Rethinking the Photographic Institution

The elusive photograph has been gathered into many different kinds of museums, and is now shown at fairs, festivals, and all sorts of art galleries. In recent years several institutions have been established to unite an innovative approach to activating the photographic image with the demands of a critically thinking audience. A new generation of visitors is not content to be passive observers; they want interactivity and new relationships with the medium.

We have invited in representatives from four institutions: Ann-Christin Bertrand, Curator, C/O Berlin, Marcel Feil, Deputy Director, Artistic Affairs, Foam, Duncan Forbes, Director and Curator, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Rima Mokaiesh, Director, Arab Image Foundation. They will talk about their respective organizations—how they have broken the established thought patterns for collecting and exhibiting photography, and how they have worked to broaden their audiences and reach new target groups. With these concrete examples as a point of departure, the symposium will conclude with a discussion about the photographic institutions of tomorrow. Participants: The lecturers and Anna Tellgren, Curator of Photography, Moderna Museet. Moderator: Gunilla Muhr, Director and Curator Centrum för fotografi.

Rethinking the Photographic Institution is the third in a series of symposiums at Moderna Museet to discuss the photographic image and its history, its present, and its future.

Contact: Karin Malmquist, Moderna Museet