A conference devoted to theoretical rejection and critical evaluation of the current relationship between cultural institutions mediating contemporary art, the public and the state.
The AVU Research Centre and the Department of Aesthetics of the Faculty of Arts in Prague organised a conference on 4 October 2010 in the AVU DigiLab lecture theatre in Prague (U Akademie 4).
The conference “Cultural politics and visual art” aimed to create a space for theoretical reflections on the current relationship between cultural institutions mediating contemporary art (including galleries, art schools and civic associations), the general public and the state and a critical evaluation of debates on this theme. Though much has been written on the topic, there is no deeper reflection on the relationship of the state and culture (especially in the artistic and aesthetic spheres) that would establish a new conceptual framework for discussions. In other words, we lack a meta-language that would clarify the field of possible strategies and create a background for the systematic critique of cultural policy and a clearly formulated conflict of ideas.
Programme:
9.55 Conference commences
10.00–11.00 Martin Škabraha (Centre of Global Studies, Prague): “What the eye doesn’t see… On the aesthetic dimension of policy”
11.00–12.00 Ladislav Kesner (Masaryk University, Brno): “Art: why and to what end? The erratic circuit of current debates on art and cultural policy”
12.00–13.00 Milena Bartlová (Academy of Fine Arts, Prague): “The invisible hand of the market does not need art because it has no eyes”
13.00–14.30 Break
14.30–15.30 Marcel Tomášek (Centre for Public Policy, Prague): “Transformations in the artistic milieu from the perspective of post-communist changes: A creative economy in the making?”
15.30–16.30 Michal Koleček (University J. E. Purkyně, Ústí n. L.): “Art in motion: transformations to the institutional framework of contemporary Czech art”
16.30–17.30 Vlasta Čiháková-Noshiro (Federation of Critics and Theoreticians/FaVU VUT, Brno): “What are we lacking, what do we need?”
17.30–18.00 Break
18.00–19.00 Panel discussion: “Cultural policy and life culture” (chaired by Václav Magid and Jakub Stejskal)