Assuming Asymmetries. Conversations on Curating Public Art Projects of the 1980s and 1990s is a volume based on the dialogues between the curators and participants from some of the most complex and yet underresearched European and US public art exhibitions of the 1980s and 1990s. The discussions include and unpack such influential projects as “Culture in Action” curated by Mary Jane Jacob in 1993; “Sonsbeek 93” curated by Valerie Smith; “Endlichkeit der Freiheit,” an exhibition initiated by Heiner Müller and Rebecca Horn, on both sides of the former Berlin wall in 1990; “Construction in Process,” an artist-initiated site-specific exhibition in early 1980s Łódz, Poland; “Five Gardens” curated by Carlos Capelán in 1996 in Simrishamn and Ystad, Sweden, and “U-media” in 1987 Umeå, Sweden. The dialogues focus on such questions as: How does one ethically and culturally deal with asymmetries? How have the notions of situated or embedded knowledge changed over the last decades? How can artworks actually create meaning from the place where they're produced? What were the early attempts of de-monumentalizing art outside of the museums; and, finally, what actually is non-extractive curating.
Both books are edited by CuratorLab at Konstfack University of Arts 2020/2021: Anna Mikaela Ekstrand, Giulia Floris, Vasco Forconi, Edy Fung, Julius Lehmann, Maria Lind, Marc Navarro, Simina Neagu, Hanna Nordell, Tomek Pawłowski Jarmołajew, Marja Rautaharju, Erik Sandberg, Joanna Warsza
The process was led by Joanna Warsza and Maria Lind