Co-sponsored by Public Books, Office of the Dean of Humanities, Columbia University, Columbia Global Center | Rio de Janeiro, Columbia Global Centers | Istanbul, Parsons School of Design | Fine Arts Program, and the Institute for Public Knowledge.
How is the role of the museum changing in today’s global art capitals? How are curators around the world reimagining the relationship between museums and publics? Join us for a conversation with three internationally renowned curators: Thelma Golden (Studio Museum in Harlem), Paulo Herkenhoff (Museu de Arte, Rio de Janeiro), and Vasif Kortun (SALT, Istanbul/Ankara). Art historian Anne Higonnet (Barnard College) will moderate; Simone Douglas (Parsons) and Public Books Editor in Chief Sharon Marcus (Columbia) will introduce the event.
Thelma Golden is Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem. She served on the curatorial team of the Whitney Museum from 1988-2000, where her groundbreaking exhibitions included “Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in American Art,” and where she served as Director of the Whitney Museum at Phillip Morris. In her current role at the Studio Museum, Golden’s exhibitions include “Chris Ofili: Afro Muses 1995-2005,” “Black Romantic,” “Freestyle,” ”Glenn Ligon: Stranger,” among others. She is currently Chair of NYC’s Cultural Institutions Group and a member of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission. She also serves on the Barack Obama Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Paulo Herkenhoff is the cultural director of the Museum of Art of Rio – MAR (Rio de Janeiro, since 2012). He has worked in cultural institutions including the National Museum of Fine Arts / MNBA – Rio de Janeiro (Director, 2003-2006), MoMA in New York (Associate curator, 1999-2002), 24th International Biennial of Arts of São Paulo (Antropofagia, General curator, 1998), Museum of Modern Art – MAM – Rio de Janeiro (Chief curator, 1985-1990), and Institute of Fine Arts – INAP / FUNARTE (National Director,1983-1985 ). He was a member of the selection committee for the curator of the 13th Documenta de Kassel (2012).
Vasif Kortun is the Director of Research and Programs of SALT in Istanbul and Ankara. He is a recipient of the Award for Curatorial Excellence from Bard College, and has worked on the “Taipei Biennial” (with ManRay Hsu, 2008) and the “9th Istanbul Biennial” (with Charles Esche, 2005). In 2004 co-authored Jahresring 51: Szene Turkei: Abseits aber Tor, and the first volume of his writings texts and interviews was published by SALT in 2014. Kortun is a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Arts Initiatives.
Anne Higonnet works on the history of art since the seventeenth century, on childhood, and on collecting. A 1980 Harvard College B.A, she received her PhD from Yale University in 1988. She is now Professor of Art History at Barnard College, Columbia University. Her work has been supported by Guggenheim, Getty, and Social Science Research Council fellowships, as well as by grants from the Howard and Kress Foundations. She has published five print books and many essays.
Sharon Marcus is Dean of Humanities at Columbia University, where she is also the Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature. The author of books and articles on topics ranging from literary theory to the history of celebrity, she is a founder and Editor in Chief of Public Books.
Simone Douglas is Associate Professor and Director of the MFA Fine Art Program at Parsons School of Design, The New School. She also holds the title of Honorary Associate Research Professor at SCA, University of Sydney. Her work is engaged with issues of environment and cultural histories, and has been exhibited internationally.
