OnCurating Issue 21: (New) Institution

The present issue of OnCurating centers on New Institutionalism as a self-reflexive artistic-curatorial practice in institutions, whose conditions, structures and implications resonate in the contemporary organization of art. Discussions surrounding the function of art institutions have not lost their topicality, as the recent motion for the closure of Kunsthalle Bern by the local young liberal party demonstrates. Through the contributions assembled here, we would like to focus on the critical approaches to thinking and speaking about the institutional organization of art that are at the root of New Institutionalism, and not least ask fundamental questions about the social potential of contemporary art institutions. With contributions by Liesbeth Bik (Bik van der Pol), Jonas Ekeberg, Charles Esche, Alex Farquharson, Lucie Kolb & Gabriel Flueckiger, Maria Lind, Rachel Mader, Vanessa Joan Mueller & Astrid Wege (European Kunsthalle), Felix Vogel. Produced and supported by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, School of Art and Design, Competence Center for Art in Public Spheres and the Postgraduate Programme in Curating, Institute for Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Analysis, Zurich University of the Arts.