Transfigurations: Curatorial and Artistic Research in an Age of Migrations

Within the framework of MeLa Research project "European Museums in an Age of Migrations", the fieldwork developed by researchers Victoria Walsh (RCA) and Paul Goodwin (UAL) into curatorial and artistic research culminated in the exhibition “Transfigurations: Curatorial and artistic research in an age of migrations”. How are globalisation, digital media and changing patterns of migration affecting our understanding and experience of the contemporary work of art, and how are contemporary artists engaging with curators to think about the condition of the contemporary through their work, its display and collection? How are curators working with new forms of artistic production, particularly ‘immaterial’ works of art, that fall outside conventional forms of display, collection and archive? This research exhibition brought together a rich group of international artists and curators: MACBA in Barcelona with curator Bartomeu Marí and artist Lawrence Abu-Hamdan Bétonsalon in Paris with curator Mélanie Bouteloup and artist Camille Henrot Whitechapel Gallery in London with curator Sofia Victorino and artist Kader Attia Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam with curators Jelle Bouwhuis / Kerstin Winking and artist Quinsy Gario Royal College of Art in London with Paul Goodwin and artist Leo Asemota In particular, the research exhibition reflected on the challenges and opportunities of curatorial and artistic research in the 21st century, and the rise of new forms of practice such as performance, sound, and video which are both expanding the range of artists’ interests and challenging conventional ideas of the ‘art object’ in museums and galleries. Following what had been described as ‘the curatorial turn’ and ‘the educational turn’ the exhibition considered how complex the interface is between issues of representation, globalisation, collection and object, curating, programming, audiences, and technology. The exhibition launch took place at MACBA - Capella, Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (Plaça dels Àngels 1, Barcelona 08001, Spain) on Thursday 19 June, and was on display from 20 to 26 June 2014