Feminist a Decolonial Curating and Museology - YMGS651
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
The course focuses on examining and discussing current issues that influence the production and organization of exhibitions from the perspective of decolonial and feminist practices in the context of post-socialist Central Europe. The course asks why it is important to consider the decolonial project in the context of post-socialist Central Europe. Socialist international cooperation included exchanges of workers and students (from Vietnam, Cuba, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East) and political and economic alliances, representing a strong anti-colonial solidarity. What happened to migrants from the global South after the fall of the Berlin Wall? Are their stories part of the collective memory of Ostalgie? What were the experiences of already present internally racially discriminated neighbors, specifically the Roma? The course will focus on the history of museums, including cabinets of curiosities and freak shows. We will also look at institutional critique, feminist curating, and reflect on the concept of curatorial materialism. We will discuss how the care of objects in collections in contemporary curating is shifting towards broader social care and responsibility. The course will reflect on institutional whiteness and look at the cultural heritage of the Vietnamese diaspora in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and will discuss the establishment of the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno as a result of the emancipation of Romani intellectuals in the 1990s. The course will seek to answer and discuss the following questions: What happens to political projects when they are exhibited or even enclosed in normative spaces such as museums or exhibitions? How can curating be perceived as care and inclusion? How can we exhibit from a decolonial perspective? How can we creatively transform historical traumas through curatorial practices? The course takes the form of a seminar and is based on active participation and classroom discussions, including film screenings, excursions, and visits to galleries and museums.
Poslední úprava: Tomková Denisa, M.Sc., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)
|
|
||
|
Requirements for completing the course Bachelor’s Students - 4 credits Class attendance (maximum 2 absences), active participation in discussions, reading of required readings and final written assignment. Final assignment: A critical summary of 5 selected lectures from the semester. Master’s Students - 6 credits Class attendance (maximum 2 absences), active participation in discussions, reading of required readings and final written assignment and final essay. Final assignment: A critical summary of 5 selected lectures from the semester. Final essay: Write 2000 words long critical essay. It is acceptable to be 10% above or below this word limit. Word count includes footnotes/endnotes and does not include bibliography. Provide an analysis of ONE art exhibition of your choice with reference to one of the mandatory literature discussed in the class to support your argument, in addition to other literature from your own research. Poslední úprava: Tomková Denisa, M.Sc., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)
|
|
||
|
Sylabus 1. 6.10 Introduction 2. 13.10 Feminist Curating Exhibition visit: Echoes of Medusa at the 35m2 Gallery. 3. 20.10 Vietnamese Diaspora Exhibition visit: Familiar and unfamiliar Vietnam at the Náprstek Museum. 4. 27.10 Museums definition, history 5. 3.11 Institutional critique 6. 10.11 - Friday 14.11 Romani Museology Field trip to Museum of Romani Culture in Brno 7. 24.11 Freak Shows and Cabinets of Curiosities 8. 1.12 Curatorial Materialism 9. 8.12 Who is included? 10. 15.12 Curating as Care 11. 5.1 Conclusions Poslední úprava: Tomková Denisa, M.Sc., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)
|
|
||
|
Learning Outcomes • At the end of the course, students should be able to critically engage with key concepts of curating and museology through lens of feminism and decolonial thinking. • Learners should be able to develop a critical attention when assessing art exhibitions through the prism of different marginalised groups and multifaceted histories. • Learners should be able to apply critical debates presented in the course in their furture curatorial practice or academic writing.
