Viviane Tabach
Artistic Amnesia: Reclaiming Memory through Emancipatory Pedagogy in Art Institutions
Seminar, English/Deutsch, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS
6 Fridays, 10-16 h: 26.4, 7.6., 21.6., 5.7., 12.7., 19.7.2024, Hardenbergstr. 33, room 150
ATTENTION: 12.7. meeting at Radical Playgrounds in Gropius Bau

Guests (online):
21.6.2024: Ana Druwe
Topic: Casa do Povo as a Case Study to reflect on participation, the role of art institutions in society and communication strategies: Communication in Institutions: Practicing Opacity and Transparency.

5.7.2024: Valquíria Prates (Cultural Mediation, art and educacion)
Topic: Case Study for Critical Museology: How mediation took place in curation and education in all processes of the residency programs at the Contemporary Art Institute of Ouro Preto

In the realm of critical museology, museums are reevaluating their social dimension and refining strategies for engagement, participation, and knowledge exchange. Consequently, the field of art education has assumed a significant role in the arts economy. While the aim of enhancing public involvement in cultural production presents a compelling economic argument, it may engender an ambiguous stance concerning education.

The seminar "Artistic Amnesia: Reclaiming Memory through Emancipatory Pedagogy in Art Institutions" connects the postcolonial perspective of "colonial amnesia" and Clive James' "cultural amnesia," with contemporary art and museum practices. It explores how institutions, intentionally or inadvertently, participate in the processes of forgetting and remembering, especially in the context of cultural and educational practices.

Participants will explore the evolving role of museums in society, examining how they can perpetuate or challenge historical amnesia through educational programs. Emphasis will be placed on emancipatory pedagogy, which seeks to counter the erasure of diverse cultural memories and histories through art education. The seminar will offer a blend of theoretical discussions and practical workshops spanning six sessions, creating a laboratory for collective production and exploration.

By examining both past and present dynamics, the seminar aims to bridge the gap between forgotten narratives and institutional educational practices. It seeks to foster a critical understanding of how cultural amnesia manifests in art institutions and encourages participants to integrate inclusive and diverse narratives into their future artistic and curatorial endeavors.

Requirements for the ungraded Studium Generale credit points: Active, regular participation, text reading and writing of a manifesto (group or individual work). Participants are encouraged to produce a piece out of the course, such as a short essay, project sketch, or express a reflection in any other media. This latter outcome is not mandatory.

Viviane Tabach (she/her) is a Brazilian curator, art mediator and artist based in Berlin. Her work centers on educational methods within curatorial and artistic practices. Viviane’s research delves into what makes art institutions effective learning spaces and how the public can be better integrated into this context. She has been working on several initiatives, such as Devolver a Terra à Terra (To Return the Earth to the Earth) – an ongoing project curated by her that investigates the spiritual, political, identitarian and cultural aspects of the land. She has founded and direct the project space Co-Making Matters, at Haus der Statistik, and co-founded and co-directed the art space Casa Aberta in São Paulo, where she organized transdisciplinary projects that integrated music, dance, visual arts, and other forms of expression. Viviane has been a member of the collective Cruising Curators since 2020. She was an art mediator (sobat) for documenta fifteen and co-edited the publication ‘Ever been friend-zoned by an institution?’, which explores the challenges, expectations, and discrepancies of the exhibition from the perspective of art mediation. In 2020, she worked as an art mediator for the Berlin Biennale and KW Institute for Contemporary Art and participated in the 11th Berlin Biennale’s Curatorial Workshop How Now to Gather. She has worked for institutions such as Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Sesc Pompeia, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, and others, and has collaborated with projects and spaces such as Buro Stedelijk, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, HKW, Floating University, Brücke Museum, Arts of the Working Class, Hopscotch Reading Room, OSTEN Festival, Grassi Museum, and Pilotenkueche Art Residency. Viviane Tabach is currently pursuing the Master's degree Art in Context at Universität der Künste Berlin and holds a Master degree in Cultures of the Curatorial at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig. She holds a postgraduate degree in Art: Criticism and Curatorship from PUC-SP, as well as a Teaching Practice and Bachelor of Visual Arts degree from the Instituto de Artes da Universidade Estadual Paulista.