‘How to act as a curator in difficult times?’

From22 September to 1 October 2015 the 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art took place in Moscow. Under challenging circumstances, the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art opted for a radical format and changed its structure: the biennale was condensed into ten days. Artistic, discursive and reflective moments shaped the space. The Moscow Biennale evolved as a think tank in real time.

Now curator of the biennale Bart de Baere (Director of M HKA, Antwerp) elaborates upon his experiences in an interview with art critic and writer Sam Steverlynck. The interview ‘How to act as a curator in difficult times?’ Bart De Baere on the genesis and challenges leading up to the 6th Moscow Biennale’ talks openly about the concept, the attempts, challenges and solutions, the notions of Eurasia in East and West, the ephemeral and real results and the after care of the special 6th edition of the Moscow Biennale.

Dutch presence at the 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art

The Dutch art scene was well represented in the 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art ‘How to gather? Acting in a Center in a City in the Heart of the Island of Eurasia’. Defne Ayas (director of Witte de With Center of Contemporary Art, Rotterdam) was involved as co-curator of the biennale. Artists Rana Hamadeh (born in Lebanon, based in the Netherlands), Gabriel Lester, Suchan Kinoshita, Katja Novitskova (born in Tallin, based in Amsterdam) and Otto Snoek were involved in the main programme, as well as Dutch-American sociologist Saskia Sassen and architect Rem Koolhaas. In the parallel programme TodaysArt Festival presented the exhibition ‘Seeing Sound’, Wieske Wester was part of the group-exhibition ‘…And It Doesn’t Matter if the Phone Rings: the HISK Show-2015’ and Iwan Baan was presented in ‘Nadezhda / Hope. Russian Industrial Cities Artistically Explored’.

More information

For the full interview with Bart de Baere, please go to the website of the Flanders Art Institute.