4th Inter-Professional Contemporary-Art Congress
The European Challenge in Contemporary Art
Exchange and Co-operation
27-28 November 2003 at the Arsenal, in Metz (France)
The congress is to be held over two days in the city of Metz (Lorraine), at the Arsenal. Thursday 27 and Friday 28 November 2003 will be the focal points for speeches, interventions and contributions from top-level researchers, professionals and artists from many countries across Europe. A series of events in Metz and throughout the Lorraine region will give resonance to this congress and will underscore the richly dynamic character of the French art scene. A “night of contemporary art” will be held on Thursday 27 November 2003, in Metz, providing the congress with public exposure and media coverage both at the national and international levels. Exhibitions, meetings, conferences, open-door visits will enable a better understanding and knowledge of the artists and other actors in the visual-arts milieu. A visit to the different sites devoted to contemporary art in the Lorraine region and in Luxembourg is scheduled for Saturday November 29th.The French journal Mouvement and the Cipac are jointly publishing an off-print which, through in-depth essays, is intended to enrich debate and contribute to the work being done around the congress’s general thematic.
The European Challenge in Contemporary Art
Exchange and Co-operation
27-28 November 2003 at the Arsenal, in Metz (France)
The congress is to be held over two days in the city of Metz (Lorraine), at the Arsenal. Thursday 27 and Friday 28 November 2003 will be the focal points for speeches, interventions and contributions from top-level researchers, professionals and artists from many countries across Europe. A series of events in Metz and throughout the Lorraine region will give resonance to this congress and will underscore the richly dynamic character of the French art scene. A “night of contemporary art” will be held on Thursday 27 November 2003, in Metz, providing the congress with public exposure and media coverage both at the national and international levels. Exhibitions, meetings, conferences, open-door visits will enable a better understanding and knowledge of the artists and other actors in the visual-arts milieu. A visit to the different sites devoted to contemporary art in the Lorraine region and in Luxembourg is scheduled for Saturday November 29th.The French journal Mouvement and the Cipac are jointly publishing an off-print which, through in-depth essays, is intended to enrich debate and contribute to the work being done around the congress’s general thematic.
The fourth edition of the inter-professional contemporary-art congress will foreground the issues raised by French professionals in the European context. At a time when France is in the throws of a new phase of decentralisation, it is important to question the “French model” both with regard to artistic and cultural organisations, and to the economic, political and institutional mechanisms in Europe.
Beyond the assessment and comparative analysis of the various organisations involved in contemporary art in the different European countries, the congress aims at formulating proposals for facilitating artistic development and collaboration, both at the cultural, economic and political levels. At the same time, these meetings make it possible to open the mindset and questions typical to the French horizon onto new international perspectives.
All these issues and the work around them are shouldered by the different professions brought together within the Cipac : directors of art centres, museums, public collections and art schools, visual arts advisors, dealers, librarians and art-librarians, art critics, instructors in art schools, mediators, technical managers and contemporary-art restoration specialists.
The Cipac will feature four central themes, which will be the focal points for the talks and debates in the course of the two-day congress on 27-28 November 2003.
What are the frameworks for artistic co-operation in Europe ?
Artists and other art professionals have initiated collaborative projects, experimented with mobility, and built tools to facilitate exchange within Europe. Various levels of government and the European Union have developed programmes as well as financial and legal instruments to encourage co-operative endeavours. What types of reasoning underlie these different frameworks ? What effects have they had, and what stumbling blocks have they encountered ? Do they truly encourage the emergence of a European art scene ? Does the European art market, for instance, have any specific traits ?
Artistic policies : challenges and responsibilities
We are witnessing large-scale transfers of decision-making and responsibilities toward European institutions and various levels of government. To what extent and in what way must the European Union and various levels of government integrate the different dimensions of research and creation into their respective development projects ? How, for instance, is regional identity to be reconciled with co-operation ? How, in the face of the realities of contemporary creation, can a dialogue be initiated, bringing together politicians, institutions and creators in order to redefine what is at stake in artistic policy-making ?.
What sort of art economy does Europe need ?
An artistic project cannot exist independently of the modalities of its economic functioning. In order to promote the production, distribution, mediation and conservation of contemporary art, what are the best ways of developing co-operation between different professional fields, between the public and private sectors, between alternative and institutional spaces, between commercial and non-commercial networks ?
Building the European professional framework
Cultural and artistic activity is based on the productive commitment of both personal resources (training, knowledge, mobility, innovation) and collective resources (facilities, financial support). What modalities are required to build up a working framework for professionals and artists in Europe – necessary to enable the recognition of a sector of activities, professionalism, exchanges and mobility ? This mobility is linked to the recognition of the skills of the professionals, as well as to the setting up of legal or fiscal frameworks for artists.
The fourth Inter-professional contemporary-art congress has been placed under the honorary presidency of Raymonde Moulin
Board of Directors
President
Victoire Dubruel, Secretary of the National association of art school directors
(ANDEA)
Vice-president
Christophe Domino, President of the International association of art critics, French section
(AICA France)
Vice-president
Bernard Zürcher, Vice-president of the Professional committee of art dealers
(CGA)
Vice-president
Blandine Chavanne, President of the Association of contemporary art curators
(CAC 40)
Treasurer
Emmanuel Latreille, Member of the National association of public art collection directors
(ANDF)
Assistant-treasurer
Claire Legrand, President of “Un Moment Voulu” – National association of public relations workers in contemporary art.
Secretary
Sylvie Boulanger, President of the National association of art centre directors
(DCA)
Assistant secretary
David Cueco, President of the French federation of curators and restoration workers
(FFCR)
General Assembly
Association of French Librarians – ABF
Association for the development and research of art lending libraries – ADRA
French association of stewards and managers of artworks - AFROA
International association of art critics, French section - AICA France
National association of visual-arts advisors - ANCAP
National association of art school directors - ANDEA
National association of public art collection directors - ANDF
Association of contemporary art curators - CAC 40
Professional committee of art dealers - CGA
National co-ordination of art-school instructors – CNEEA
Trades union for engraving, drawing and painting – CSEDT
National association of art centre directors – DCA
French federation of curators and restoration workers – FFCR
Association of curators and scientific personnel of the Museums of the City of Paris
“Un Moment Voulu” – National association of public relations workers in contemporary art
Delegate general
Olivier de Monpezat, director of the Metz School of Fine Arts
Coordination
Mathieu Ducoudray, Manager
Monique Gross, Assistant Manager
Aude Urcun, Project Leader for study « Emploi Jeunes »
Office
Cipac / congrès interprofessionnel de l’art contemporain