Thinking art and politics through the lenses of the imaginary

This is a bachelor level intensive that is part of the summer course Introduction to Contemporary Art and Politics. It is a self-contained unit of the course and can be taken as a stand-alone learning event. This event is a combination of presentations, group discussions, reading seminars, and also  includes (i) an exhibition visit to “Apocalypse: From Last Judgement to Climate Threat” at the Gothenburg Museum of Art; and (ii) attendance at the CAPIm first annual Research Symposium. 

The intensive introduces the ways in which different issues at the intersection of contemporary art and politics, can be explored through using the theme of the “imaginary” as a device to describe and analyse different issues ranging from the question of “censorship” and “free expression” through to questions of historical framing and ideas of futurity. 

Contributors include Emiliano Battista, Michele Masucci, Seda Yildiz, and Mick Wilson, as well as the contributors to the annual symposium who include: Jay Pather; Maria Hlavajova; Stefan Jonsson; Tania El Khoury; María Galindo: Jonas Staal; Liv Bugge; Elof Hellström & Sebastian Dahlqvist; Alexandra Papademetriou, Azadeh Zaghi and Reyhaneh Mirjahani; Ele Carpenter; and Petra Johansson. 

The participants include students on the free standing course, Intrducton to Conetmporary Art and Politics, Summer 2025; guest doctoral reserachers at HDK-Valand; and the short course intensive is also open to students in KKH and HDK-Valand with approximately 5 places per institution available.

Participants are responsible for their own costs.

This is an associated initiative of CAPIm. 

13:00-14:30    Censorship, free speech and liberalism, led by Mick Wilson (accessible online) 

14:30-16:30    Visit to the exhibition “Apocalypse: From Last Judgement to Climate Threat” led by Seda Yildiz (in person only) 

17.00-18:00   Discussion: Responses to the exhibition facilitator: Seda Yildiz (in person only) 

17:00-19:00    Small social event on campus (in person only) 

13:00-14:15    Presentation by Michele Masucci (accessible online) 

14:45-15:45    Reading seminar led by Seda Yildiz (accessible online) 
Glossary of common knowledge: 
https://archive-2014-2024.internationaleonline.org/glossary/ and https://archive-2014-2024.internationaleonline.org/glossary/historicisation/38_self_historicisation/ 

16:00-17:00    Introducing the thought of Jacques Rancière with Emiliano Battista a translator of several of Rancière’s books (accessible online) 

17:00-18:00    Travel to venue for evening event CAPIm Research Annual 

18:00-21:30   CAPIm research annual symposium at SkeppetGbg (in person only) 

18:00              Welcome to the CAPIm Annual Symposium  

18:15              Opening Keynote: María Galindo Galindo is an anarcha-feminist activist, artist and broadcaster, cofounder of Mujeres Creando, based in La Paz, Bolivia  

19:15              Short Break 

19:30              Panel Discussion with the CAPIm Advisory Board Members comprising: Jay Pather, Maria Hlavajova, Stefan Jonsson and Tania El Khoury

10:00-18:00    CAPIm research annual symposium at Kulturhuset Bergsjön (in person only) 

10:00              Welcome to the Second Day of the Annual Symposium  

10:10              Presentations by CAPIm Senior Guest Researchers Jonas Staal and, Liv Bugge. Jonas Staal, a Dutch visual artist, whose work engages with the relation between art, democracy, and propaganda, and, Liv Bugge, a Norwegian artist whose practice explores how societal mechanisms are internalized, shaping ethical norms and dichotomies 

11:20              Short Break            

11:30-12:30     Two presentations 
Presentation #1: Elof Hellström & Sebastian Dahlqvist from Hägerstens Medborgarhus - “1000 Kulturhus” - a long-term study, which has so far included a course at the Royal Institute of Art, several symposiums, radio programs, exhibitions, publications and thematic issues of various magazines, focused on understanding the potential functions and futures of community centers and cultural houses.   
                      
Presentation #2: Alexandra Papademetriou, Azadeh Zaghi and Reyhaneh Mirjahani - “A Monument to the City to Build (2021)” - a socially engaged artistic project by alumni of HDK-Valand, exploring the politics of residency in the Swedish urban landscape through the notion of the right to the city.  

12:30-13:30   Lunch 
 
13:30-14:50   Workshop with Valentina Desideri, Michele Masucci and Kerry Guinan. 
 
14:50-15:10   Short Break    
 
15:10-16:25   Closing Keynote: Stefan Jonsson: Swedish scholar, intellectual and professor of Ethnic Studies, Linköping University 
Followed by a Panel Discussion with Ele Carpenter, UmArts at Umeå University, and Petra Johansson, Artistci Director, Göteborgs Konsthall 
 
17:00-18:00  Reception