I believe the author wishes to argue that the renewal mentioned in the article resists changes. They only want to put an end to the "abnormal" and return to "normal". They will not accept unexpected changes nor will they change to deal with social issues. However, how do we decide what is normal? and who has the right to decide it?

The racism caused by COVID-19

The movie The Little Mermaid and the controversy. Should we see it as racism as well?

The idea of changing without seeing the source of problems

Rinaldo Walcott argues in the book that black people live in an emancipation. The emancipation from history, the emancipation from slavery and colonization. However, he argues that this emancipation does not provide freedom for black people globally since they still face limitations on their freedom and the legal status of black people is still questionable. He continues to argue that black people need to constantly shape the idea of freedom and reality with expressive culture. Overall, the book wishes to offer “a new humanism that begins by acknowledging that present conceptions of what it means to be human do not currently include Black people”. https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-long-emancipation

Definition supplimental:

transitive v., to increase the life of or replace something old. transitive v., to begin doing something again. transitive v., to begin doing something again or with increased strength. transitive v., to increase the period of time that something can be used or is in effect. Source: Cambridge dictionary

Question: The stereotype that artists and individuals who work in art-related fields are usually from the upper classes of society always exists in society. Do you think the art industry is exclusive of artists from the working class? Do you think art boards should include artists from the working class and how will it affect the politics of art?

Connection: The project reminds me of the socially engaged art projects we discussed in class. It brings to the question of what the boundary is between art and other projects and what artistic values they carry. Meanwhile, I think social media brings us an opportunity to critically think about the meaning of curating. As discussed in the article, contemporary art is limited by institutions and does not have the method of breaking the contract for now. Social media and curating on social media might provide us with a new approach to think about these issues.

Summary: The author questions the definition of curating and argues that the idea of curating expands beyond the traditional methodology. Duchamp’s work not only empowered artists but also curators who now can decide whether works are art or not. However, if curators are beneficiaries of Duchamp’s action, then it is also up to them to consider the problems of contemporary art.

Connection: It reminds me of last week’s reading, the interview with Andrea Fatona. Although she focuses more on Black Canadian artists and their participation in the art world, she also points out the lack of critiques in the art world. The art industry not only needs more critiques of art but also more critiques of the institutions. Without more critical thinking on these subjects, it will be difficult for the institutions to change. On the other hand, as the author states, contemporary art still carries the colonial and exclusive perspective, so the industry requires more artists and historians who can think outside the framework.

Summary: The art system merged with the political structures, but it expanded the art world as well and allowed more art to be shown while making money for these artists. Another paradox of contemporary art is that it wants to separate itself from modernity, but its core idea is still an expansion of modernity. It follows the Western idea of liberal tradition while claiming its exteriority to include art from other parts of the world. That is to say, contemporary art is always colonial. Therefore, some museological artists look back into history and search for a method of breaking the contract while regaining their sovereignty and subjectivity. The importance of Duchamp is that he used artwork to break the edges and used what the system has to break the system. Therefore, institutional critique needs to repeat the action of Duchamp, identifying the weaknesses and inconsistencies of capitalism that absorbed contemporary art.

Summary: When artists have the freedom to critique the politics of exhibition, they are also limited by the politics they address because these politics are used by some artists to auto-institutionalize themselves. Their self-identified institutions become the ones that limit their freedom again. So the question is what artists should do now to break the limitation again. There were works that brought opportunities to break the limitations, but they became a part of contemporary art again and failed to continue the breaking. The problem is that the politics of identifying contemporary art overshadow the social and political issues discussed in artworks. Nevertheless, artists learned new methods to broaden the context of art through the currency of the regime that governs them.

