How can cultural institutions do more than make diversity visible? And what does it mean to critically question and transform power structures within institutional practice?
This online discussion asks how cultural institutions, historically and structurally shaped by whiteness, reproduce hierarchies, and how these hierarchies can hinder a nuanced engagement with diverse photographic perspectives in the Swiss context.
Taking the exhibition Paul Mpagi Sepuya – Focus. Desire. as its point of departure, the conversation turns to the museum as a complex institutional space: Which strategies can enable change? Where do approaches to diversity remain symbolic, rather than actually shifting structures? And how can the cultural environment in which the museum operates not only be critically reflected on, but also transformed?
With Kabelo Malatsie (curator, editor, and organiser), Nayansaku Mufwankolo (lecturer and inclusivity officer), Olivia Fahmy (curator, Fondation Gandur pour l’Art) and Doris Gassert (curator, Fotomuseum Winterthur); moderated by Joël Vacheron (lecturer, curator, and scholar).
The event is free, will be held in English and takes place on Zoom. Details on how to access the talk will be confirmed upon registration. Register here.
