Since the 1970s various aspects of artistic and cultural practice have been subjected to numerous critical re-evaluations. Issues around authors and artistic intentions; around museums and dominant cultural narratives; around the material, symbolic value and the dematerialisation of art works, have been at the forefront of this critical evaluation. One dimension of the gamut of these practices has thus far been ignored -that of the audience. With the exception of sociological studies, foregrounding a demographic approach and historical ones that have contextualised the social location and identities of viewers, the contemporary audience as a performative and participatory entity has received little or no attention. Within the broader context of 'activism' having moved beyond 'protest' to becoming broad ranging cultural phenomena of participation, it is particularly important to understand what it is that happens when people gather to engage with artistic and cultural practices, beyond passive edification.

Aims & Objectives

The basic question posed in this inquiry is what does it mean to take part in culture at the level of the visual, beyond the roles allotted to us as viewers, audience members, listeners, voters etc.'. It is an effort to think the participatory dimensions of spaces of display through the responses of viewing audiences perceived as a proliferation of performative effects. Questions of the thematic of the exhibitions, the discursive status of the materials exhibited the nature and effect of the institutions or spaces and the social and cultural movements taking place around them, all inform my inquiry. These are combined with case studies of the Jewish Museum Berlin, The Apartheid Museum Johannesburg, The Black Male exhibition (Whitney 1996)The Short Century exhibition Munich Berlin Chicago New York 2001), ones staged by students at the Courtauld Institute and others. As much of contemporary art continues to engage with complex social transformation's and the so called 'documentary turn' in moving image and photo based work continues to grow in critical influence, so does the necessity of thinking about these modes going beyond representation and towards an actual embodiment of active involvement.

Furthermore the issue of participation is extended towards the wider cultural arena in asking how non Western cultures enter the spaces of exhibited culture and by what processes they can or cannot take part in it. By participation, I mean a transition from 'being represented'- acknowledged and put on display, to actually having a part in the very terms constituting these display strategies. Having moved beyond the preoccupation with blame and exclusion, which so much 'identity politics' perpetuated during the 1980s and 1990s, we now need to understand and pursue possibilities for the actual embodiment of urgent cultural concerns beyond the strategies of representation.

Application & Benefits

This study is part of an emergent discussion between curators and museum professionals, theorists and scholars and practitioners across a broad range of visual and performative arts. To my continuing surprise, this work has found numerous audiences across dance, choreography, performance, curating and museums, arts practice and policy making bodies.

Its value and benefit lies in the exceptionally rewarding and helpful discussions it enables with professionals working in the field of displayed culture who wish to have a wider understanding of their practice (beyond selecting objects to display) and who are looking for ways of thinking within a broad field where making, viewing, historicising and theorising complete the circuits of both meanings and potentials. The four published essays have circulated widely and are used in substantive discussions as well as in discussions with public bodies about museum's potential beyond custody of art objects. (i.e. Beunnings van Boyman Museum & Rotterdam City Council).

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/17423