Wednesday, July 22, 2020
PANEL DISCUSSION #6 – Dr. Emmanuel ORTEGA, Moderator
Acknowledging the Fault Line of Cultural Exchanges: In the Search of Reciprocity Beyond Geography
9:00 AM Mexico City CDT (10:00 AM EDT, 7:00 AM PDT, 4:00 PM Paris, 5:00 PM Dar es Salaam, 7:45 PM Kathmandu, 10:00 PM Taipei, 11:00 PM Tokyo)
Panelists: Francisco GUEVARA, Arquetopia Foundation (Mexico, Peru, Italy) – Susanna GYULAMIRIYAN, Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory ACSL (Armenia) – John LUI, In-Situ (Hong Kong) – Christina PESTOVA, CCI FABRIKA (Russia)
Although the dynamism of the 21st century could suggest a positive impact for international exchanges due to mobility, geography and its ideological implications remain as an ordering pattern that regulate encounters, connections, communications, and even organize international cooperation. As a result, international cultural mechanisms, conferences, educational institutions, and even residency networks function as authorities overseeing exchanges between geographical regions; thus, cultural exchanges can become quite often a fantasy performance of mutual exchange and reciprocity, and cooperation becomes co-optation and appropriation (Buick, 2018), especially at artist residencies, where historical disparities play such an important role in locality and mobility. No discussion about cultural mobility or cultural exchanges is complete without taking into account the implications of ideology and history. To present an alternative to the issue of cultural mobility in the context and legacy of the Grand Tour, means a commitment to unraveling history from its investment with the grandiose narratives of citizenship, rights, nation-state, and public and private spheres (Chakrabarty, 2008), allowing us to problematize our practice as artist residencies. How can we facilitate movement in the cultural sector, making sure cultural mobility does not become cultural trafficking and movement at the expense of exploitation? How can we exercise reciprocity and solidarity among our artist residencies?
