State of Independence: A Global Forum on Alternative Practice
July 23–24, 2011
Organized by Clara Kim
REDCAT
631 West 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.redcat.org
The conference engages the relevance and sustainability of alternative practice today in regions where art, commerce, and cultural infrastructure are taking new forms. Alternative spaces grow out of necessity and in response to local conditions. They are experimental by nature, often temporary and operate as a provocation to the status quo. As such, the forum examines various independent strategies (spaces, archives, schools, events) as innovative models for imagining curatorial practice and artistic production, while looking closely at specific local situations in Asia and Latin America, in regions where art infrastructures are still developing, to question the possibility of more sustainable futures.
The panels are organized around broad themes/topics: genealogy of independent practice charting local social-cultural contexts; research-oriented practices around archives, libraries, and publishing; projects that re-appropriate land and urban space; and alternative spaces as possible new models for future institutions.
Organized by outgoing REDCAT gallery director/curator Clara Kim with the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the forum is the culmination of a six-month research project conducting fieldwork throughout Asia and Latin America; visiting established and informal independent spaces and organizations; and interviewing a range of artists and curators. The conference is by no means intended to offer a comprehensive view of this expansive and heterogeneous terrain, but rather one that aims to learn from specific and varying case studies in order to unpack and complicate the definitions of “alternative” and “independent.”
Preliminary list of participants: artist and director of SOMA Eduardo Abaroa (Mexico City), founder of El Bodegon Victor Albarracín (Bogota), Mirwan Andan of ruangrupa (Jakarta), artist and director of Watts House Project Edgar Arceneaux (Los Angeles), Lauren Bon of Metabolic Studio (Los Angeles), artist Paulo Bruscky (Recife), co-director of Sàn Art Zoe Butt (Ho Chi Minh City), Janet Chan of Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong), artist and founder of Borges Libreria Chen Tong (Guangzhou), independent curator Amy Cheng (Taipei), artist and founder of La Galeria de Comercio Abraham Cruzvillegas (Mexico City), artist and founder of Helena Producciones Wilson Diaz (Cali), Manray Hsu of Taipei Contemporary Art Center (Taipei), Nuraini Juliastuti of Kunci Cultural Studies Center (Yogyakarta), director of art space pool Heejin Kim (Seoul), Paphonsak La-or of The Land Foundation (Chiangmai), artist and editor in chief of East of Borneo Thomas Lawson (Los Angeles), independent curator Carol Yinghua Lu (Beijing) along with moderators Rita Gonzalez, Eungie Joo, Catalina Lozano and Kyong Park.
Special thanks to Lydia Ngai and Mary Lee of Asia Art Archive, Adrià Julià, Cristina Tejo, Catalina Lozano, Carol Yinghua Lu, Amy Cheng, Lesley Ma, Ana Paula Cohen, and Michael Worthington.
Please check www.redcat.org for detailed schedule.
REDCAT is located at the corner of W. 2nd and Hope Streets, inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles (631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012).
Funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
