What is unique for the Chinese contemporary art scene? What makes it different from the West? The relationship individual / collective – it is possible to “read” that in the art? The personnel resources that exist in connection with the creation of art in China – it is a strength or a weakness? Can art be free in a non-democracy?

Lars Nittve, Executive Director of M+, Hong Kong.

Jérôme Sans, international curator and Director of Creation and Chief Editor of the magazine L’Officiel Art.

Uli Sigg, significant collector of contemporary Chinese art.

Karen Smith, writer, critic and curator based in Beijing.

Moderator: David Neuman, founding director of Magasin 3, Stockholm.

Venue: Moderna Museet, The Auditorium, Skeppsholmen, 6 pm. Free entrance. No pre-registration required. In English

In 1989, when the people in Berlin celebrated the fall of the wall and the dissolution of many authoritarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, the people in China mourned hundreds of dead after the massacre on Tian’anmen Square. The two events cannot be fully understood without the artworks that were created after and before the events. But the artists did not only document the effects of the political and social change, many of them also played or occupied key roles in the creation of the new orders and societies, in particular those that can be characterised as dissident.

As part of the exhibition with works by Ai Weiwei, who is today China’s most outspoken dissident artist, the legendary gallerist Folker Skulima, the playwright and actor Ivana Sajko and the actor Samuel Finzi will examine the roles of artists, bloggers, political activists and politicians in times of social change. They will be joined by independent curator Berit Schuck in a conversation that revolves around contemporary concepts of art and activism in an effort to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between authoritarian regimes and the arts: What are the effects of conflicts on body and mind, but also on art itself?

Samuel Finzi, Bulgarian/German theatre and film actor.

Ivana Sajko, born 1975 in Zagreb (Croatia), is a writer, director and performer.

Folker Skulima, legendary Berlin gallerist and writer.

Moderator: Berit Schuck, dramaturge and independent curator based in Berlin.

Venue: Goethe-Institut, Bryggargatan 12 A, 6 pm. In English.

Few artists have packed such an extraordinary range of both clear and covert references to art movements and other artists or to particular locations and intermittently specific objects into the sequencing of their works. Focusing on the “marine core” of Cosima von Bonin’s art this lecture will examine how metaphorical meanings are found, produced and relayed in the work of the artist.

John C. Welchman is Professor of art history in the Visual Arts department at the University of California, San Diego and co-director of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. His books include Modernism Relocated: Towards a Cultural Studies of Visual Modernity (Allen & Unwin, 1995), Invisible Colours: A Visual History of Titles (Yale, 1997) and Art After Appropriation: Essays on Art in the 1990s (Routledge, 2001); he is co-author of the Dada and Surrealist Word Image (MIT Press, 1987) and of Mike Kelley in the Phaidon Contemporary Artists series (1999); and editor of Rethinking Borders (Minnesota UP/Routledge, 1996). XX to XXI: Essays on European Art will be published by Akal, Madrid in Spanish, in 2012. Welchman is founder and chair of the Southern California Consortium of Art Schools and editor of its publication series for JRP|Ringier: Recent Pasts: Art in Southern California from the 90s to Now (2005); Institutional Critique and After (2006); The Aesthetics of Risk (2008); Black Sphinx: On the Comedic in Modern Art (2010); and, forthcoming, Public Culture in the Visual Sphere. He editor of the collected writings of Mike Kelley: Foul Perfection: Essays and Criticism, was published with MIT Press in 2003;, Minor Histories, also, with MIT, arrived Spring 2004; and the third Mike Kelley: Interviews, Conversations, and Chit-Chat, 1988-2004 with JRP|Ringier, Zurich in 2005. His most recent book is On the Beyond: A Conversation between Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw and John C Welchman, ed. John. Welchman, [Kunst und Architektur im Gespraech/Art and Architecture in Discussion] (Vienna and New York: SpringerWienNewYork, 2011).

Ai Weiwei has devoted his life and art to the issues of freedom of speech, democracy and human rights in China. What significance do these issues have in China today, both historically and for the future? Although free speech is limited, the boundaries are extended by internet access, micro-blogs and lively internet debates between citizens about the Chinese leaders. Are these forces that Chinese authorities will struggle to contain? How should we in the West relate to a country that denies human rights while also providing a large part of our manufacturing industry? The panel will also discuss the relationship between the dissidents in China and those that live abroad.

Panel:

Börje Ljunggren, Swedish diplomat and expert on Asia, the former ambassador in China.

Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, New York, teaching and research on Chinese politics and human rights.

Malin Oud, sinologist with a focus on human rights and sustainable development

Moderator: Dominic Ziegler, London-based Asia editor of The Economist and the journal’s former China correspondent.

Read more on the exhibition’s webpage

The first part of the evening program is a discussion on social media’s role in the democratization of China. There the use of micro blog Weibo, Chinese equivalent of Twitter, is much more prevalent than in Sweden. What does that mean for a greater freedom of speech? What does the development in China look in comparison with, for example, the jasmine revolution in the Arab world?

