Publication Details Paperback, 21 x 29.7cm, 0.3kg, 120 pages plus cover (soft colour cover with flaps, single colour interior), English. ISBN: 978-1-98-854309-3
Author and/or Editor name/s Edited by Ruth Buchanan, Aileen Burns & Johan Lundh and Hanahiva Rose
Author and/or Editor bio/s Ruth Buchanan is an Aotearoa New Zealand artist based in Berlin, whose work draws on the body, power, language and the archive, and spans exhibitions, research, design, teaching and writing. In 2018 Ruth was awarded the Walters Prize.
Aileen Burns & Johan Lundh are co-executive Directors of Remai Modern, former co-directors of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre, have curated over 50 exhibitions and projects globally, and co-edited a number of art publications.
Hanahiva Rose is a Poneke Wellington-based curator, writer and Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at Te Papa Tongarewa, and previous Assistant Curator at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.
Year of publication 2021
Publisher Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
Abstract Uneven Bodies (Reader) collects a comprehensive array of original research and new writing in response to the central question of where power is situated within a contemporary art collection and society as a whole. The publication is an outcome of an eponymous symposium held in Aotearoa New Zealand in early 2020, which in turn responded to an exhibition curated by artist Ruth Buchanan at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth.
The contents investigate the politics of custodianship of institutional art collections today, and ways the complex terrains of power are being addressed in contexts requiring decolonisation and partnership. Specific emphasis is placed on Indigenous positions, offering insights into local examples and thinking and siting these in an international conversation.
Topics include collecting contemporary art both inside and beyond institutions, repatriation, experiences of deaccession, and insights into Indigenous methodology in collection work. Keynote contributions from Prof Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Gabi Ngcobo, Dr Clémentine Deliss, Wanda Nanibush, and nine other local thinkers convey the breadth of current discourse around Indigenous art in collections, risks in deaccessioning, and ways communities can gain agency over institutionally-managed culture. Reflections on alternative and independent archives offer examples of more accessible holdings.
The range of contributors brings rigour and importance from the Global South to discussion and debate about the future of cultural collections. Uneven Bodies (Reader) inserts new thinking in this dynamic field, raising and addressing issues, and bringing forward powerful ideas for change that necessitate thinkers, institutions and artists working together.
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