Events — Nov 9, 2024

While museums seek to be spaces for interaction and social debate, the gap between art and activism is often enormous. Museums are not neutral, but how open is the museum about the choices it makes concerning what and how it voices an opinion about? How can a museum take a stance yet at the same time serve as a platform for multiple perspectives? And is solidarity a zero-sum game? 


Price
Museumticket + 3 EU
If the ticket price prevents you from being able to take part in the program, please contact publicprogram@stedelijk.nl for a spot on the guest list.
Location
Auditorium
Time
Nov 9, 2 pm until 4 pm
Main language
English
Admission
Book ticket

‘If museums don’t demand a ceasefire, they have blood on their hands.’ This declaration was made by an action group that threw red paint at the Stedelijk and other museums during the previous edition of Museum Night.   

Over the last few years, museums have increasingly defined themselves as places that serve their audiences, and society as a whole. Museums strive to be accessible, diverse, sustainable and, in many cases, socially engaged. One consequence of this more public role is that museums are often asked to speak out on social and political issues. Has the museum now become both a public and political arena?  

While museums seek to be spaces for interaction and social debate, the gap between art and activism is often enormous. Museums are not neutral, but how open is the museum about the choices it makes concerning what and how it voices an opinion about? How can a museum take a stance yet at the same time serve as a platform for multiple perspectives? And is solidarity a zero-sum game? 

Lecture by Fatoş Üstek, followed by a conversation with Rein Wolfs.  

About In Context

Art has always played an important role in igniting social debate. Given the rise of ultra-nationalism, xenophobia and climate crises, socially engaged art seems to be needed now more than ever. Does this mean that the museum is also a platform for protest and change? Can a museum promote social change without taking a stand itself? And to what extent should museums encourage visitors to confront and engage with social issues? Should the museum use disclaimers and trigger warnings to protect visitors, or simply let them deal with uncomfortable confrontations? 

Rather than presenting simplistic answers, this program invites us to consider the role of art in society and the museum’s responsibility in this regard. 

Biographies

Fatoş Üstek

Fatoş Üstek is an independent curator and writer, working internationally. She is the author of The Art Institution of Tomorrow, Reinventing the Model (2024), Co-founder and Managing Director of non-profit community interest company FRANK Fair Artist Pay, and Curator of Frieze Sculpture (2023 & 2024) in London, Curator of Cascading Principles Expansions within Geometry, Philosophy and Interference at the Mathematical Institute, Oxford University (2022-2025).

Alongside leading international projects, she holds governance roles in arts organizations: in the UK (Chair, New Contemporaries), Netherlands (editorial advisory, Extra Extra Magazine), and Germany (advisory board, Urbane Kuenste Ruhr). Üstek is a member of the International Association of Art Critics AICA UK, ICI, IKT and founding member of AWITA (Association of Women in the Arts).

She was previously Director of the Liverpool Biennial, Director of the Roberts Institute of Art, Curator of Art Night, London (2017), Curator of fig-2 50 exhibitions 50 weeks, ICA London (2015) and Associate Curator of the 10th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2014). 

She has commissioned a number of projects in the public realm in the UK and in Turkey. Üstek has also taken on multiple jury roles for international art prizes and biennales, including Turner Prize 2020, the Scottish Pavilion 2022 and the Dutch pavilion in 2022 and 2024 at the Venice Biennale and Jindrich Chalupecky Society Award (2022-2024). She nominates for prestigious prizes such as the Jarman Award and the Fourth Plinth, among others. 

This program is the second of a three-part series In Context about the complex relationship between art, activism and the museum. The other two programs will take place on October 20 and December 15. For more information click here.