Museum of Modern Art Presents 'Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now', 5/21

The Museum of Modern Art presents 'Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now', a day-long symposium on May 21, 2010, that will bring together an international group of leading artists, writers, curators, historians, and activists to explore the impact of recent debates about art and feminism on museum exhibitions, collections, pedagogy, and cultural politics. The symposium is part of a major ongoing collection-based research initiative begun in 2005 with support from the Modern Women's Fund, established by philanthropist and artist Sarah Peter.   

The symposium is organized by Cornelia Butler, The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings, and Alexandra Schwartz, Curatorial Assistant in MoMA's Department of Drawings and Coordinator of the Modern Women's Project.  

"In organizing Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now, we are bringing all these important voices together to address the urgent need for museums to negotiate new models of art and activism," said Ms. Butler. 

The morning session, Collections and Exhibitions, will be moderated by Cornelia Butler of MoMA and Ivet Curlin of the curatorial collective What, How, and for Whom/WHW, Zagreb. It will include presentations by Melissa Chiu, Museum Director and Vice President Global Art Programs at the Asia Society in New York; Camille Morineau, Curator of Contemporary Collections, Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Berlin-based curator Ruth Noack and New York-based artist Emily Roysdon, followed by a moderated discussion.  

The afternoon session, Pedagogy and Activism, moderated by Huey Copeland, Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History at Northwestern University, and Alexandra Schwartz of MoMA, will feature panelists Tania Bruguera, an artist working in Paris, Havana, and Chicago; New Delhi-based artist Sonia Khurana; Catherine Lord, Professor of Studio Art in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine; and Michele Wallace, Professor, Department of English, City College of New York/CUNY, followed by a moderated discussion. The symposium will end with a roundtable discussion among MoMA curators and educators on the Modern Women's Project, including the forthcoming book Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art and related exhibitions and programs. MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry will give opening remarks.   

Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on May 21, 2010, in MoMA's Roy and Niuta Titus 2 Theater, 11 West 53 Street, New York. Tickets are available to the general public for $12; MoMA members for $10; students, seniors, and staff of other museums for $5; and can be purchased at MoMA's lobby information desk, the film desk, or online at www.MoMA.org. Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now is made possible by the Modern Women's Fund. More information is available at www.MoMA.org.