Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

Agenda
Session 1: Keynote Speeches

9:30-9:50
Register

10:00-10:10
Welcome remark by Larys Frogier, Director of RAM

10:10-10:25
Lewis Biggs
Introduction to the Forum and its contexts

10:25-10:55
Philip Dodd
The Museum as Broadcaster: Education, Commerce and Culture in the Museum of the twenty- first century

10:55-11:25
Paul Gladston
The Social Function of Contemporary Art and the Role of the Museum in the Development of Arts Education within the People's Republic of China

11:25-11:40
Tea Break

11:40-12:00
Hou Hanru
Exhibitions: Between Performative and Pedagogical

12:00-12:45
Discussion and Q&A

Session 2: Panel Discussion

14:30-16:30
Panel Discussion
Panelists: Liu Yingjiu, Yang Yingshi, Nan Nan, Larys Frogier, Wang Huangsheng, Veronica Wong

16:30-16:50
Tea Break

16:50-18:00
Discussion and Q&A

This forum is conceived to be a platform to critically reflect upon the particularities of museum education in contemporary art in China today, focusing on issues of institutional perceptions, local audience and social environments, and strategies and resources to move on towards a shared vision of future for all who participate in this process.

In the ‘museum mania’ of recent years in China, a great number of new museums have been built across the country. Many of these new museums are in the realm of contemporary art. While much attention and resources from both public and private sectors have been poured in to the museum buildings and exhibition projects, little still are allocated to education. This situation is further complicated by the general lack of expertise and professional resources for education at the museum, and above all by the general lack of motivation to support or participate in education events by the museum governing bodies, staff and the public. This serves to be a great drawback to the museums’ endeavors to fulfill its mission for the progress of the society, even though the picture of the scene now appears prosperous and promising.

On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that both the museum and the contemporary art are concepts originated from Western social and historical context. They have been evolving in their own ways in the West too. So it is never the case that people here could simply take what it is done in the west and apply them to the practices in Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou. Rather, the new contexts and conditions demand creative responses to the challenges presented by the particular situations of each city and community, and to explore the unique resources and opportunity they could provide.

This forum tries to tackle these issues. Keynote speakers are invited to address on the issues of how education and museums are being changed by shifting definitions of the private and public, by new technologies including social networks and by new audience demands; the social functions of artistic production and display within PRC (and elsewhere); and the dynamics between curation and education in exhibitions and how they might be able to contribute to the formation of a new mode of public sphere in China. Directors of major museums of contemporary art in China (Today, NAMOC, RAM, Himalayas, CAFAM) are invited to express and exchange their institutional views on conception and implementation of education programs within each of their particular social and cultural situations.

As a complementary to but also a much integral part of this forum, a workshop is planned to take place following the exchange of ideas on the forum on the first day. The practitioners from across the country can respond to the issues being raised, and exchange in their (best) practices on a very practical level. It is the organizer’s hope that this forum + workshop would not only inform, inspire and enrich people in their perception of this part of the museum’s function, but also encourage them to take positive and innovative actions.