M+ Matters Public Talk on Confronting Activist Art and Design from a Museological Perspective

M+, Hong Kong's future museum for visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District will present its 10th M+ Matters event on Monday 21 March on the subject Confronting Activist Art and Design from a Museological Perspective, in conjunction with Polytechnic University’s School of Design.

This topical symposium will examine creative practices arising from acts of civil disobedience and movements for social change, as well as the challenges and opportunities they present for collections-based museums of visual culture. Often ad-hoc, spontaneous and site-specific, this genre of creative production - whether generated by professional, grassroots or informal actors - provokes further debate concerning its place and appropriateness within an institutional setting and framework.

In light of the 2014 Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, and other mass protests around the world, the discussion will explore key issues, such as the definition of ‘works’ between creative expressions, documents and historical artefacts as well as the political and artistic implications for art and cultural institutions in collecting and exhibiting activist works.

Confronting Activist Art and Design from a Museological Perspective will be moderated by:-

• Laurent Gutierrez (Professor, School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
• Aric Chen (Lead Curator, Design and Architecture, M+)
• Tina Pang (Curator, Hong Kong Visual Culture, M+)

Speakers include:-

• Sampson Wong (Hong Kong)                                            

Convener of the Umbrella Movement Visual Archives & Research Collectives

• Gavin Grindon (United Kingdom)                                       

Director, Centre for Curatorial Studies, University of Essex

• Nikolaus Hirsch (Germany)        

Architect and Curator

• Anne Pasternak (United States)

Director, Brooklyn Museum                   

M+ Matters seeks to bring leading museum scholars, curators and experts from around the world to share their views on topics relevant to the building of a new museum of visual culture in Hong Kong, with museum practitioners and members of public.

Previous M+ Matters have examined a range of topics including Asian design; contemporary ink art; China’s museum building boom; the increasingly blurred boundaries between artwork and documentation; and postwar abstraction in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Each public symposium is accompanied by an internal workshop offering the opportunity for more in-depth discussion between M+ staff and invited speakers. Further information, including speakers’ papers, can be found at www.mplusmatters.hk.

Remark

Public Talk – Confronting Activist Art and Design from a Museological Perspective