Is the artist present?

Three dialogues on presenting, contextualising and collecting performance in museums

A collaborative event by Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien and the University of Applied Arts Vienna on the occasion of the exhibition Marina Abramović at ALBERTINA MODERN / Eine gemeinsame Veranstaltung von Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien und Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien anlässlich der Marina Abramović-Ausstellung in der ALBERTINA MODERN
With an accompanying reader by students from Expanded Museum Studies / Mit einem begleitenden Reader von Studierenden aus Expanded Museum Studies

As soon as liveness enters museums, various challenges come to the fore. When presenting performance, dance, music or sound, very different considerations apply compared to the over centuries rehearsed mechanisms relative to artworks such as painting and sculpture using traditional materials. The common ‘material’ involved in liveness is the human body and most museums are not usually equipped for all the conditions this entails: Where, say, could a performer get changed, stash water, have a break or even shower? The complexities do not end there, for it is the interplay between the body (or bodies), the various objects (props or costumes), space (architectural setting, lighting, temperature), as well as the staff and audience (or participants) that require interlinked attention. Further issues arise when museums collect such works: How to document, conserve, exhibit, contextualise and, moreover, how to keep the work alive for future generations? What collection policies and (archival) practices exist to secure a wide range of performative works and facilitate their reiterations?
On the occasion of the exhibition Marina Abramović curated by Bettina M. Busse (Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien) at ALBERTINA MODERN, the symposium Is the artist present? addresses these aspects in three moderated dialogues and in connection with the historical context of performance art in Eastern Europe; a context in which Marina Abramović and many other artists sought to develop artistic practices responding to and defying Western (European) ideas of modernism, representation and institutionalisation. The political implications and specific conditions for production of performance art in Eastern Europe will be discussed as well as its reception and connection with Western contexts.

The event is accompanied by a reader conceived and produced by MA students of Expanded Museum Studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

Programme / Programm

In English / In englischer Sprache

2 pm / 14 Uhr Welcome by Rector / Begrüßung von Rektorin Ulrike Kuch (University of Applied Arts Vienna / Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien)

Followed by an introduction by / Im Anschluss Einführung von Bettina M. Busse (Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien) and / und Julienne Lorz (Expanded Museum Studies, University of Applied Arts Vienna / Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien)

Dialogues / Dialoge:
2.30 pm / 14:30 Uhr Presenting performance in museums
Lisa Beißwanger (University / Universität Koblenz)
Andrea Tarsia (Curator and writer, London)
Moderated by / Moderiert von Bettina M. Busse (Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien)

3.45 pm / 15:45 Uhr Contextualizing performance art in Eastern Europe
Seraina Renz (University Leiden)
Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna / Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien)
Moderated by / Moderiert von Bojana Piškur (Moderna galerija, Ljubljana)

5 pm / 17:00 Uhr Presentation of the reader by students of / Reader-Präsentation von Studierenden aus Expanded Museum Studies

5.30 pm / 17:30 Uhr Collecting performance in museums
Barbara Clausen (Städelschule, Frankfurt)
Rosalie Doubal (Tate Modern, London)
Moderated by / Moderiert von by Julienne Lorz (University of Applied Arts Vienna / Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien)