End of Multiculturalism’ – Myth and Reality Curatorship and Community Engagement at the Crossroads The past decade has witnessed radical polarisation of opinions and public policy in the domain of multiculturalism. Radicalisation of Islam and the counter radicalisation strategies of governments, especially in the west, have informed the post 9/11 global uncertainty. While Theo Van Gogh’s murder has swung the Dutch and their neighbours into a conservative frame of mind in dealing with multiculturalism, German and British heads of governments are mooting the end of ‘state sponsored multiculturalism’. Integration is the buzz word, a platform that the immigrants have always wished for as opposed to simplistic assimilation to the establishment set of values. While the past hegemonic discourse was about the essentialist other, recent calls for a national code are posing the threat of self-essentialisation by the establishment. Amareswar Galla’s talk addresses the transformations of curatorship and community engagement in this complex environment. Critical reflections from select countries, the Netherlands and Australia included, and the dilemma for museums in complex societies in the face of a leadership crisis will be addressed. The works of select artists will be used to illustrate the talk. The Curatorial Lecture Series presents lectures on contemporary curatorial practice. It is organized by the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in collaboration with the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, the Museum of Anthropology, and the Department of Anthropology, with the support of the Audain Endowment for Curatorial Studies; and the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia.

In collaboration with the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, the Museum of Anthropology, the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, and the Faculty of Arts, the UBC Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is pleased to present Barbara Fischer as part of their ongoing series of lectures on contemporary curatorial practice. Barbara Fischer is the Director/Curator of the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at Hart House, University of Toronto, as well as Senior Lecturer in Curatorial Studies in the Department of Art, University of Toronto. Fischer is the curator for the Canadian Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, 2009, featuring artist Mark Lewis, and is the recipient of the 2008 Hnatyshyn Award for Curatorial Excellence in Contemporary Art. Fischer has taken an interest in the development of Curation as a “discipline” in the academy. It is on its way to becoming a discursive field, perhaps even engendering a written history. The growing interest to move beyond personal narrative and biographical curatorial presentations gives cause to reflect on the why and the what of the profession itself. Curating tends to be driven by interesting, compelling, and urgent causes. With the immediate cost of administrative overload, attempts at narrating from outside of the discipline are often side-swiped before they begin. Fischer will situate her particular curatorial thinking within specific contexts and histories of contemporary art and from there, sketch something of a history of curating.

The Belkin Art Gallery is pleased to present a talk by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, “The 14th Istanbul Biennial: On Annie Besant, thought forms, mad science, love and politics,” as part of the Curatorial Lecture Series. This lecture will explore the relationship between the 14th Istanbul Biennial titled Saltwater. A Theory of Thought Forms and 19th and early 20th century theosophist Annie Besant's notion of thought forms and their impact on action and the world today, at a critical moment for Turkey and the region.

The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is pleased to present Notes towards Documenta 13, a talk by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev as part of the Curatorial Lecture Series. This talk will focus on the nature and meaning of Documenta, its history and future. In the early 1950s, Documenta was conceived as a direct response to the Third Reich’s policies towards degenerate art; at the time, in Germany, only an art which celebrated the regime was allowed, while all avant-gardes were banned. Over the years, Documenta later came to signify, in the context of Western Europe, a space in which full freedom of expression could be achieved. More recently, it has been a platform for a critique of Euro-Centrism. In contrast to other periodic international exhibitions that have emerged from the world fair models of the 19th century, Documenta is therefore characterized by a strong theoretical grounding and a sense of the urgency of art in society. Documenta 13 is being developed from an archeological perspective, according to which every cultural project that moves forward must be grounded in a backward gaze, in an ecological relationship to the past. How was the present imagined in the second half of the 20th century and what was considered urgent at each successive edition of the exhibition? The Curatorial Lecture Series presents lectures on contemporary curatorial practice. The series is organized by the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in collaboration with the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, the Museum of Anthropology, and the Department of Anthropology, with support from the Audain Endowment for Curatorial Studies, and the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia.

The University of British Columbia's Critical and Curatorial Studies Program, the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery and the French Consulate in Vancouver present a talk by Catherine David, Histories of Modern Art, as part of the Curatorial Lecture Series.