To Tell The Truth

In 2011, public debate about the cultural sector and the role of art, artists and art institutions has become increasingly vocal and visible, particularly in the Netherlands. However, such discussion is dominated by political rhetoric and point scoring, and seldom allows individual cultural actors to speak at any length about their motivation. In an attempt to create a space for engaged dialogue, the lecture series To Tell The Truth invites members of Witte de With’s programming team to set forth their ideas about cultural politics and the public role of Witte de With, and invites you to come along and respond.

Language: English
Location: Witte de With’s auditorium
Entry: Free, no reservation necessary
These lectures will be broadcast live on our website via Witte de With’s Ustream channel.

Wednesday 19 October, 7 pm

PLEASE
by Anne-Claire Schmitz, junior curator

In her lecture, Anne-Claire Schmitz will discuss the pressure put upon art institutions – and by extension, on artists – to please others, whether it be by following the dictates of funding bodies or by pandering to the demands of an increasingly populistic society. Taking a critical look at how this functions and what impact it has upon culture, she will use selected case studies to examine questions of popularity and accountability.

Wednesday 26 October, 7 pm

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS
by Zoë Gray, curator

As part of the debate about public funding for art, there has been an increasing focus on accessibility, with institutions encouraged to attract ever new audiences. Laudable though the intention may be, the discussion about accessibility is too often considered solely in terms of visitor demographics. In her lecture, Zoë Gray will look at the question of accessibility in a broader sense, within and beyond the art institution, relating access to education and class divisions which shape our increasingly service-driven society.

Wednesday 2 November, 7 pm

WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS LEFT
by Juan A. Gaitán, curator

In this lecture, Juan Gaitán will talk about the way in which the public sphere is being produced into a manageable entity, and the impact that this has on art and on the people currently involved in cultural production. He will also explore how – from the point of view of contemporary art – one can affirm the necessity of having an open space in which to express different and differing positions, be these social, cultural or economic.

To Tell The Truth began this spring, with a lecture on 18 May titled The Danger of Mediocrity by Nicolaus Schafhausen, director of Witte de With, which was followed by a lecture on 25 May titled The Empty Center by Monika Szewczyk, Witte de With’s Head of Publications.

Wednesday 18 May

THE DANGER OF MEDIOCRITY
by Nicolaus Schafhausen, director of Witte de With

In a political atmosphere increasingly dominated by reactionary rhetoric, cultural institutions are under great pressure to be popular, to be liked, to appeal to the mythical ‘‘masses.’’ As his tenure as director of Witte de With draws to a close, Schafhausen’s talk explored alternatives to this dangerously simplistic approach to culture and how they are relevant to institutions of contemporary art.

Wednesday 25 May

THE EMPTY CENTER
by Monika Szewczyk, Witte de With’s Head of Publications

Proposing a politically constructive way to scrutinize contemporary art institutions, Szewczyk’s talk argued for their role in shaping a truly open public sphere. This began with a celebration of ‘‘the empty center’’ – which in part implies an art space that is not void of visitors or of art or of radical ideas, but of a logic that turns people into numbers.