Daniel Muzyczuk

A total of 24 modern and contemporary art museum professionals residing in 19 different cities have been awarded support to attend the CIMAM 2019 Annual Conference The 21st Century Art Museum: Is Context Everything? that will be held in Sydney, Australia 15–17 November 2019 hosted jointly by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

Launched in 2005, CIMAM’s Travel Grant Program is designed to foster cooperation and cultural exchange between contemporary art curators and museums directors in emerging and developing economies and their counterparts in other regions of the world.

Daniel Muzyczuk's Conference Report

My visit to the CIMAM 2019 Annual Conference The 21st Century Art Museum: Is Context Everything? in Sydney was directly connected with the next edition that is co-organized by Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz where I work as the Head of Modern Art Department. The grant was instrumental in gaining knowledge and insight into the organizational structure and overall atmosphere of the event. In addition to that, I was also able to present the concept and structural details to the board as well as deliver a short presentation of the progress of preparations during the General Assembly.

The conference was organized in a very precise and clear manner. I must admit that I really enjoyed the balance of knowledge sharing and talks with the trips around the city and more social activities. This mix works really well.

The range of topics that were raised during the conference was exciting and largely new, however, a bit too oriented towards the local problems. For me coming from a country with no colonial story, it is hard to relate to the questions raised by the work of First Nations or the calls to decolonize the institutions.

The participation in the conference also allowed me to make numerous new acquaintances. The extension of the network happened naturally as the whole event is partly organized to facilitate the meetings with people that share concerns and interest in similar issues. All the social activities and workshops were really effective in this regard. This observation will of course also be useful for the structuring of the CIMAM 2020 Annual Conference in Lodz and Gdansk.

The organizers also succeeded in presenting Sydney as a vibrant space for art. With numerous art spaces and visits to the galleries and other institutions, the scene seems, at least from this short visit, as an interesting and unique environment.