IBBT-SMIT Lecture Series: In Transition? The role of the curator and the arts in a digital culture - 29th February..

IBBT-SMIT Lecture Series Research Department IBBT-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel present a series of Lectures, based on its current research agenda.

As part of the IBBT-SMIT Lecture Series, on Wednesday February 29, 2012, research group Digital Arts and Cultures organizes "In Transition? The role of the curator and the arts in a digital culture. ".

Invited speakers Beryl Graham, Frank Maet and Michelle Kasprzak situate, consider and debate this topic from an academic, philosophical and curatorial perspective.

In what way could the digital sphere influence the role of the curator and the arts? What does it mean to be a curator in a shifting, digital era? To what extent has Beryl Graham’s analysis, who has co-written the book “Re-thinking Curating. Art After New Media” (Graham and Cook, 2011), transpired? Should curators today be artists? What part does the visitor/viewer/participant have in this development? Is the suggestion of an interactive, or perhaps even a co-creative, system, realistic, or still rather utopian? How do, or should, curators relate to the audience? And, how do these transitions influence the role of the arts institution in the contemporary, digital context?

These, and many other related questions, will be addressed. Beryl Graham, professor New Media Art at the Sunderland University will give the opening lecture. She is followed by dr. Frank Maet, who wrote the dissertation “Nieuwe Artistieke tijden. Een filosofische kritiek van een door technologie bepaalde kunst”. He will approach the issue from a philosophical perspective. Next, Michelle Kasprzak, curator at Rotterdam’s V2, Institute for Unstable Media, and driving force of http://curating.info (Curating in a new media age) will set out a curatorial vision.

You are warmly invited! Doors at Argos open at 6:30 pm. We welcome you with a sandwich buffet. At 7:30 pm the lectures start and conclude with an open debate. At 9:30 pm the evening comes to an end with a closing reception.

This lecture is closely related to the research activities of the Digital Arts and Cultures Research Group within IBBT-SMIT, VUB, as it focuses on the intersection of culture, the arts and new media. Starting from the observation of actual transitions in society, such as creative economy, convergence culture and the expansion of virtual social worlds, Digital Arts and Cultures researchers reflect on the position of the arts and culture in the network society and how static forms of creation, production, content, dissemination, participation and policy are becoming hybrid.

Program :
18:30 : Reception and sandwich buffet
19:30 : Opening speech – Introduction
19:45 : Beryl Graham (professor New Media Art, University of Sunderland, UK)
             Frank Maet (philosopher, Sint-Lucas Beeldende Kunst, Gent, BE)
             Michelle Kasprzak (curator, V2 Rotterdam, NL)
21:30 : Closing reception

For more information and free registration, check here. 
(Participation is free of charge. As seats will be limited, registration is required).