Bayu Genia Krishbie

The CIMAM 2018 Annual Conference in Stockholm was my first participation in the forum, so I was quite impressed by the format of the conference, which also included a brief introductory visitation to the Sweden art scene and the workshops session in smaller groups. It was an invaluable opportunity for me as a young curator to learn such this new knowledge and try to understand the issues within the art museum and other collecting institution recently from the perspective of various practitioners and professionals. The conference also gave me the opportunity to become acquainted with other fellow grantees and delegates from the various region for possible future collaboration.

On the first day topic, Global Realities – Challenges for Modern and Contemporary Museums, Daniel Birnbaum and Ann-Sofi Noring presented the establishment of Moderna Museet and its connection with western European/American modern artists from1960s until today’s global contemporary artists from the Southern/Eastern region of the world. The second keynote, Victoria Noorthoorn, presented her role as director of Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires whose successfully turned a local museum into a world-class modern art museum with its extensive program including her recently ambitious initiative in contextualizing their Latin American collections with European modern art collections from the Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK) Frankfurt. Katya García-Antón’s perspective on museum and decoloniality with contemporary art from indigenous Sami in Norway as a case study was incisive. Katya’s lecture, as well as Loulou Cherinet in a different session, has provided a critical standpoint on the museum and its politics of inclusion/politics of representation.

Apart from Michelle Kuo’s vivid keynote on museum spaces, scale, and the shift of spectator’s physical experience with her historical approach from the world’s fair pavilion until today’s contemporary artists and Yuk Hui philosophical lecture For a Cosmotechnical Futurism, the second day of the conference for me was a bit off-topic. From the discussion session, there were no clear proposal or speculation to relate and answer what is The Future Intelligence of Museums. However, Jörg Heiser’s final keynote on the last day, Curators: The New Scapegoats? with the case of Ruben Östlund’s The Square (2017) and ethical controversy around curators Beatrix Ruf (Stedelijk Amsterdam), Adam Szymczyk (documenta Kassel and Athen) and Chris Dercon (Volksbühne Berlin) has given me insight on how curators and museum directors overcome particular ethical issues. Last but not least, a lecture from Ann Gallagher of Tate London on art museum ethics and Mami Kataoka’s presentation on the history of private art museums in Japan were truly inspiring. I would like to extend my gratitude to the Getty Foundation for your generous support, CIMAM and all of the hosting institution in Stockholm for preparing this well-organized conference.