March 5–8, 2015
“Focus: MENAM” symposium: March 7–8
Piers 92 & 94
12th Avenue at 55th Street
New York City
Open Forum is a thought-provoking series of conversations and panels at The Armory Show, featuring leading curators, critics, designers, gallerists, museum directors, and art world experts. Open Forum includes four days of programming, with the two-day “Focus: MENAM” symposium on Saturday and Sunday. All Open Forum events will take place in the Media Lounge on Pier 94 and are open to the public, unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, March 5
Deloitte eighth annual art & finance conference
During this half-day conference, with a keynote address by Bob Rennie, Founder and President of Rennie Marketing Systems, Founder of the Rennie Collection, and Chairman of the Tate North America Acquisition Committee; Deloitte’s distinguished panelists and speakers will examine the evolution of art banking, consider the behavior of art as a capital asset, discuss the tax and estate planning implications of the landmark Elkins Decision (the Elkins case), and present risk mitigation strategies for collectors. This event is by invitation only.
Friday, March 6
In conversation: Parviz Tanavoli and Lynn Gumpert
New York University
In this discussion, Parviz Tanavoli, renowned pioneer of modern Iranian sculpture, will speak with Lynn Gumpert, Director of New York University’s Grey Art Gallery, about his role as one of Iran’s foremost modern artists, as well as his friendship with the Grey Art Gallery founder Abby Weed Grey. This talk is organized in conjunction with Parviz Tanavoli: Selections from the NYU Art Collection—a special presentation of the artist’s work installed on Pier 92 – Modern.
Art Jameel and Edge of Arabia present “CULTURUNNERS: Journeys and Collaborations”
This panel will discuss CULTURUNNERS, an artistic expedition and road trip to explore, communicate, and archive interconnected cultural histories between the Middle East and the United States. Featured panelists include: Azra Aksamija, MIT Assistant Professor and CULTURUNNERS co-author; Husam Al-Sayed, Telfaz11 artist; Matthew Mazzotta, artist; Ava Ansari, artist and Edge of Arabia Associate Curator. Moderated by Renata Papsch, General Manager, Art Jameel.
“Contemporary Design Today in Lebanon”
This discussion will focus on the current state of Lebanese contemporary design through the experience of designer Carlo Massoud and the activities of Carwan Gallery (Beirut) and House of Today (Beirut). Featured panelists include Carlo Massoud, designer; Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, Carwan Gallery, Beirut; and Cherine Magrabi Tayeb, House of Today, Beirut. This talk will take place in the Mezzanine Lounge on Pier 92 and is moderated by Maria Cristina Didero, design curator, journalist, and Director of Bisazza Foundation, Italy.
Click here to view the complete Thursday and Friday schedule.
The 2015 “Focus: MENAM” symposium
“The Way Things Can Go”
Saturday and Sunday, March 7–8
Organized by Fawz Kabra, Assistant Curator, Abu Dhabi Project, Guggenheim Museum, New York
Commissioned by Omar Kholeif, Curator, Whitechapel Gallery, London, and Curator, Armory Focus: MENAM
The Armory Show 2015 symposium, “The Way Things Can Go,” draws our attention to apparatuses that shape the discourse, economy, and culture surrounding contemporary art in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean (MENAM). Imagined as a multimodal map, “The Way Things Can Go” works its way across a broad geographic region, centering on diverse institutions, projects, producers, artistic practices, and narratives that reveal the network that makes up this region’s current cultural and economic infrastructure.
The two-day symposium is organized in thematic segments that analyze the state of regionalism, historical narratives, multiple modernities, the roles of established and alternative institutions, representation, newly evolving art scenes, and the role of the globalized cultural economy. Discussions will specifically highlight critical movements in the history of the region, artist-run initiatives and local gallery infrastructure, as well as the artists and artworks that complicate ideas of nationalism. With introductory remarks by Fady Jameel, President of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, participants include Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, patron and Founder, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Yael Bartana, artist, Berlin; Reem Fadda, Associate Curator, Middle Eastern Art, Abu Dhabi Project, Guggenheim Museum, New York; amongst others.
“Focus: MENAM” is presented in collaboration with lead cultural partner, Edge of Arabia, and education partner, Art Jameel.
Click here to view the complete symposium schedule.
Tickets
Advance tickets are available for purchase here. Admission tickets will available at the Box Office during show hours.
Press contacts
The Armory Show
Audrey Rose Smith, Communications Manager: T +1 646 616 7433 / a.smith [at] thearmoryshow.com
United States
Shayna McClelland, McClelland: T +1 347 744 5991 / shayna [at] mcclellandco.com
Amani Olu, McClelland: T +1 646 330 1039 / amani [at] mcclellandco.com
International
Claire Walsh, Brunswick Arts: T +44 0 20 7936 1290 / thearmoryshow [at] brunswickgroup.com