Convened by Joanna Warsza, with Rachel O’Reilly and Lara Khaldi
The cultural-political tool of boycott has arisen as a mechanism with varying degrees of power and efficacy. What does it mean to learn from and through these encounters, and what might it mean to ‘boycott better’? In particular, how does the border-crossing of contemporary art help and hinder particular and territorialised struggles? And how can boycott be a space to open up dialogues, rather than shutting them down? What might be the curatorial rules of thumb with regard to boycott both in action and as subjects of study? This Working Group aims to address how one, as curator, engage with audiences in a place of political nonalignment, in the corporate environment or simply at the wrong time? Presuming that no context is innocent, we will ask how to act when things are not as decent as they seem. Please think of a curatorial, ethical dilemma, that you have recently encountered and the best way to deal with it.