers with access to the Internet, communal lunches, awareness-raising sessions, and workshops.
