Subject: CFP: Art Markets and the Future of Collecting
Where: Loughborough University
When: 15 Jun 18
Deadline: Feb 28, 2018
This symposium investigates the impact of art markets on museum collecting and contemporary curatorial practices. As sponsorship deals and commercial interests increasingly shape the global footprint of museum ‘brands’ and determine the budget for exhibitions, new questions arise as to the social responsibilities of public art institutions, their independence, and the evolving narratives proposed by their collections. In the wake of cuts to state funding for the arts, have public museums become reliant on the financial support and, hence, personal tastes of private donors? To what extent do exhibition practices track the market activities of auction houses and private galleries and with what impact on institutional diversity and the career prospects of individual artists? Are privately owned spaces and commercial venues supplanting state-funded museums? Has increasing public interest in the spectacle of the art market altered expectations about the kinds of experience that should be promoted by museums?
Proposals for 20 minute papers are welcome that debate intersections between local or global art market forces and museum collecting in the twenty-first century. We welcome proposals that address cases from around the world.
Please send proposals (250 words max and a short biography) to Kathryn Brown k.j.brown@lboro.ac.uk by no later than 28 February, 2018.
This symposium is sponsored by the Museums, Markets, and Critical Heritage Research Group of Loughborough University.