The Fear of Art: 32nd Social Research Conference

The New School University Center in October 2014. Photo by MusikAnimal on Wikipedia

Artists are imprisoned and exiled. Art continues to be banned and destroyed. This is evidence of the power of images to unsettle, to speak truth to power, to question our cherished cultural norms and our ideas about what is sacred. Join artists, scholars, and museum directors to discuss the power of art and the importance of advocating for art, artists, and freedom of expression. Ai Weiwei will give the keynote address via a video he is creating for the conference that addresses "The Censorship of Artists: Artists in Prison, Artists in Exile," followed by a panel discussion with Melissa Chiu (Hirshorn Museum), Ethan Cohen (Ethan Fine Arts), and Minky Worden (Human Rights Watch). The program pairs artists with critics, museum directors, and scholars like Paul Chan and Holland Cotter (NYTimes), Shirin Neshat and Jack Persekian (The Palestine Museum), and Ricardo Dominguez and Stephen Duncombe (New York University). Scholars Olaf Peters (Martin-Luther-University, Halle-Wittenberg), Emily Braun (Hunter College and the Graduate Center), and David Freedberg (Columbia University) will address the history of banning art. Agnes Gund will be the session's discussant. The conference will open with a panel discussion about the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris with Victor S. Navasky (editor, publisher and publisher emeritus of The Nation), Nikahang Kowsar (Iranian-Canadian cartoonist), Ben Katchor (Associate Professor at Parsons) and others. One session will be dedicated to artists living in exile, featuring Burmese artist, Chaw Ei Thein, and others. Finally, Jeffrey Deitch (art dealer), Boris Groys, (art critic), Jack Persekian, (Palestinian Museum director), Lisa Phillips, (New Museum director), and Svetlana Mintcheva (program director at the National Coalition Against Censorship) will examine self-censorship in arts institutions. Free and open to the public. The conference will also be livestreamed. Further event details here.