Description
Book SynopsisThis unique book proposes a re-reading of the relationship between artists and the contemporary museum. In Australia in particular, the museum has played a significant role in the colonial project and this has generally been considered as the predominant mode of artists'' engagement with such institutions and collections. Australian Artists in the Contemporary Museum expands the post-colonial frame of reference used to interpret this work, to demonstrate the broader implications of the relationship between artists and the museum, and thus to offer an alternative way of understanding recent contemporary practices. The authors'' central argument is that artists'' engagement with the museum has shifted from politically motivated critique taking place in museums of fine art, towards interventions taking place in non-art museums that focus on the creation of knowledge more broadly. Such interventions assume a number of forms, including the artist acting as curator, art works that highligh
Trade Review'Museums have changed profoundly over the last twenty years, and one of the most vital symptoms and drivers of change has been the engagement of contemporary artists with them. Artists' interventions have been predictably controversial and much debated. It is time for a more balanced analysis and this book offers one, along with an overview of the distinctive and important history of contemporary engagement with institutions in Australia.' Nicholas Thomas, University of Cambridge, UK ’Informed by, but going beyond the perspectives of institutional critique and the new museology, Australian Artists in the Contemporary Museum throws welcome light on the distinctive forces shaping contemporary Australian art practices: the legacies of colonialism, Indigenous art practices, and feminist interventions. It also rescues questions concerning the relations between art practices and museums from the narrowing horizons of art history by exploring the political interventions that Australian artists have made across the museum sector as a whole, rather than just art museums. An important and timely book.’ Tony Bennett, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction: situating the artist/museum relationship; Institutional practices and artists’ critiques; Post-colonial engagements: playing with history; The artist as curator; Beautifying the museum: the aesthetics of collections; Conclusion: artists and museums now; Bibliography; Index.
