Event Title
Faculty Mentor
Benj Gerdes
Major/Area of Research
Arts Management
Description
Rewriting Histories, an international exhibition curated by Benj Gerdes and Lasse Lau, was exhibited at the Fotografisk Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark November through December 2015. Rewriting Histories draws on the singular space of the museum, itself an often complicated agent of historization, to highlight works addressing history, subjectivity, and political agency by artists working at the intersection of documentary and art. In many of the film, video and photo works, archival material is included, and thus the exhibition draws on a documentary tradition and frame of significance. By its reference to the documentary aspect, with all that it includes of notions about truthful objectivity, the exhibiting artists play on a dichotomy between reality and construction. Broadly, the works in the exhibition compel us as both practical objects and allegorical encounters. They invite the viewer to consider the cultural production of meaning and knowledge and call upon them not as recipients of history, but as agents of the future. As the curatorial assistant for Rewriting Histories, I worked directly with the chief curators and held many responsibilities including contacting and managing international artists, collecting exhibition materials, and performing hands-on installation work in Denmark. During my ten-day stay, I assisted in the installation, opening, and related artist talks at the Fotografisk Centre and also explored Danish art and culture. Rewriting Histories has since won an award for “Best Exhibition of 2015” (Kulturkongen) and has plans to tour in various museums across North America.
Included in
Rewriting Histories Exhibition
Rewriting Histories, an international exhibition curated by Benj Gerdes and Lasse Lau, was exhibited at the Fotografisk Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark November through December 2015. Rewriting Histories draws on the singular space of the museum, itself an often complicated agent of historization, to highlight works addressing history, subjectivity, and political agency by artists working at the intersection of documentary and art. In many of the film, video and photo works, archival material is included, and thus the exhibition draws on a documentary tradition and frame of significance. By its reference to the documentary aspect, with all that it includes of notions about truthful objectivity, the exhibiting artists play on a dichotomy between reality and construction. Broadly, the works in the exhibition compel us as both practical objects and allegorical encounters. They invite the viewer to consider the cultural production of meaning and knowledge and call upon them not as recipients of history, but as agents of the future. As the curatorial assistant for Rewriting Histories, I worked directly with the chief curators and held many responsibilities including contacting and managing international artists, collecting exhibition materials, and performing hands-on installation work in Denmark. During my ten-day stay, I assisted in the installation, opening, and related artist talks at the Fotografisk Centre and also explored Danish art and culture. Rewriting Histories has since won an award for “Best Exhibition of 2015” (Kulturkongen) and has plans to tour in various museums across North America.