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Engaging the Artist’s Voice – a conference about collaboration

Ania Bas, 'Speed tour'. Advert board at The New Art Gallery Walsall as part of Bas' residency project there. "Members of the public were asked to vote for their preferred 'tour' idea through an open ballot and staff meetings were hijacked by voting parties. Bas embraced being part of the gallery team and worked directly with all departments; from cleaning staff to security, the programming team to the finance department... The gallery as a whole was her collaborative partner."

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Ania Bas, 'Speed tour'.
Advert board at The New Art Gallery Walsall as part of Bas' residency project there. "Members of the public were asked to vote for their preferred 'tour' idea through an open ballot and staff meetings were hijacked by voting parties. Bas embraced being part of the gallery team and worked directly with all departments; from cleaning staff to security, the programming team to the finance department... The gallery as a whole was her collaborative partner."

A conference this week at the British Museum hopes to uncover the potential for collaborative working between artists, museums and galleries.

26.06.12 A conference hosted by the British Museum in partnership with Arts Council England (ACE) will delve into one of ACE’s broadened responsibilities – to offer new potential for collaborative working between artists, museums and galleries.

Key themes to be discussed on 29 June at ‘Engaging the Artist’s Voice: Museums, galleries and artists working in collaboration’ include: the dialogue between objects and art and how artists can engage with museum collections; the ingredients for a successful collaboration; and how to balance the creative autonomy of the artist with the expectations of the museum and the audience.

Confirmed speakers include Neil MacGregor (Director, British Museum) and Dame Liz Forgan (Chair, Arts Council England). With over 300 delegates expected to attend, the conference is already fully booked.

Maria Bojanowska, Partnership UK Knowledge Share Manager at The British Museum, said: “The British Museum approached ACE to host a conference in partnership to reflect on museum engagement with artists. ACE’s broadened responsibilities bring new potential for working collaboratively with artists, museums and art galleries. This conference will look at how we can work together to fully realise this potential.

“The themes… have been born out of an initial British Museum round table with Turning Point South East [now part of Contemporary Visual Arts Network], and further discussions with museums, galleries and artists across the sector.

“We hope the conference will [be] a catalyst for future collaborations with museums, galleries and artists.”

a-n resources on artists’ collaborative working:

Reflections on collaboration - Drawing on a-n's Collaborative relationships series along with other key research publications, Chris Fremantle asks, who is collaborating, who 'wins' and what do they 'win'?. Read on »

Collaborative relationships index– Full archive of a-n’s Collaborative relationships series 2008 – present, exposing how artists work with a wide range of professionals and organisations. Read on »

a-n Collections: Collaborative relationships - Rohini Malik Okon selects from a range of interview-based articles first published in a-n Magazine 2003/05 that explore the mutuality of working relationships between artists and organisations. Read on »

Stephen Palmer

Stephen Palmer

www.stephenpalmer.org.uk

First published: a-n.co.uk June 2012

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