Rotterdam Dialogues: The Critics, The Curators, The Artists

Wednesday 7 July 2010

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On three occasions, between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art organized three symposia under the title Rotterdam Dialogues: The Critics, The Curators, The Artists. Each three-day event focused on one agent in the art world, looking at their expectations, positions and the contexts in which they operate.

If a book cannot capture the atmosphere of lively excitement of 35 international critics, 48 curators and 57 artists, not to mention the 500+ visitors who attended each symposium, it can highlight the individual tone and spirit of many discussions that remain, by necessity, unfinished. This book follows a chronological structure, containing selected transcriptions from each symposium and the outcomes of the associated workshops. After this comes a free-wheeling section titled ‘What are you talking about now?’, a question sent to all the guests in the months that followed the symposia. Their diverse reactions give a sense of the range of characters, ideas and practices that the symposia brought together.

—Partners

Post Editions

Book launch

On Wednesday 7th July, from 8-10 p.m., the Rotterdam Dialogues book will be launched at Witte de With. The evening will begin with an introduction to the book by its editors, followed by the screening of two films produced in response to the symposia. ‘The Curators’ (2009) is a combination of a digital slide show and video made by Steve Van Den Bosch and Annaik Pitteloud in response to the eponymous symposium. This will be followed by the premiere of ‘Show + Tell.’ ‘Show + Tell’ was produced by seven artists who are currently studying at the Piet Zwart Institute/Willem de Kooning Academie, Rotterdam. This documentary film focuses on interviews with artists, curators and writers, including Judy Radul, Martha Rosler, Anton Vidokle and Jeff Wall, and charts the current status of discourse production in the field of art making. ‘Show + Tell’ was developed at the Piet Zwart Institute with the support of filmmaker and curator Hila Peleg and artist Angela Melitopoulos upon the invitation of Course Director Vanessa Ohlraun. The film team consists of Ghislain Amar, Derek Brunen, Bat Sheva Ross, Marnie Slater, Jay Tan, Selina Taylor and Sjoerd van Leeuwen.

Book contents

Transcripts from The Critics featuring (in order of appearance): Tim Griffin & Edgar Schmitz, Sina Najafi, Sven Lutticken, Dieter Roelstraete, Mark Rappolt, Judy Freya Sibayan, Tzu Nyen Ho, Koen Kleijn and the workshop led by Melissa Gronlund.

Transcripts from The Curators featuring (in order of appearance): Bart De Baere, Hou Hanru, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Adam Budak, Kitty Scott & Seth Siegelaub, Enrico Lunghi, Nicolas Bourriaud, Beatrix Ruf, Paul O’Neill, Ann Demeester & Jan Hoet and the workshop led by Raimundas Malasauskas.
Transcripts from The Artists featuring (in order of appearance): Piero Golia, Sarah Morris, Pierre Bismuth, Jimmy Robert, Danai Anesiadou, Spartacus Chetwynd, Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Doug Fishbone, Willem de Rooj & Jeff Wall, and the workshop led by Judy Radul.

What are you talking about now? Contributors (in order of appearance): Rainer Ganahl, Gerardo Mosquera, Pablo Leon de la Barra, Oswaldo Macia, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Nicoline van Harskamp, Sarah Morris, Pierre Bismuth, Piero Golia, Olaf Nicolai, Gabriel Lester, Diedrich Diederichsen, Nedko Solakov, Andrew Berardini, Paul O’Neill, Kendell Geers, Pelin Tan, Jens Hoffmann, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Rein Wolfs, Emmanuel Lambion, Judy Freya Sibayan, Doug Fishbone, Mark Boulos, Luis Jacob, Richard Hutten, Jan de Cock, The Salford Restoration Office, Josephine Meckseper, Plamen Dejanoff, Petr Bystrov, Dieter Roelstraete, Bik Van der Pol, Ulrike Ottinger.

Book information

Editors: Zoe Gray, Miriam Kathrein, Nicolaus Schafhausen, Monika Szewczyk, Ariadne Urlus
Publishers: Witte de With Publishers www.wdw.nl and Post Editions, Rotterdam www.post-editions.com
Design: Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht
ISBN: 9-789460-830174
English, 272 pages, illustrated, soft cover, 29,50 eur

Rotterdam Dialogues: The Critics, The Curators, The Artists was supported by Mondriaan Foundation, VSB fonds and SNS REAAL Fonds. This book was also supported by IB MUKK the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture, Arts Division.

Witte de With is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Culture and the City of Rotterdam.

archive

Event — Rotterdam Dialogues

Rotterdam Dialogues: The Critics

9 – 11 October 2008

archive

Event — Rotterdam Dialogues

Rotterdam Dialogues: The Curators

5 – 7 March 2009

archive

Event — Rotterdam Dialogues

Rotterdam Dialogues: The Artists

16 – 18 April 2009