Search Results (46)

This article examines the significant contributions of Helga de Alvear as a gallerist, collector, and patron, a pivotal figure in the evolution of the Spanish and international contemporary art market. Her legacy is particularly notable through the establishment of the Helga de Alvear Museum in the city of Cáceres, intended to share her vast collection of over 3000 works and foster exhibition, research, conservation, and education. The study analyzes her art collection, highlighting its substantial international minimalist art component, contextualizing its development with her personal and professional journey. Furthermore, it explores the institutionalization of her legacy, from the Helga de Alvear Foundation to the creation and evolution of the museum, its innovative architecture and museography, and its impact on Cáceres’s urban landscape. Full article

The Buades Gallery (1973–2003) was not merely a commercial space in Madrid. In the history of art in Spain, it served as a professional and political node for Spanish conceptualism, an art form which, due to its idiosyncrasies, required its own channels of distribution. This article seeks to examine the trajectory of Mercedes Buades in alignment with this movement, re-evaluating her role from a feminist perspective and highlighting the importance of certain agents who have traditionally been invisibilised. To this end, a theoretical approach is adopted, following the sociology of art and the social history of art, paying particular attention to the contributions of Enrico Castelnuovo, Pierre Bourdieu and Núria Peist. These frameworks enable an analysis of the role of the gallerist as a structuring agent within the artistic field, capable of generating symbolic capital and establishing dynamics of production, circulation and consumption in the context of post-Franco Spain, a country that lacked a consolidated museum infrastructure at the time. Even so, Mercedes Buades established a model of gallery practice that, beyond its commercial dimension, contributed decisively to the symbolic configuration of contemporary art in Spain and formed part of a network of artistic visibility that promoted experimental art. Full article

The TOWCHED project explores how arts and heritage-based educational methodologies can support sustainable development by enhancing key transversal competencies in learners, particularly children and youth. In response to the global challenges outlined in the sustainable development goals (SDGs), this project promotes inclusive and participatory approaches to education that foster social cohesion, intercultural understanding, and civic engagement. Partnering with museums, TOWCHED develops cross-curricular pedagogical interventions, such as experiential, blended, and collection-mediated learning, that link cultural heritage with contemporary social and environmental concerns. These approaches aim to strengthen creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and self-awareness. TOWCHED demonstrates that heritage collection-based education can play a vital role in transforming schools and other learning environments into hubs for sustainable, lifelong learning. By embedding cultural expression and heritage into educational practices, the project offers a compelling model for empowering individuals to navigate and shape a more equitable and interconnected world. This paper has two aims. First, we introduce TOWCHED, an interdisciplinary project recently funded by the Horizon Europe program of the European Union to preserve and promote education for sustainability in the heritage context. Second, we introduce a set of tools related to the project. Full article

Drawing on the epistemological tradition of feminist care theory and care ethics, this article analyzes Boris Groys’s contribution to the philosophy of care in order to highlight the implications of care issues in the context of art, which is an important reference point for both his and my own investigation. After an introductory overview of the problematic and conceptualization of care, I address Groys’s position. I then provide insights into feminist care ethics and the philosophy of the body, care aesthetics and care work, before turning to art care. In a concluding synthesis, I argue for a different philosophy of care in the light of a reorientation of our understanding of care work in general and in the art world in particular. Methodologically, I combine philosophical exegesis and critical theory, referring to the feminist critique of the Western philosophical tradition as expressed in Groys’s work. I remain at the discursive level of the philosophical study of care and its dialog with the broader field of feminist theory and care ethics, including in relation to care work and art care in the contemporary museum economy. Full article

