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Centre for the Study of Contemporary Art

UCL History of Art Department is pleased to announce the launch of its Centre for the Study of Contemporary Art.

The aim of the Centre is to create a base for the exchange of ideas amongst the community of graduates and staff working and researching in this field and to forge relations with other institutions outside UCL with an interest in contemporary art. We envisage the Centre as a critical hub which will create opportunities to present research in a context that is open to work in progress and experimental models of thought. We also hope to foster interdisciplinary exchange outside the department. Building on the work already being done by postgraduate students and staff at UCL, the Centre aims to provide a focal point for the discussion of pressing questions facing those of us working in this area. In order to reflect and foster a critical engagement with the contemporary condition of art, we are committed to investigating a wide range of representational strategies in a global context. We intend the Centre to be an innovative arena for thinking art beyond art historical or art critical orthodoxies.

Topics for discussion will reflect the interests of the participants, including the relation of contemporary art to new technologies, to globalization, and to new forms of community and social engagement, as well as historical and contemporary exhibition strategies, educational initiatives and new curatorial practices. Although the emphasis will be on the problems of art now, the Centre is also committed to investigating the complex trajectories of contemporary art's long history. It is well known that contemporary art operates in a vastly expanded field: the point of the Centre is to provide a place to think and theorise what art has become in the light of the complex global and historical aspects of that field.

All events take place from 5.30pm in Seminar Room 3 at UCL History of Art Department, 20 - 21 Gordon Square, London  WC1H 0AG unless otherwise noted.

A map of the location will open in a new window (then click again to enlarge the image).

Summer 2012 Programme

Date	Subject	Content
Monday 23 April	Lunchtime discussion with Allan Sekula 1pm	A lunchtime discussion with photographer and historian Allan Sekula. For the past four decades, Sekula’s work on the material geographies of capitalism has framed our conversation about photography’s political potential. Sekula’s presentation of his recent work will be followed by an open discussion with the audience. Space is limited. If you would like to reserve a place for this event, please contact stephanie.schwartz@ucl.ac.uk
Saturday 2 June	IRWIN/Neue Slowenische Kunst Conference 2 - 6.30pm	Archive as Strategy: Conversations about Self-historicisation across the East Symposium – East Art Map: History is Not Given. Please Help to Construct It Cruciform Lecture Theatre 2, University College London, £5 (Free for UCL students and staff) To reserve your place please email sarah.james@ucl.ac.uk

Spring 2012 Programme

Date	Subject	Content
Wednesday 25 January	THE ARTS OF OCCUPATION Reading Group at the Bank of Ideas 6 - 8pm	The CSCA kicks off this term with a reading group addressing the role and place of visual culture in the Occupation movement.
Tuesday 7 February	Gallery Visit: Rollo Contemporary Art The Body in Women's Art Now, Part III: ReCreation	We will meet at the Rollo at 6pm to view the exhibition with Philippa Found,the exhibition's curator and the director of Rollo.
Wednesday 29 February	Museum Visit: Alighiero Boetti 9am-10am Tate Modern	The CSCA invites you to a private viewing of Alighiero Boetti with curator Mark Godfrey. We will meet at the Staff Entrance to Tate Modern at 8:45. Places are limited to 18. If you would like to reserve a place for this event, please contact stephanie.schwartz@ucl.ac.uk
Wednesday 7 March	Film screening	A screening of Mike Kelley's Day is Done. Described by Kelley as a 'fractured feature-length musical', the film can perhaps be thought of as a culmination of Kelley's career-long fascination with folk entertainments and the iconography of American subculture
Saturday 17 March	Untitled (Labour) Contemporary Art and Immaterial Production Tate Britain, Clore Auditorium 2 - 6pm	This half-day symposium invites audience members to engage with international artists and academics to investigate current conditions of artistic production in relation to new forms of labour in the emerging global economy. Confirmed speakers are Claire Bishop, Pascal Gielen, Carey Young, Stefano Harney, and Stewart Martin. The event is organized by TJ Demos, Nora Razian, and Lauren Rotenberg.
Saturday 17 March	Hanna Darboven Symposium Pearson lecture Theatre, UCL 2 - 5.30pm	In conjunction with the exhibition of Hanne Darboven’s work currently on show at the Camden Arts Centre, the symposium will discuss the work of this important conceptual artist. The themes and ideas discussed will also link to the work of Zoe Leonard, whose exhibition is coming up next at the Camden Arts Centre. Speakers include: Jenni Lomax, Margaret Iversen, Briony Fer, Petra Lange-Berndt, Lynda Morris, Antoni Malinowski, Miriam Schoofs and Linzi Stauvers.

Autumn 2011 Programme

Date	Subject	Content
Monday 17 October	Phyllida Barlow in conversation with Tamar Garb & Briony Fer	6 pm, Gustav Tuck Lecture Theatre, UCL Wilkins Building, Gower Street WC1E 6BT Followed by a drinks reception in the Flaxman Gallery.
Friday 4 November	Group visit with the curator to FROM PALESTINE TO ISRAEL	Visit to exhibition at the Mosaic Rooms
Saturday 5 November	Idea Sharing Forum on Drawing	2 - 5pm, DRAWING ROOM, Tannery Arts, 12 Rich Estate, Crimscott Street, London SE1 5TE A collaborative event organised by CSCA and The Drawing Room
Monday 14 November	Phil Collins: 'marxism today'	2 - 4pm, SR3&4, UCL History of Art Department After a screening of Collins’ marxism today (prologue), 2010, the artist will be 'in conversation' with Sarah James, followed by an open discussion and Q&A session about his work.
Tuesday 22 November	Spectres: Sven Augustijnen Film screening and discussion with TJ Demos	Starr Auditorium, Tate Modern 6.30 pm
Tuesday 29 November	Hillary Lloyd and Nick Cullian in Conversation	Film and video artist, and Turner Prize nominee Hilary Lloyd in conversation with Nick Cullinan, curator, Tate Modern. 6pm, Seminar Room 3 and 4
Tuesday 6 December	Studio Visit: Nils Norman	91-92 Dean Street, W1D 3SY London The event will begin at 6:00pm.
Tuesday 13 December	Book launch and panel discussion	Jo Walker, author of ‘Nancy Spero, Encounters’, Ashgate, 2011, will be discussing her book and  its transformation from PhD to publication with Cadence Kinsey, Paolo Magagnoli, Stephanie Straine and Milena Tomic. 6.30 pm Seminar Rooms 3 & 4 This will be followed by a drinks reception, courtesy of Ashgate.

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