Forum for Culture

Talk on Contemporary Cultural Praxis

By ci ⋅ October 31, 2008 ⋅ ⋅ Post a comment

The Forum for Culture presented a talk by Dr. Matthias Muehling, Curator at Lenbachhaus in Munich on Contemporary Cultural Praxis.

Ideally, the task of conveying and communicating art reflects the complexity of contemporary life; rather than viewing itself simply as part of life, it should become actively involved in social concerns through exhibitions and events. In this respect, curatorial practice is always also a political activity. The museum of the 21st century therefore becomes both producer and mediator, and must find structural ways and means to satisfy this responsibility.

Dr. Muehling spoke of the origins of the Lenbachhaus, the role of the curator as the link between artists on the one hand and the public, intellectuals and decision makers on the other, and how a curator finds and occupies a space that allows for the presentation of art without affecting the integrity of art itself despite the other pressures that are an invariable part of maintaining galleries and museums. He took the audience through a brief tour of the Lenbachchuas and discussed the process through which decisions were made to represent certain types of art within the museum, as opposed to other types. The ensuing discussion touched on the role and function of biennales and triennials in the contemporary global art world among other themes.