Saturday, June 6, 2009
14:15–16:00
Session II: World of The Artist – Venues and Institutions
This session asks: Where does art happen, and what impact does location have on both the art and its reception? It looks at the places where art is produced and displayed, considering the venues and institutions that mediate and regulate the artist’s access to audiences. It examines the role that government ministries, museums, and privately owned galleries all play vis–à–vis the artist, and how this in turn affects the content that reaches audiences (what art is shown/performed) and the impact that it has (how venues influence audience response).
14:15–14:20 Moderator: Vishakha Desai, President, Asia Society, U.S.A.
14:20–14:30 Where does art happen in the Muslim world today?
In what types of spaces
– private, public, and commercial – are different types of art created, produced, and
displayed? What impact does the type of space have on artists and the art they produce?
Speaker: Bruce Lawrence, Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of the Islamic Studies Center, Duke
University, U.S.A.
14:30–14:40 Mediating and regulating artists’ access to audiences: galleries, schools
of art, museums, government ministries, markets, festivals and other cultural institutions (locally,
nationally, and internationally).
Through what venues do artists reach audiences, domestically and
internationally? What factors impact artists’ ability to reach audiences, and what impact does
mediation have on the types of art produced and viewed?
Speaker: Theodore Levin, Distinguished
Professor in the Humanities, Department of Music, Dartmouth College, U.S.A.
14:40–14:50 Case study: an experience
What kinds of art does this person handle? In
what kind of institution does she work? What kinds of experiences has she had in presenting art and
artists to particular audiences?
Speaker: Sabiha al–Khemir, writer and former Director, Museum
of Islamic Arts, Doha, Qatar, U.K. / Tunisia
14:50–15:00 Discussant: Jon Anderson, Chair, Anthropology Department, Catholic University, U.S.A.
15:00–16:00 Floor discussion
16:00–16:30 Coffee break for participants