Archaeology is a well-established discipline that sheds light on human history and uncovers the mysteries of materials, their origins, production methods, and areas of use. It provides significant insights into various topics such as the production history of glass and other materials, trade routes, manufacturing processes, degradation mechanisms, regional usages, and coloring com-positions. Glass, an ancient yet contemporary material, can transmit, absorb, and reflect light. Appreciating glass art requires recognizing its rich history, offering artists technical and aesthetic possibilities in modern life and architecture. This study examines the influence of archaeological research and the artistic character of ancient glass on contemporary glass art. Archaeological findings from Turkey and around the world have been reviewed, with a particular focus on the Phrygian Valley, located in and around Eskişehir, an important region for the Phrygian civilization. Artifacts unearthed through excavations and sur-face surveys conducted in the Phrygian Valley, and preserved in the Eskişehir Eti Archaeology Museum, have been analyzed. The museum houses approximately 22.500 artifacts, including sculptures, steles, ceramics, glass vessels, metal objects, jewelry, and coins. Inspired by these artifacts and Phrygian culture, original glass designs have been created using techniques such as stained glass, lampworking, and glass painting. The aim of the study is to interpret Phrygian art and culture through innovative designs. Full article

In March 2022, an auction house in Zurich sold two female figurines made from mammoth ivory, along with other prehistoric artefacts. This is a rare occurrence because the scarcity and value of Paleolithic figurines have limited their presence in the international art market. Researchers from the Archaeological Museum Hamburg and the University of Tübingen subsequently undertook in situ and non-destructive investigations to illuminate the authenticity of the two figurines. We conducted a comprehensive analytical study that included detailed microscopic optical observations and spectroscopic investigations. This methodological approach, combined with a thorough comparison to contemporary ivory figurine replicas, proved effective and clearly demonstrated that the specimens were forgeries. Research efforts of this kind are crucial, as they significantly help reduce the spread of intentional fakes posing as genuine artefacts in the art market. By doing so, we foster collaboration between academic institutions and the art market to preserve and protect the integrity and value of authentic archaeological and cultural heritage. Full article

Contemporary art consumption is predominantly online, driven by algorithmic recommendation systems that dictate artwork visibility. Despite not being designed for curation, these algorithms’ machinic ways of seeing play a pivotal role in shaping visual culture, influencing artistic creation, visibility, and associated social and financial benefits. The Algorithmic Pedestal was a gallery, practice-based research project that reported gallerygoers’ perceptions of a human’s curation and curation achieved by Instagram’s algorithm. This paper presents a technical analysis of the same exhibit using computer vision code, offering insights into machines’ perception of visual art. The computer vision code assigned values on various metrics to each image, allowing statistical comparisons to identify differences between the collections of images selected by the human and the algorithmic system. The analysis reveals statistically significant differences between the exhibited images and the broader Metropolitan Museum of Art digital collection. However, the analysis found minimal distinctions between human-curated and Instagram-curated images. This study contributes insights into the perceived value of the curation process, shedding light on how audiences perceive artworks differently from machines using computer vision. Full article

The Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings 五百羅漢圖, painted by Southern Song Mingzhou 明州 artists Lin Tinggui 林庭珪 and Zhou Jichang 周季常, have become a focal point in recent studies on the Chinese Buddhist material culture of the Song Dynasty. Among the 500 Luohans series, five paintings are related to the ancient Indian legend of Emperor Aśoka’s creation of 84,000 stupas. These paintings include “Building a Stupa” (No.78), “King Aśoka Stupa Emitting Light” (No.79), “Precious Stupa on the Rock” (No.80), and “Miracle of Light-Emitting Relics” (No.81), which are currently housed in the Daitokuji 大德寺 in Kyoto, Japan, and “Luohans Watching the Relics’ Light” (B5), which is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the US. However, the way in which the “King Aśoka Stupa” 阿育王塔 and “Relics’ Light” 舍利光 series were integrated into the overall visual narrative of the 500 Luohans in the Daitokuji and Boston collections, as well as the profound meanings and social-cultural contexts embedded in these images, have been rarely studied in depth. The introduction of the miraculous relics theme into the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings originates from an earlier version by the monk Fa Neng. However, Fa Neng’s version recorded by the Northern Song literati Qin Guan 秦觀 does not mention the King Aśoka Stupa. The artists had considerable freedom in depicting miraculous relic phenomena and King Aśoka Stupa. The specific details of King Aśoka Stupa’s background in Tiantai Mountain 天台山, such as rock bridges, waterfalls, and rock caves, as well as the craftsmanship of King Aśoka Stupa, reflect particular contemporary ideas. The vivid depictions of the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” in the Daitokuji Present Collection and the Boston Collection of the 500 Luohans may indicate a close connection between the creation of these images and the fervent Relics Worship at King Aśoka Temple 阿育王寺 in Mingzhou during Southern Song. This paper synthesizes these images, ancient Chinese and Japanese manuscripts, and fieldwork insights to interpret the sources and significance of these images. Full article

