Kamini Sawhney

The CIMAM Annual Conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet with colleagues from across the world. The initiative by the organization to accommodate 36 travel grantees for this year’s meet provided us all with a rare chance to interact with professionals from such diverse cultural backgrounds. Many thanks to

CIMAM and especially the Getty Foundation (who sponsored 22 grantees) for helping us create a community of art curators from different parts of the world whom we can now reach out to for any information, clarification, research or ideas on art from their regions. For me, this is perhaps the most valuable take away from the conference.

The format of 3 keynote addresses followed by a panel discussion of the speakers works very well. Victoria Noorthorn’s keynote address - The Proud South Mouth: Local Museums Rewrite World Art History was a presentation that provided me several invaluable insights in the approach to institution building,

the planning of exhibitions and the need to reassess the way we interpret our own histories especially in relation to the rest of the world. Her story of how she worked with other artists and professionals to try and revive the contemporary art movement in Argentina and rebuilt the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires into a vibrant, cutting edge institution within 5 years is truly inspirational.

What most resonated with me, was, her call for the autonomy from established western canons and the need for different cultures and regions to celebrate their own artistic traditions and ways of seeing - the need to enjoy and admire art movements from across the world without allowing them to define how and

what constitutes art. Another important point Victoria raised was the need to interact as equals. Too often has the exchange of influences and cultures been somewhat unfairly interpreted? The work of say Picasso reflects African “influences” but the work of an artist from the developing world is “derivative” if it reflects modernist elements of the west.

The workshops are a great space for people to meet in smaller groups and have time for meaningful interaction. It would be good to have a little more time to focus on the theme that is being discussed and to hear different views.

The Stockholm organizing committee for CIMAM was warm and helpful and the visits they planned to different institutions and museums was both informative and engaging. The reception at the Town Hall was the icing on the cake – a splendid building and a fun tour through the Nobel dinner and celebration.