Artists for Artists Masterclass November 26-30, 2020
The Institutional Collapse
For its second edition, AfA Masterclass proceeds with the proposition that institutions have no intrinsic value in society. At a tipping point, communities worldwide are ‘on the march’ - protesting issues including economic collapse, structural racism, forms of colonialism, ecological disaster, corruption, and femicide. In the face of this, institutions appear increasingly anemic, many buckling under the economic and political strain. Others are facing intensified scrutiny for amplifying structural disadvantage and failing to serve community needs.
Is it time to rebuild, resuscitate, or raze?
The new edition of the AfA Masterclass addresses the now overdue, and indeed urgent task, of reconsidering the ethics, processes, and essential purpose of institutions. We recognize that essentially art institutions rely on artists and communities in order to function, and yet they are the very people they often overlook and exploit. This Masterclass asks what are art institutions without artists? What novel forms of artistic practice can germinate through this institutional failure and precarity? And, what new forms of personal and collective agency can be engendered through art practice?
The second edition of the AfA Masterclass Series: Institutional Collapse will focus on:
Decoloniality: museums, governance, collections, structure, archives, marginalized histories and knowledge systems, institutional co-option
Activism: community, collectives, networks, safety, infrastructure, solidarity
Care/Repair: memory, modalities of engagement, language, training, access, lived experience, radical forms of care, preservation.
The Institutional Collapse led by Advising Artists including: Noah Fischer, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Amin Husain and Nitasha Dhillon (MTL Collective), Vivien Sansour . Each Advising Artist will present a lecture and a workshop engaging the theme of Institutional Collapse as it relates to experimental interdisciplinary artistic practices.
The International AfA Masterclass is an open pedagogical platform, characterized by experimentation, inclusivity, and global outreach. Its modalities and praxis are informed by an ethos of solidarity and an equitable peer-to-peer model. The Institutional Collapse is developed by the AfA Core.
WORKSHOPS BY ADVISING ARTISTS
MTL+ COLLECTIVE - Decolonize This Place
Keywords: Decolonization, institutional liberation, Indigenous sovereignty, facilitation, Black liberation, de-gentrification, free Palestine, movement-generated art.
Together, Amin Husain and Nitasha Dhillon are MTL Collective, a collaboration that joins research, aesthetics, organizing, and action in its art practice. MTL is a founder of Tidal: Occupy Theory, Direct Action Front for Palestine, Global Ultra Luxury Faction, and most recently MTL+, the collective facilitating Decolonize This Place.
Image: (https://decolonizethisplace.org/bk-musuem) Brooklyn Museum.
NOAH FISCHER - Museums Within
Art-questing beyond the scope of gatekeepers and their financial weapons.
Keywords: economic and social inequality, information sharing, Occupy, collectives
Brooklyn-based artist Noah Fischer connects interdisciplinary art practice with financial politics.
Image: Occupy Museums, Debtfair (detail) 2012 - , Whitney Biennial 2017, installation view
JEANNE VAN HEESWIJK - Field Of Interactions
Building intersectional alliances towards becoming collective.
Keywords: Collective forms, public space, performative actions, new organizations forms, field of interaction.
Jeanne van Heeswijk is an artist who facilitates the creation of dynamic and diversified public spaces in order to “radicalize the local”.
Image: PF no.13 Becoming Collective, day 1 Moving (photo Sam Conlon)
VIVIEN SANSOUR - We’re All Seeds
The Power Of Story.
Keywords: conservation, advocacy, heritage, biodiversity, farming, politics of food.
Vivien Sansour is an artist, storyteller, researcher, conservationist and founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library.
Image: Palestine Heirloom Seed Library Project.
Masterclass Structure
AfA Masterclasses consist of a suite of lectures and small-scale workshops. A total of 24 Participating Artists will be invited to take part in the Institutional Collapse AfA Masterclass. These Participating Artists will be divided into four groups of six. Each group will be assigned to a workshop led by an Advising Artist based on the correlation between their practices.
Lecture / Workshop Format:
In workshops, each Participating Artists presents a proposal/project that relates to the theme of Institutional Collapse (for example, artists can present a new proposal/idea, or previous projects). During 4-hour workshops presented via Zoom, each Participating Artist receives detailed feedback from their Advising Artist and their peers. Each Participating Artist will have access to all lectures presented by Advising Artists.
AfA Masterclass Format (timetable variable):
Example One Day Format
1. Lecture* and Q&A, 1 hour in total.
Break 10 minutes.
2. Workshop** Part 1 (2 hours)
Break 15-20 minutes
3. Workshop Part 2 (2 hours)
Example Two Day Format
Day 1: Lecture (1 hour) and Workshop Part 1 (2 hours)
Day 2: Workshop Part 2 (2 hours)
* 1-hour lectures are attended by participants from all 4 workshops (a total of 24 participants).
** The number of Participating Artists in each workshop is 6.
The second AfA Masterclass edition The Institutional Collapse has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No.799087.