The Ethnographic Museum in Dubrovnik holds an extensive textile collection which includes a number of dresses and costumes from Croatia and neighbouring countries. Until recently, the costumes were displayed on mannequins created by the academic artist Zvonimir Lončarić (1927–2004). His sculptures are expressive forms made of terracotta, fibreglass, wood, metal, acrylic paint and other materials chosen for their visual appeal. Due to their importance, the museum considered the mannequins to be protected works of art in the permanent exhibition; however, they had a harmful effect on the costumes displayed. In 2018, after completing a series of conservation–restoration projects within the collection, it was decided to replace the existing mounts with new, museum-quality mannequins. Two project-based learning workshops were organised, led by a team of textile conservators from the University of Dubrovnik and the Croatian Conservation Institute, in collaboration with the curator of the Ethnographic Museum. This case study highlights the challenges of exhibiting ethnographic costumes by discussing past presentation methods and how new solutions have been implemented in line with the modern conservation–restoration profession. The new solutions take into consideration ethics, decision-making processes, and an understanding of contemporary materials and methodology. Full article

This article discusses applications of technology for sensory-disabled audiences in modern and contemporary art exhibitions. One case study of experimental artistic and curatorial research by The OtherAbilities art collective is discussed: a series of prototype tools for sensory translation from audible sound to vibration were developed to be embeddable in the architecture of spaces where art is presented. In the article, the case study is approached from a curatorial perspective. Based on bibliographical sources, the article starts with a brief historical reference to disability art activism and a presentation of contemporary accessibility solutions for sensory-disabled audiences in museums. The research for the case study was conducted during testing and feedback sessions on the prototypes using open-ended oral interviews, open-ended written comments, and ethnographic observation of visitors’ behavior during exhibitions. The testers were d/Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing. The results focus on the reception of the sensory translation of audible sound to vibration by test users of diverse hearing abilities and on the reception of the prototypes in the context of art and design exhibitions. The article closes with a reflection on how disability scholarship meets art curatorial theory in the example of the article’s case study. Full article

Whenever twentieth-century modern art or new contemporary artworks are included amongst displays of ancient Egypt, press statements often assert that such juxtapositions are ‘surprising’, ‘innovative’, and ‘fresh’, celebrating the external perspective they bring to such collections. But contemporary art’s relationship with museums and other disciplines needs to be understood in a longer-term perspective. Pairings of twentieth- and twenty-first-century artistic works with objects of antiquity is an activity that has been undertaken for more than a century in what has been a relatively long period of mutually reinforcing influences between modern/contemporary art, museum display, the art market, and Egyptian heritage. Together, they have decontextualised ancient Egyptian culture and shaped the language and perspectives of scholars, curators, and artists. In this paper, rather than considering how artists have been inspired by ancient Egypt, I will give a few examples of how more recent art practices from the late nineteenth century onwards have impacted the language and discourse of Egyptology and its museum representation. Then, using more recent artist engagements with the British Museum, I argue for greater interdisciplinary dialogues between artists and Egyptologists, as both take more critical stances towards research that recontextualises the power and agency of collections, representation, and knowledge production. Full article