Literature
Feminist Curating NOCHLIN, L. (1971). Why Have Been There No Great Women Artists? https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/
Vietnamese Diaspora ALAMGIR, A. K. and SCHWENKEL, C. (2020), ‘From Socialist Assistance to National Self-Interest: Vietnamese Labor Migration into CMEA Countries’, in J. Mark, A. Kalinovsky and S. Marung (eds), Alternative Globalizations. Eastern Europe and the Postcolonial World, Bloomington: Indiana University SCHWENKEL, C. (2023), ‘Unintended Diaspora’, in D. Tomková (ed.), Online Publication Accompanying the Exhibition Nhớ: Space Between One End and the Other, Bratislava: Kunsthalle Bratislava. https://kunsthallebratislava.sk/publikacia/online-publikacia-k-vystave-nho-priestor-medzi-jednym-a-druhym-koncom/
Museums definition, history VERGO, P. (1989). New Museology. https://synth06iii.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/vergo-peter_new-museology.pdf DESVALLÉS, A. and MAIRESSE, F. (2010). Key Concepts of Museology. Armand Colin and ICOM. https://icom.museum/en/ressource/key-concepts-of-museology/ LEE, S. (2022) Decolonize Museums. OR Books. https://cuni.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/420CKIS_INST/o7am86/alma9925643246606986 HICKS, D. (2020). The Brutish Museums: The Benin bronzes, colonial violence and cultural restitution. London: Pluto Press. (Filozofická fakulta - Knihovna Jana Palacha)
Institutional critique ALBERRO, A. Institutions. Critique and Institutional Critique in ALBERRO, A. and STIMSON, B. (2011). Institutional Critique. An Anthology of Artists’ Writings https://selforganizedseminar.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/alberro_institutional_critique.pdf FRASER, A. (2005). From the Critique of Institutions to an Institution of Critique", Artforum, September 2005, XLIV, No. 1, pp. 278–283. https://www.artforum.com/features/from-the-critique-of-institutions-to-an-institution-of-critique-172201/
Romani Museology LUDLOVÁ, N. and RIGOVÁ, E. eds (2015), Creative Manual for Contemporary Romani Art, Enter, Issue June 2017. BROOKS, E. (2015), ‘The Importance of Feminists and “Halfies” in Romani Studies: New Epistemological Possibilities’, in K. O’Reilly and M. Szilvási (eds), Roma Rights 2: Nothing about Us without Us? Roma Participation https://www.errc.org/uploads/upload_en/file/roma-rights-2-2015-nothing-about-us-without-us.pdf
Freak Shows and Cabinets of Curiosities CZARNECKA, D. and DEMSKI, D. (2021) “Introduction: From Western to Peripheral Voices.” Staged Otherness. Ethnic Shows in Central and Eastern Europe. 1850-1939, 2021, Central European UP.
Curatorial Materialism DIMITRAKAKI, A. and PERRY, L. (2013) 2023. How to Be Seen: An Introduction to Feminist Politics, Exhibition Cultures and Curatorial Transgressions in TOMKOVÁ, D. Wandering Concepts. Kunsthalle Bratislava. https://kunsthallebratislava.sk/publikacia/wandering-concepts-putujuce-koncepty/ KRASNY, E. (2016) „Curatorial Materialism. A Feminist Perspective on Independent and Co-Dependent Curating“ ONCurating- https://www.on-curating.org/issue-29-reader/curatorial-materialism-a-feminist-perspective-on-independent-and-co-dependent-curating.html
Who is included? LORDE, A. (1984, 2007). Sister Outsider. Penguin Random House, excerpt pp. 103 - 116 AHMED, S. (2012), On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, Duke University Press.
Curating as Care KRASNY, E and LINGG, S (eds. et. al.) (2022) Radicalizing Care. Feminist and Queer Activism in Curating. Stenberg Press. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e0a1f516-cb56-411d-b594-ab5f9fa5a1a6/Radicalizing%20Care.pdf PETREŠIN-BACHELEZ, N. (2021), ‘Caretaking as (Is) Curating’, in E. Krasny, S. Lingg, ed. et al., 2021, Radicalizing Care: Feminist and Queer Activism in Curating, Stenberg Press. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e0a1f516-cb56-411d-b594-ab5f9fa5a1a6/Radicalizing%20Care.pdf
Values of academic work In this course, we adhere to the values of fairness and transparency in academic work. When creating your own texts, always refer precisely to the sources you have used. If you quote verbatim, put that part of the text in quotation marks and again refer to the source, including the page number (if the source has pagination). For more information, visit the FHS library website. Guidelines for working with AI This course is based on critical thinking, joint discussions, forming your own opinion, and self-confidence in your own research and work, so I strongly encourage you not to use artificial intelligence in this course, and if you decide to use it in your research, it is important to be aware of the following points: · Do not use AI tools to replace your own thinking or analysis, or to avoid engaging with the course content.
Poslední úprava: Tomková Denisa, M.Sc., Ph.D. (15.09.2025)
|
