Conversations, Art Basel's talks series, will once more bring together leading artists, gallerists, collectors, art historians, curators, museum directors and critics from across the world. Programmed for the third year by Mari Spirito, Founding Director and Curator of Protocinema, Conversations offers a platform for dialogues and discussions on current topics, offering perspectives on producing, collecting, and exhibiting art.The 23 talks will feature prominent art world figures including Dr. Maria Balshaw, Candice Breitz, Julian Charrière, Elmgreen & Dragset, Cécile B. Evans, Carlos Garaicoa, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Ekaterina Inozemtseva, Kasper König, Annette Messager, Frances Morris, Zanele Muholi, Claes Nordenhake, Aparna Rao, Beatrix Ruf, Wilhelm Schürmann, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Stanley Whitney and Vadim Zakharov, among many others. Art Basel, whose Lead Partner is UBS, takes place at Messe Basel from June 15 to June 18, 2017.
Art Basel’s Conversations series – formerly titled Conversations and Salon – begins on Wednesday, June 14 with the Premiere Artist Talk, devoted to Annette Messager (b. 1943) and moderated by Dr. Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate, United Kingdom as of June
As part of a biennale talk on the same day, Gabi Ngcobo, Curator, 10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art and Elmgreen & Dragset, Artists, and Curators, 15th Istanbul Biennial, Berlin, will be discussing ‘Two Approaches: The Postcolonial & The Personal’ in their two upcoming Biennials to be moderated by Georgina Adam, Art Market Editor-at-large, The Art Newspaper, London. The series of Conversations will continue on Thursday, June 15 with a debate focusing on ‘New Rules: Is the Artworld a Mature Industry?’. The discussion will be moderated by András Szántó, Author and Cultural Consultant, New York and will bring together a panel of speakers including Lindsay Pollock, Former Editor-in-Chief of Art in America, New York; Adam Sheffer, Partner at Cheim & Read and President, Art Dealers Association of America, New York; Bob Rennie, Collector and Principal, Rennie Collection, Vancouver; Olav Velthuis, Professor at the Department of Sociology of the University of Amsterdam and President of TIAMSA; and Pierre Valentin, Partner Constantine Cannon LLP, London.
Invited to discuss the complexities of museum development in the talk ‘Reconsidering Museum Growth’ will be Beatrix Ruf, Director, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Frances Morris, Director, Tate Modern with the talk moderated by Nina Siegal, Freelance Contributor, The New York Times, Amsterdam. Initiated and moderated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries, London, this year’s ‘Artists’ Influencers’ talk on Friday, June 16 will see Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (b. 1965) in dialogue with Kasper König, Artistic Director of Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017. A debate surrounding ‘Cohabitation & What is wrong with Ecological Art’ will be the focus on Saturday, June 17. Discussing these themes and tying them in with their own art practice, speakers will include artists Julian Charrière (b. 1987) and Lara Almarcegui (b. 1972), with Luise Faurschou, Founder & Director of Faurschou Art Resources & ART 2030, Copenhagen, and moderator Ana Paula Cohen, Independent Curator, Editor and Writer, São Paulo.
The following day, audiences will be able to gain insights into the collaboration between Stanley Whitney (b. 1946) and Claes Nordenhake, Founder and Director, Galerie Nordenhake, in a talk entitled ‘The Artist and the Gallerist’, moderated by Alexie Glass-Kantor, Executive Director, Artspace, Sydney and Curator of Art Basel's Encounters sector in Hong Kong.
Further highlights from Conversations include an artist talk moderated by Valerie Kabov, Editor-at-Large of Art Africa Magazine, Harare under the theme ‘Do Artists need to Leave Africa to be Successful?’, in which South African artists Candice Breitz (b. 1972) and Zanele Muholi (b. 1972) will discuss the contemporary African art scene and how young African artists can build recognition for their work, both at home and abroad. Shifting the focus to Russia’s art scene, ‘Russian Conceptualism: Silent Resistance’, will present a political discussion featuring conceptual artist Vadim Zakharov (b. 1959) in conversation with Margarita Tupitsyn, Independent Scholar, Critic and Curator, New York, moderated by Ekaterina Inozemtseva, Senior Curator, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow. ‘Bricks-and-Mortar & Acquisitions’, will feature Anthony Reynolds, Owner, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London in conversation with Janice Guy, Co-owner former Murray Guy, New York about the role of traditional galleries and the perceived shifting importance of physical spaces to the sales of art, moderated by Josh Baer, Advisor and Publisher, Baer Faxt, New York. ‘The Future(s) of Photography’ will be discussed by a panel including: Thomas Zander, Owner Galerie Thomas Zander Cologne; Philip Tinari, Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing and Nathalie Herschdorfer, Director Museum of Fine Arts, Le Locle, and will be moderated by Tobia Bezzola, Director of Museum Folkwang in Essen.
The weekend program will include ‘Jerusalem Lives’, a conversation between Palestinian artist Yazan Khalili (b. 1981) and Reem Fadda, Independent Curator, Amman, which will focus on the opening of The Palestinian Museum in 2016 and the first ever exhibition in the new space one year after its opening, curated by Reem Fadda. ‘Oh the Humanity’ will bring together artist Cécile B. Evans (b. 1983) and Susanne Pfeffer, Director of the Fridericianum in Kassel, and Commissioner, German Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Saturday’s talk ’Archives and the Digital Dark Age’, will see Hans Ulrich Obrist moderate a dialogue between Sabih Ahmed, Senior Researcher Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, and Glenn R. Phillips, Curator and Head of Modern & Contemporary Collections, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, on the acceleration of technology in relationship to the slow pace of preservation, which is leading to the future possible loss of information in both mediums. The last day of the program will include a discussion on the impacts of social media on the art market, featuring speakers Amadeo Kraupa-Tuskany, Co-Founder and Director, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, and collector Tobias Gombert, Basel, to be moderated by Art Critic and Author, Astrid Mania, Berlin.
Conversations is held daily from Wednesday, June 14 to Sunday, June 18 in the auditorium of Hall 1. The program is open to the public and free of charge. All panel discussions are followed by a Q&A session.
All Conversations panels will be live streamed on Art Basel's YouTube channel and on our website: artbasel.com/basel/conversations.
