EXTRACTIVE ZONES. Digital event series: Liliana Gómez and Alexander Brust: Contemporary art and ethnography

On the occasion of the group exhibition "Extractive Zones" at the Museum der Kulturen Basel (02.07.-17.10.2021), a series of online talks and lectures will take place in the fall. The program was curated by Prof. Dr. Liliana Gómez, Professor of Art and Society at the University of Kassel, and Alexander Brust, Head of the Americas Department at the Museum der Kulturen in Basel.

With Uriel Orlow, Liliana Gómez and Alexander Brust, Macarena Gómez-Barris, Bénédicte Savoy, Jens Andermann, Carolina Caycedo and Michael Taussig.

The events will take place on Thursdays at 6 p.m., partly as face-to-face events in Basel and partly in digital format. All events are accessible online via Zoom.

The series starts on September 9 with a discussion with the Swiss artist Uriel Orlow, who is represented in the exhibition. His works presented in Extractive Zones show alternative cultivation and healing practices in southern Africa and address the inequality of global, (neo)colonial, pharmacological knowledge production. In conversation with Liliana Gómez, he will explain his artistic practice and research. The kick-off in September will be followed by further diverse events with the curators Liliana Gómez and Alexander Brust, the theorists Macarena Gómez-Barris, Bénédicte Savoy, Jens Andermann and Michael Taussig and the artist Carolina Caycedo.

Prof. Dr. Liliana Gómez curated the exhibition Extractive Zones and the supporting program together with curator Alexander Brust, head of the Museum der Kulturen's Department of the Americas. The exhibition can be seen in Basel until October 17, 2021. Liliana Gómez has been Professor of Art and Society at the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of Kassel with a secondary affiliation at the Kunsthochschule Kassel since August 1, 2021. The professorship is one of three newly appointed professorships involved in the development of the documenta Institute.

Please register for the events, whether in person or digitally, by 12 noon on the day of the event via the Museum der Kulturen Basel by e-mail or telephone:

info@mkb.ch
+41 61 2666 56 00
Contact and further information:
Alexander Brust, Head of the Museum der Kulturen's Department of the Americas
alexander.brust@bs.ch
T +41 61 266 56 00
www.mkb.ch

The exhibition Extractive Zones shows the effects of extractive industries on human-environment relations. It explores a critical dialog between contemporary art and museum objects. The relationship between humans and the environment is changing radically as a result of interventions by extractive industries and knowledge technologies. The term Extractive Zones refers to landscapes and indigenous areas of life in which these multi-layered conflicts over resource extraction and (neo-)colonial relationships become visible. It was therefore chosen as a meaningful exhibition title. The interdisciplinary approach combines ethnology with cultural studies and art history. Ethnographic objects are brought together with contemporary art. To complement the exhibition, the curators Liliana Gómez and Alexander Brust have designed a program of events that frames the presentation in a reflective and discursive way. The results of the exchange will subsequently be published in a publication. Information on the exhibition can be found at www.mkb.ch/de/ausstellungen/2021/extractive-zones.html.

The series of events is being organized in cooperation between the Museum der Kulturen Basel, TRACES, the University of Kassel and the documenta Institute, and is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.