Summary: Compared to the traditional model of producing artwork, contemporary artists have more freedom in their practice, subject and form. Meanwhile, they also have the freedom to express their own interests in works and comment on events in the world. The history of public exhibition started when the people took over the palace and formed a republic during the French Revolution. The act of entering the public exhibition itself is political since those who entered the palace exhibition were the ones who gained political power through violence. The importance of the palace exhibition is that the legitimacy of the state depends on its people and it is meant to serve the people. After the French Revolution, art became an instrument for artists to engage with the public and evoke change. The social function that art carried after the French Revolution allowed both artists and institutions to have their own sovereign. It seems that contemporary artists have more freedom in their work, but they still need to follow certain protocols in order to enter the art world.

Summary: Duchamp's artwork freed artists from the traditional model of commission and allowed them more opportunities to think about the concept of their artwork, which elevated the position of artists and broke the limitations formed by institutions. However, these artists’ work can only be exhibited in galleries with permission, which increased institutions’ authority again. This permission from galleries become the chain that links the art world since then.

Connection: The connection between artistic labour and Marxism feminism is really interesting. Once the author makes the comparison between the two types of labour, using Marxism feminism to deal with the issue of artistic labour becomes reasonable. However, artists and their work also carry the ability to criticize and engage in social and political issues, which might change people’s minds and influence the world. I think the essay does not touch on this value of artistic labour.

Question: I believe the art industry is no different than any other industry and was a part of the economy before the 18th century. As discussed in my article of the week, the traditional model is that the church or the authorities commission an artist to create artwork on a particular topic, so the artists can be seen as labourers who get paid properly. Therefore, we can see a conflict here. In your opinion, how should we deal with the economic issue of artists and the goal of having sovereignty for artists?

Summary: The author argues that in Yugoslavis's theory, artists are precarious workers because they believe in the self-governing of art and deny the influence of the economic system on the art industry. The author intends to apply the essay to further discuss and explain this argument. The author states Western art is based on the idea that artists should exist in the industry and create artwork without considering the economic conditions. However, most artists cannot live without making money from their art and thinking about the economic influence that artwork brings to them.

Question: What role does education play in these changes and movements? Andrea Fatona speaks about black canandian art requires more critical and acedemic voices, but the truth is that most universities are lack of black canadian art scholars and historians. Without these mentor to guide future generations, the change seems more difficulty. What should be done about it?

Summary: Andrea Fatona emphasizes the importance of education. She believes the important role that memtors play in one's life and career. Mentors can help their students to find the path that fits them the best, so they can achieve success in their own field. Mentorship is an opportunity to break the boundaries and bring in new vocies into the current art world.

Connection: When doing research on similar exhibitions, (such as fragments of epic memory, also an exhibition about black artists and black diaspora), AGO's websites usually do not provide details about exhibitions and critical discussion of these exhibitions are rarely seen as well.

Connection: While taking about bienal in Cuba, it also reminds me of China's participation in bienal. When China began to attend bienal, the government emphasize the political power of the bienal and the construction of national identity. Even till today, art in China is still closely connected to politics. The freedom of art and the politics are always related.

Question: The bienal de La Habana was political and more like a social event than an artistic exhibition. I have never been to a bienal before, so I wonder whether bienal today is similar to this one or not. Does contemporary bienal also evolve political issues and movements?

Summary: The Third Bienal de La Habana changed the usual formate of bienal and began to be more inclusive of art outside of Europe. It was organized into smaller exhibitions that discussed issues about local identities and displayed cultural productions from non-Western countries. Meanwhile, the bienal included artworks from both professional artists and non professional individuals such as children. By also organizing a conference that generated debates on cultural theories, the bienal expanded its audience to both the public and the professionals in the art world. As the bienal was hold in Habana, it also provided young Cuban artists an opportunity to talk about their culture and history, which also became their fight against the Cuban cultural authorities.

Connection: It reminds me of the ecology of the art world that we talked about during the second class. Most institutions are supported or funded by the government, so it is difficult for curators in these institutions to critique. That being said, I think we as the new generation of curators still need to consider how to critique institutions whether we will work in these institutions or not in future.

