“The impossibility of reforming Tony [Soprano] bears some resemblance to the crisis plaguing museums and toxic philanthropy today, where a culture of bullying and exploitation belies programming of socially- and politically-engaged art.”
Dorian Batycka
Dorian Batycka is an independent curator, art critic, and DJ currently
based Berlin. Previously, he was curator of contemporary art at Bait
Muzna for Art Film (Muscat, Oman), assistant curator for the first
ever Maldives National Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale, and has
contributed to numerous publications including Art and Education,
Frieze Blog, Selections, and Nero. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram, @temp_projects.
Posted inNews
Belarusian Police Raid Homes of Curators, Detaining Five
A Belarusian art exhibition untangling the country’s response to the coronavirus was closed by authorities this March, leading to the arrest of several of its organizers.
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Anticipating Escalating Violence, DC Arts Organization Postponed Display of Blood-drenched White House
Last month, CulturalDC postponed its projection of a bloody artwork by Andrei Molodkin, which floods an acrylic model of the White House using blood donated by US citizens.
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Art and Creative Acts That Were Censored in 2020
Human rights experts have expressed distress that the pandemic has increased attacks against free speech, LBGTQ+ rights, and peaceful assembly.
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Artist Accuses Azerbaijani Art Center of Using His Work as “Propaganda Tool”
Ahmet Öğüt demanded the Yarat Contemporary Art Center remove his work after it featured the exhibition banner in a post using the hashtag #KarabakhIsAzerbaijan.
Posted inArt
Zehra Doğan’s Graphic Novel Details Her Harrowing Experience in Prison
Accused of propaganda for depicting destruction by Turkish military forces, Doğan’s graphic novel about her experience is now on display for the first time.
Posted inArt
Art and Creative Acts That Were Censored in 2019
Freedom of speech and creativity continued to face acute threats in 2019, but artists and curators continue to be at the forefront of the dangerous but necessary work of driving social change.
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Polish Art Community Rebuffs Ministry of Culture’s Controversial Choice for a Museum Director
After ousting the previous director, the ministry plans to hire a new director without the customary open call process. The nominee, Piotr Bernatowicz, has been accused of misogyny and anti-Semitism.
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Kara Walker Satirizes Britain’s Public Sculptures with a Monument to Trans-Atlantic Slavery
Kara Walker upends the Tate Modern with a massive fountain, renewing the debate about the nature of public monuments in the heart of violent empire.
Posted inArt
Poland’s Ministry of Culture Again Accused of Trying to Control Progressive Institution
Poland’s current rightwing Minister of Culture, Piotr Gliński, is attempting to replace the director of a major cultural institution with a ministry-appointed one.
Posted inArt
Links Between Bullets and Herbicides Are in the Crosshairs of Forensic Architecture
In this Warsaw exhibition, the investigative research group shows that the destruction of land can expedite acts of violence upon the people who inhabit it.
Posted inArt
Entering the Echo Chamber of the Alt-Right
In Germany, an exhibition seeks to explain the rapid rise of the alt-right.