SEFO 2022 Conference: New worlds and old mythologies

NEWS | JULY 4, 2022

How do Central European cultural institutions, museums and galleries work? What problems do they face and what are their goals? What similarities are there among their historical, cultural and operational experiences? In addition, does it make sense to strive to connect them on a common platform? These are just some of the questions raised by the international conference organized by the Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO). Our intention is to examine the possibilities of cooperation and also to find not only potential intersections but also the limits that exist.

Attention will be paid to three related areas – (1) institutional policy, (2) exposition practices and (3) education. While the first panel focuses on the conditions and ways in which regional institutions operate on a long-term basis, the second and third panels are dedicated to specific experiences related mainly to the organization and functioning of permanent exhibitions, their connection with short-term projects and educational programmes.

The conference will take place in Olomouc but will be organized as a hybrid event, depending on the COVID-19 situation. The working language is English.

The conference starts on Thursday, September 15, 2022 at 14:00 CET. Saturday is reserved for a joint trip to Kroměříž and Sluňákov – Centre for Ecological Activities. The detailed programme will be published at the end of July 2022.

The conference is part of the year-round SEFO 2022 programme, in which the main topic is the revision of the relationship between "home and abroad" in contemporary Central European thinking. However, it develops the long-term priorities of the institution, which focuses on research into Central European art and the cultural life of the totalitarian and post-totalitarian period.

Among others, the conference will be attended by:

MIROSŁAW BAŁKA, Special guest
JAROSŁAW SUCHAN, Former Director of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź
SABINE FOLIE, Director of the Kunstsammlungen der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien
KASIA REDZISZ, Artistic Director of the KANAL-Centre Pompidou in Bruxelles
MARCUS ANDREW HURTTIG, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig
NOOR MERTENS, Director of the Kunstmuseum Bochum
MICHAL NOVOTNÝ, Director of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of the National Gallery in Prague
LUCIA GREGOROVÁ STACH, Chief Curator of the Slovenská národná galéria Bratislava
DAVID FEHÉR, Director of the Central European Research Institute for Art History in Budapest (KEMKI)
ELIZABETH NOWAK-THALLER, Chief Curator of the Lentos Kunstmuseum
AGATA WĄSOWSKA-PAWLIK and ŁUKASZ GALUSEK, Director and Deputy Director for Programme Policy of the Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury Kraków
ALEXANDER KLEE, Belvedere Museum Wien