Summary: The author argues that decolonial thoughts are not against or from Eurocentric thoughts, but merged from the theories and philosophies of the Southern parts of the world where people were colonized. With the theories and writings of Enrique Dussel, Frantz Fanon, and Martinican Aimé Césaire, the decolonial perspective tends to prove that there are alternative ways of seeing other than the Eurocentric thoughts.

Summary: The author argues that the main questions are what the exhibition does, how exhibitions function, and what the importance of exhibitions is. Exhibitions create and regulate the audience's experience of the artworks displayed in exhibitions. Exhibitions are about artworks, their arrangements, and the representation of ideas as well as the relationships and conversations between artworks in exhbitions.

Question: I think written material is an important part of exhibitions as well. When I did my exhibition proposal in my undergraduate, I spent a lot of time writing the introduction and extended labels for the exhibition. My question is how texts, including texts that appear in exhibitions, written advertisements online and physical publications, shape and influence the audience's interpretation of exhibitions.

Connection 2 Sixth Company Batallion by Anqiue Jordan is a photograph that captured her aunts dressing as British soldiers. As a new generation of Caribbean artists and curators, Anqiue hopes this moment in the photograph can reveal the authentic history of the part, the unfolding of the present, and the history of her own family. Although the artwork is not related to the Carnival, it talks about the Caribbean diasporic art and the moment as a monument that records the past and present. https://www.aniquejjordan.com/sixth-company-battalion

Connection 1 The anthropological perspective in the existing connections cannot be avoided since these artworks, such as photographs, were created in a period when the anthropological perspective was considered to be normal. However, as the author argues in the essay, it is curators and museums who can decide whether these collections should be curated and redefine the message of artworks. An example is the exhibition “Fragments of Epic Memory” at the AGO. The curator acquired the collection with an anthropological perspective, yet the exhibition provides a telling of Caribbean history and demonstrates that these concepts and events of the Caribbean are continually explored and reinterpreted by artworks. https://ago.ca/exhibitions/fragments-epic-memory

Connection: It reminds me of the performance art "Dance with Farm Workers" by Song Dong and Wu Weiguang. It is an hour long video that documented the eight-day reheasal and the final performance. It has both the asthetic part as an artwork as well as communciation and social engagment. The final performance encouraged the audience to think the social and political problems surroding farm workers while the reheasal was where the communication and dialogue happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33HFpoZcgoY&ab_channel=newmovieasia

Question 1 What do vernacular cosmopolitanism and cosmopolita modernism mean? I read about similar concepts in other essays, but I am not entirely sure about the exact meaning of the terms. Base on my understanding and previous study, I think the term is related to topics such as inclusiveness of the art industry. I believe it is the current trend of art world, to include local art while making it international.

Summary 4 The author continues to discuss a few exhibitions organized by Minshall and Gulick. The exhibitions attempted to transform Carnival into a gallery space while keeping its performative nature, yet the exhibitions were still organized in a traditional method and closely connected to the concept of performance art. Griffith also attempted to create exhibitions on Carnival, yet he acquired different methods as he emphasized on experience of the Carnival rather than reproducing the Carnival. To a curator, the space is the key to exhibitions. Therefore, when the exhibition is about Carnival, the space is the street, and the artworks are roadworks. The author then talks about her own curatorial project on Carnival. In this project, the space is into the street and the exhibition into a march.

Summary 2 By examing contemporary Caribbean art exhibitions in the US and the UK, the author argues that Carnival is marginalized by the art world in both Caribbean and non-Caribbean art exhibitions. Although some exhibitions attempted to include Carnival as a part of Caribbean art exhibitions, they maintained the anthropological perspectives by displaying props and photographs of the Carnival instead of the Carnival itself. The problematic method of representing Carnival leads to the debate on the importance of performance art in contemporary Caribbean art practice. The author questions the Western perspective that performance art carries and the Western way of analyzing contemporary Caribbean art. She also raised the debate on how Caribbean art can assist in defining the difference between performing art and performance art.

