NO COMMISSION

international conference

As a closing event for the exhibition Behind the Counter, Műcsarnok hosts a one-day conference, “No Commission,” which explores the presentation, as well as the methods and conceptual characteristics, of art that deals with social issues. Some of the artists and curators who have contributed to Behind the Counter will talk about the creative processes in whose focus stand social, economic and political issues and phenomena. How much research is needed to prepare such a work? How well-founded do they need to be scientifically? What is the relationship of the scientific and the artistic aspect of these works? How can certain space-, period- and subject-specific works be incorporated in the texture of a new exhibition and discourse?

Further subjects include the various approaches that curators and institution policy makers can take towards exhibitions that concern social problems, their motivations and strategies. The conference itself is embedded in the regional cultural context that Behind the Counter examines, the changes in the societies and lifestyle of Central and Eastern Europe after the political transition, the economic problems of the area. We will also present the catalogue of the exhibition at the conference, and screen two films related to the subject.