“Atmospheric” painting stands as a new frontier in contemporary art, presenting challenges and new considerations in museum practices. This article aims to analyze the possible evolution of four atmospheric paintings created by artist Luca Vitone during their transition from exhibition halls to the storage facilities of the MAXXI museum. The presence of active microbiological consortium raises question regarding the potential interaction these artworks may have with the surrounding environment. The year-long monitoring involved macroscopic and microscopic observation, spectrophotometric analyses, and cell vitality assessments using a bioluminometer. Additionally, the collected data were correlated with the prevailing microclimate within the storage. Indeed, the canvases underwent an evolution during their transfer to the storage; it was mainly the photosynthetic part of the consortium that underwent the greatest changes, resulting in changes in the color tones of the canvases. The viability of the cells in the consortium also underwent changes as indicated by measurements obtained with the bioluminometer. The monitoring has provided invaluable insights into the dynamic evolution of Vitone’s artworks and allowed the authors to hypothesize some strategies for the conservation of these types of artworks. Full article

The present article analyzes the recent debates regarding the redefinition of the museum, exploring resonances in reflective practices and processes in public museums in Chile. While these have caused controversy and discord, they appear to converge in the need to rethink the relationship between museums and society, seeking to make them more inclusive, democratic and diverse. The present discussion is based on the preliminary results of “LAB_Museums: Contemporary Museums and Museologies”, an ongoing interdisciplinary research intervention model promoting processes of co-production of knowledge regarding museums and museography. This paper is the publication of the results of the project. To this end, a collaborative ecosystem of knowledge has been developed between the university, museums and public sector, based on the implementation of laboratories, initially, in five public museums of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile: the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Historical Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Popular Art Museum and the National Center of Contemporary Art. The theoretical/methodological framework used was that of Institutional Analysis (IA), based on which interviews and discussion groups with museum professionals promote dialogues on the present reality and contemporary challenges of museums. Full article

Participation has become the keyword in museum and gallery education during the past decades. However, the focus on participation might contain neoliberalist tendencies, creating more entertainment and consumerism than art. In this study based on practice-based research, I explore a gallery educational method to mediate contemporary art to primary and high school students inspired by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s process philosophy and new materialist theory–practice. What kind of roles can the method of Concept Play Workshop create for the participating body and how can it challenge neoliberal tendencies in museum and gallery education? In the workshops, children and young people create philosophical concepts with contemporary art, dialogue-based practices and artistic experiments in the exhibition space of Kunsthall 3,14 in Bergen, Norway. I argue that the method can create philosophizing, critical, uncomfortable, resting, dictatorial and protesting bodies. Representational logic becomes challenged, and discomfort and resistance become educational potential. The method creates multiple and overlapping roles for the participating body, shifting the focus towards multiplicities instead of the passive/active binary. Humans are not the only participating bodies, but attention is given to agential matter, contesting human-centeredness. The study is a contribution to the field of post-approaches in gallery and museum education. Full article

The museum’s instrumentalisation of contemporary art as a visitor attraction has come to mean that any use of live animals in art now must participate in and acknowledge the politics of spectacle, which for other animals means the optics of the zoo or the circus. At the same time, established social media can now deliver mass criticism of an artwork, requiring artists to learn how to manage reputation as a matter of professional art practice. In this article, I examine art’s changing ethics by working from a dilemma I faced recently as an artist over a simple 30-s video I had made featuring a wild house mouse that I had trained between COVID-19 lockdowns to take food from my shoe. Subsequently, I decided not to exhibit, publish or broadcast that video. I argue that it is the digital—its exposure of the micro-issue, its close focus on the individual case, its onus on linguistic precision and its diligent proofing and testing of arguments large or small—that now transforms the work the artwork does. This may now push artists into a much wider range of ethical decision-making about artworks to arrive at the artist’s regular mode of reflection and evaluation via a level of hyper detail and super nuance that, historically, artists of no particular celebrity have had little or no reason to engage with before. Full article