Cuauhtémoc Medina: Manifesta 9
A Curatorial Essay on Social and Cultural Mediations
Monday 17 December, 2012
7pm, $0
The Kitchen
512 West 19 Street
Manifesta 9: The Deep of the Modern was the first Manifesta to intentionally leave behind the model of mega-exhibitions of contemporary art. Manifesta 9, staged in Genk, Begium, in the summer of 2012, presented a dialogue between different layers of art, heritage and history, and proposed an experience of contemporary art that was immersed in a dialogue across generations, geographies, time frames and social projects as one of the forces that produces the world. Manifesta 9 explored the energy that emerges from the former mining communities of Belgian towns like Limburg, as presented in a museological essay on the ways that coal and the consequences of its widespread use affected, inspired and influenced modern art, and included a selection of contemporary works reflecting on the conditions of industrial production and labor today. Cuauhtémoc Medina, head curator of Manifesta 9, discusses the project in the context of rethinking the role of biennials as means of social and cultural intervention.
Cuauhtémoc Medina is the leading curator of Manifesta 9 in Limburg, Belgium. Medina is based in Mexico City and holds a PhD in Art History and Theory from the University of Essex. He is a researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Esteticas at the National University of Mexico. Previously Medina was the first Associate Curator of Latin American Art Collections at Tate Modern in London.
The Curator’s Perspective is a free, itinerant public discussion series ICI developed as a way for international curators to share their research and experiences with audiences in New York. Through these talks, ICI has begun to assemble documents and disseminate a wide variety of international perspectives on art today. In 2012 audiences have heard perspectives on art, culture and exhibition making from curators based in Stockholm, Guatemala City and Vienna. In fall 2012 practitioners based in Tokyo, Mexico City and Kassel will talk about what they’re most interested in at the moment, including the artists and the sociopolitical contexts that are shaping current practice.
Cuauhtémoc Medina is the leading curator of Manifesta 9 in Limburg, Belgium. Medina is based in Mexico City and holds a PhD in Art History and Theory from the University of Essex. He is a researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Esteticas at the National University of Mexico. Previously Medina was the first Associate Curator of Latin American Art Collections at Tate Modern in London.
The Curator’s Perspective is a free, itinerant public discussion series ICI developed as a way for international curators to share their research and experiences with audiences in New York. Through these talks, ICI has begun to assemble documents and disseminate a wide variety of international perspectives on art today. In 2012 audiences have heard perspectives on art, culture and exhibition making from curators based in Stockholm, Guatemala City and Vienna. In fall 2012 practitioners based in Tokyo, Mexico City and Kassel will talk about what they’re most interested in at the moment, including the artists and the sociopolitical contexts that are shaping current practice.