The Swedish government currently supports net activists in repressive regimes with huge sums of money. In the second part of the evening the implications and how Sweden can act to support Chinese netizens and freedom of speech development are discussed.

Panel:

Michael Anti (Zhao Jing), Chinese journalist, blogger and net acitivist currently at Harvard University.

Marina Svensson, Sinologist and China expert at Lund University with focus on human rights, justice and the Chinese media.

Christian Christensen, Professor at the Department of Media and Communication Studies at Uppsala University.

Moderator: Ulrika K. Engström, Swedish PEN and Enact consulting firm, where she works with sustainable strategies for business development with focus on China and human rights.

Venue: Panoramascenen, vån 5, Kulturhuset, Sergels Torg, 7 pm. Hotade ord in collaboration with Swedish PEN. In English. Free admission.

Read more on the exhibition’s webpage

Museum Director David Neuman gives a tour of the exhibition Museum Magasin 3 – Presentations from the collection: Cosima von Bonin, Per Kirkeby and Tal R with special guests; Karolina Holmlund, artist, Sigrid Sandstrom, artist and professor of fine arts/painting and the artist John Scott. Language: Swedish. The tour is included in the admission fee.

A conversation between Chief Curator and Deputy Director Richard Julin and choreographer Björn Säfsten and dancers Anja Arnquist, Sophie Augot, Allison Ahl, Linda Blomqvist and Madeleine Lindh.

In his lecture Investigations of a Dog. Kafka as artist and mystic Hans Blomqvist speaks about Kafka’s life and work and how it has been interpreted over time. Blomqvist also gives insight into Kafka’s original way of crafting his stories and his particular esthetic, in which mystical ideas take center stage.

Hans Blomqvist is a translator and author based in Gothenburg. Together with Erik Ågren he has translated Franz Kafka to Swedish for many years. Hans Blomqvist has written Den oerhörda värld jag har i mitt huvud (The Tremendous World I Have in My Head) in 2006, a book about Kafka’s literary technique and esthetic based on his own explorations about his writing and the compilation of essays Gemenskapen har sina demoner och ensamheten sina (Community has Demons and So Does Loneliness) published 2009.

Since Spring 2013, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall exhibits central video-based artworks at Stockholm School of Economics. The initiative revolves around the experimental spirit that these works represent, and a number of the art works shown have opened up questions of representation, colonialism, and international trade. This open seminar dwells into these questions and asks the overarching question of what post-colonialism can teach us about human experience and economic activity in today’s globalised society.

Program:

“Introduction”, Lars Strannegård and Nina Øverli
“World trade and the colonies”, Örjan Sjöberg
“Post colonialism and representativity”, Moa Matthis
“Discussion and concluding reflections”, Lin Lerpold

Lars Strannegård is Professor and Vice President of Stockholm School of Economics, Nina Øverli is Assistant Curator at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Örjan Sjöberg is Professor of Economic Geography at Stockholm School of Economics, Moa Matthis is literary critic and author, and Lin Lerpold is Dean MBA Level and Associate Professor specialized in business and responsibility at Stockholm School of Economics.
Time: January 23, 16.00-17.30
Location: Stockholm School of Economics, Sveavägen 65

After the seminar refreshments will be served.
Kimsooja’s work Bottari Alfa Beach 2001 is shown in Atrium of Stockholm School of Economics

In the spring of 2013, the Stockholm School of Economics and Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall launched a collaborative project to bring new perspectives and inspiration into the academic environment. Since May, a program of film-based artworks from the Magasin 3 collection has been presented in the Atrium of the Stockholm School of Economics. The purpose of the program is to demonstrate how art can place things within a broader context, and address the complexity of the human experience by challenging our deep-seated—and often simplistic—views of the world around us.

The project is timely, as witnessed by a current debate in the media in which some assert that humanities are essential for a creative business sector. Citing studies that show how the arts can help to substantiate theoretical studies, they argue that the field of economics must be broadened.

The Atrium is a public space located within an institution of higher learning, a natural arena for the debate of ideas. Appropriately, the content and the presentation of some of the films have sparked a variety of reactions. This seminar Why art at SSE? provides the opportunity to consider some issues that often arise: How does art affect us? What function does art serve in a public space? And what can the humanities do for economics?

The panel will include participants from the Stockholm School of Economics, Magasin 3 and the Stockholm art scene. Discussions will address the role of art in society and the importance of taking advantage of the diverse perspectives that art can provide culturally, politically and economically. Following the panel discussion, the floor will be open to further questions and conversation.

Panel: Kristina Möster Nilsson, project manager Public Art Agency; Ann-Sofi Sidén, Artist and Professor, The Royal Institute of Arts, Stockholm; Lars Strannegård, Vice President and Professor, Stockholm School of Economics; Nina Øverli, Curator, Magasin 3, and curator of the film program at the School of Economics.

Moderator: David Neuman, Museum Director, Magasin 3 and Affiliated Professor, Stockholm University.