Slovak Aesthetics Forum with Laia Anguix: But is this Art? Exhibiting the contemporary
Slovak Aesthetics Forum with Laia Anguix (Spain)
BUT… IS THIS ART? EXHIBITING THE CONTEMPORARY
Talk description:
Art museums are one of the main custodians, promoters and researchers of contemporary visual culture. As such, their exhibitions reflect who we currently are as a society: they display our present values, our aspirations and our limitations. This lecture aims to bring about a reflection on the challenges of dealing with this “highly flammable" material, whilst trying to engage audiences, surviving social media and navigating culture wars. Issues of political neutrality, and the potential of museum displays to encourage a reconsideration of our current aesthetic values will be central to the debate.
SHORT BIO:
Laia Anguix is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Trnava University (Slovakia), where she lectures on curatorial practices. Her research focuses on museum history, with particular interests in British art galleries, and gender within the curatorial profession. Some of her most recent publications feature an analysis of the impact of design exhibitions in post-war Newcastle (Journal of Design History, 2020) and a study of current gender policies at the Prado Museum in Madrid (Novecento Transnazionale, 2021). Forthcoming projects include a contribution to the exhibition catalogue of 'Uncommon Power': Lucy and Catherine Madox Brown (Watts Art Gallery, Guildford, UK) and a Paul Mellon- funded project on the revival of the Romantic British artist John Martin during the post-war years.
