Harn Museum of Art to host symposium exploring the intersection of art and democracy

March 31, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — International scholars will convene at the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida in April to discuss the dynamic interchange between art and politics. The free symposium is open to the public and will be held on April 9 and 10. Included will be presentations by intellectual historian François Cusset, Claire Bishop and Tim Griffin and others. “Art and Democracy,” presented in conjunction with “Project Europa: Imagining the (Im)Possible,” will address the relationship of art and artists to democracy, as well as the ways that artists mediate the vital and critical political issues of their time.

“This symposium brings together eight eminent scholars who will explore the nuanced and complex juncture of art and politics,” said Kerry Oliver-Smith, curator of contemporary art. “The event will provide an exciting forum for the exchange of ideas, questions and proposals relevant to art, politics and everyday life.”

The symposium will begin with a speech by keynote speaker François Cusset at 6 p.m. on April 9. Cusset is a professor of American studies at the University of Paris. He is an intellectual historian whose body of work includes the critically acclaimed “French Theory: How Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze and Co. Transformed the Intellectual Life of the United States” (University of Minnesota Press, 2008).

“Art and Democracy” will continue on April 10 with lectures by numerous scholars from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Featured speakers include Alex Alberro; Virginia Bloedel Wright, associate professor of art history at Barnard College at Columbia University; Nora Alter, professor of film and media studies at the University of Florida; Claire Bishop, associate professor of art history in the Graduate Center at the City University of New York; T.J. Demos, lecturer in the Department of History of Art at University College London; Tim Griffin, editor–in-chief of the magazine Artforum; Maria Hlavajova, curator and artistic director of basis voor actuele kunst (BAK) in the Netherlands; and Shepherd Steiner, visiting assistant professor in modern and contemporary art at the University of Florida.

The symposium, organized by Kerry Oliver-Smith and Alex Alberro, will offer a deeper understanding of the works on display in “Project Europa: Imagining the (Im)Possible.” The exhibition questions the promise and potential of Europe’s democratic dream 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The exhibition features large-scale wall paintings, photography and video by artists such as Francis Alÿs, Fikret Atay, Kader Attia, Maja Bajevic, Yto Barrada, Tacita Dean, Beate Gütschow, Jens Haaning, Susan Hefuna, Eva Leitolf, Aernout Mik, Marcel Odenbach, Dan Perjovschi, Marjetica Potrč, Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, Bruno Serralongue, Superflex and Lidwien Van de Ven. The exhibition will be on view at the Harn Museum until May 9.

The symposium is co-sponsored by the following University of Florida entities: Harn Eminent Scholar Chair in Art History, School of Art and Art History, Center for European Studies, Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, France-Florida Research Institute and the International Center.

For more information, visit www.harn.ufl.edu/projecteuropaexhibition.html or call 352-392-9826.