07 Oct 2008

New lecture series Now is the Time: Art & Theory in the 21st Century

This coming season the organisers of the successful lecture series and publication Right About Now: Art & Theory since the 1990s are presenting a new series of lectures and debates entitled Now is the Time: Art & Theory in the 21st Century.

The attack on the World Trade Center spelled closure for the 20th century. There was no going back; the world had been catapulted into a new millennium. But what developments have taken place in the visual arts since this violent start? And how has art theory interpreted and contextualised these developments?

Across seven evenings national and international art historians, curators and critics including W.J.T. Mitchell, Terry Eagleton, Boris Groys, Kaja Silverman, Hou Hanru, Ruth Noack, Julian Stallabrass, Rick Poynor and Jörg Heiser will reflect on issues and questions such as: What is the impact of 9/11? How will advancing globalisation affect the art world and the arts? What is the polarizing effect of religion? These themes, defined by social and political developments, are juxtaposed with art related subjects like the search for a new canon, the return of Romanticism, the ideals of design and the status of the artwork in what is referred to as the post-medium condition.

The programme of Now is the Time is centred around seven urgent social and art-specific themes that together describe the total scope and complexity of the arena in which the arts of the new millennium are situated: 9/11, Globalisation, Romanticism, New Canon, Media, Belief and Design.


1st LECTURE: Friday 3 October 2008
MEDIA
With Kaja Silverman (VS) and Laura Marks (CAN)

2nd LECTURE: Tuesday 28 October 2008
9/11
With W.J.T. Mitchell (VS) and Sean Snyder (VS/DU)

3rd LECTURE: Tuesday 11 November 2008
GLOBALISATION
With Julian Stallabrass (GB) en Hou Hanru (China/F/VS)

4th LECTURE: Thursday 27 November 2008
DESIGN
With Rick Poynor (GB) and Camiel van Winkel (NL)

5th LECTURE: Thursday 11 December 2008
NEW CANON
With Robert Nelson (VS) and Ruth Noack (A)

6th LECTURE: Thursday 15 January 2009
BELIEF
With Terry Eagleton (GB/Irl) and Boris Groys (DU)

7th LECTURE: Thursday 29 January 2009
ROMANTICISM
With Jos de Mul (NL) and Jörg Heiser (DU)

PRACTICAL INFO
The lectures are held in the Auditorium of the University of Amsterdam (Oude Lutherse Kerk) and start at 8 p.m.

For the full programme, reservations and additional information, please visit www.nowisthetime.nl.


Editorial Board of Now is the Time:

Jelle Bouwhuis (SMBA)
Ingrid Commandeur and Domeniek Ruyters (METROPOLIS M)
Gijs Frieling (W139)
Margriet Schavemaker (UvA)
Christel Vesters (independent art critic /curator)

Now is the Time: Art & Theory in the 21st Century is made possible thanks to support of the Mondriaan Foundation and the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst.