JASPER SHARP The Past is Present: Contemporary Art and Historical Museums

Jasper Sharp, the adjunct curator of modern and contemporary art at Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna will examine the challenge faced by historical museums in their engagement with the art and artists of more recent times. The talk will illustrate and analyze the opportunities and potential pitfalls that this brings, and include a look forward to the future programme of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

The talk is part of a series of talks that will be held under the motto "art history today". Art history is based on the assumption that scholarly reception and interpretation as such constitute activities tied to their historical context. Therefore, to look at visual art from a current point of view inevitably entails the superimposition of a contemporary perspective on a historical practice. The series of talks attempts to radicalize this view: What interests us today and why?