Summary 3 The author argues that Carnival is marginalized both in contemporary Caribbean art exhibitions and contemporary Caribbean art history. When Carnival appears in professional publications, the discussions are frequently historical and anthropological instead of artistic. In the 1990s, Peter Minshall with Todd Gulick began to transform Carnival from performing arts into the visual arts and performance art. They acquired the concept of mas, short for masquerade, to refer to “the most visual” Carnival form and to identify Carnival as a genre of performance art that incorporates various forms and activities such as songs, music, and dance. By quoting Goldberg, Minshall argues that performance art can include various forms of art and references while leading the audiences to reconsider their understanding of art. However, Carnival or Mas not only emphasizes experiencing art but also focuses on the participation of the audience. Cozier further develops the concept of Minshall by arguing that Carnival gained new shape and meaning through Mas while Mas becomes a site or a moment where the culture and history of the Caribbean can be remembered. Cozier also suggested that their art should be named roadwork since the activities of their life are street activities.

Summary 1 Carnival appeared in 1990 for the first time, but the exhibition had an anthropological perspective instead of seeing carnival as the artistic production of the contemporary world. When Caribbean Art was exhibited again at the Brooklyn Museum after around ten years, Carnival did not appear in the exhibition as contemporary art again. Meanwhile, a challenge merged, as Annie Paul argued in her essay, that if Caribbean visual art continues to follow the Western perspective, it will increase the risk of diaspora and extinction for Caribbean art. The author further argues that the main debate about Carnival is whether it should enter the museum and be curated as contemporary art. The purpose of the essay is to discuss how artists and curators from past and present attempt to demonstrate Carnival as an artistic and curatorial object and the author’s own effort in the process. The author argues that the current artistic theories on whether a genre of artwork should be curated or not still contain the dichotomic view. The arguments in the essay are closely connected to the topic of African diaspora art and the role of curators and museums in identifying different types of contemporary art.

Question: The exhibitions that focus more on economic profits are usually called "blockbuster" exhibitions. The reality is that most art museums in the world need these blockbuster exhibitions to support them financially. How do we identify whether an artwork is for the market or not?

Connection: Another challenge for the Chinese art industry is the influence of the government on exhibitions and museums. One of my papers from my undergraduate program discussed socialist realism and how exhibitions (such as Biennale) were used by the government to express certain political opinions.

Summary: The challenge for art organizations, especially Western museums, is that developing a decolonized perspective is necessary, but buying and collecting international artworks can be criticized as maintaining the colonial perspective. A possible solution is the international curatorial exchange that invites local artists and curators to join the installation of exhibitions and curate artworks with their personal perspectives and knowledge of their culture. Nevertheless, these exhibitions might increase the separation between cultures.

Summary: The author argues that curatorial projects can only be documented because artworks are in the flow of time and cannot be recreated. On the other hand, curatorial projects are Gesamtkunstwerk. The traditional artworks positioned the audience or the beholder outside the artworks, but curatorial projects absorb visitors into the space where exhibitions are held. However, this absorption cannot be fully recreated by documentation. The absorption is seen as the theatralization of the museum, yet the difference between theater and the curatorial event is that the audience becomes a part of the curatorial event.

Question: What does it mean "to make the form itself fluid"? Does it mean to break the traditional method of depicting figures? How can we acquire this argument to analyze artworks from the 1960s -1970s such as minimalism?

Connection: Fred Wilson, "Mining the Museum". The exhibition was held in the Society's museum in October 1992. With the new arrangement of artefacts and artworks from the permanent collection of the Maryland Historical Society, the exhibition discussed the bias in the Western curatorial method and emphasized the conception of the exhibition. The project challenged the traditional perspective embodied by the collection. https://www-jstor-org.ocadu.idm.oclc.org/stable/a3615806-dc28-31be-b460-1c4043298445?seq=20