Lecture art history today: Monika Szewczyk: “Learning from Athens”

Monika Szewczyk is a member of the curatorial team of documenta 14, which will take place this year in Athens and Kassel under the title “Learning from Athens.” Szewczyk will discuss the concept behind the exhibition and how it relates to the documenta’s history.

The idea behind “Learning from Athens” is that it is time to transform the documenta exhibition by changing its location. documenta 14 will take place equally in two cities and by alternating between two cities aims to alienate the exhibition. Active in both Kassel and Athens, the exhibiting artists will integrate the respective contexts into their work and will seek to enter into dialog with the public.

Szewczyk’s lecture marks the start 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?

Lecture in English