This year, Artspace Aotearoa is exploring the question “do I need territory?”

As an artist-led, artist-forward organisation, Artspace is beginning their exploration of this question by examining constitutive elements of (the) artworlds. What are the economies and processes that produce these worlds, and in which ways have artists and artworks contributed to discussions around self-determination, agency, and participation across modern and late capitalist paradigms. What is ‘The in and the out of it’?

This symposium explores the zones of the artworld(s) by presenting a variety of positions from across the motu spanning artistic practice; collection politics; and the productions of art history. Speakers will present from their unique experience, covering conversation to case study. With contributions from Melanie Tangaere Baldwin, Christina Barton, Natasha Conland, Judy Darragh, Ngahuia Harrison, Sarah Hopkinson, Peter Robinson and Shiraz Sadikeen.

Panel outline

In Conversation | Presentation Economies: Peter Robinson and Ngahuia Harrison. Followed by Q&A
Artists Peter Robinson and Ngahuia Harrison discuss the exciting, but also ambivalent process of moving work from a studio, community, or whānau context into the public realm. What types of supportive protocols do artists establish to navigate this? What is the in and the out of the studio?

Lecture | Art without artists: The doing of art history, Tina Barton. Followed by Q&A
Art historian Tina Barton considers the correspondence between art history, exhibition making, artists and their estates. What is the complex navigation of ethics, creativity, and politics at stake as artwork and artist legacy come into contact? What is the in and the out of the estate?

In Conversation | Pathways between contemporary practice and collecting, Natasha Conland and Sarah Hopkinson. Followed by Q&A
Curator Natasha Conland and arts worker and gallerist Sarah Hopkinson discuss the nuanced processes of supporting artists and their works into spaces of presentation and collection. As artist advocates, what is involved in navigating the public, the private, the artwork, the artworld? What is the in and out of collecting?

Lecture | Manaakitanga as baseline | Melanie Tangaere Baldwin
Artist and curator Melanie Tangaere Baldwin discusses the necessity of art spaces emerging from and with a specific community through her work at HOEA! What parts of our lives can we draw on to make an artspace what we need it to be? What is the in and out of self-determination?

Panel | Do I want to stay? | Ruth Buchanan, Tina Barton, Melanie Tangaere Baldwin, Judy Darragh, Shiraz Sadikeen
Artists and artworkers discuss key topics from the day and consider what is it that is so compelling about the artworld, despite its challenges: why do we stay? What happens next?

Key information

• The symposium will take place on Saturday 9 March from 10:00am – 3:30pm
• Free and open to all, however space is limited and bookings are essential via this page
• It will be held in The Kit on Artspace’s basement level
• This location is accessible with assistance
• It will be seated and microphones will be used
• Light lunch and refreshments will be provided

This symposium is a Chartwell 50th Anniversary 2024 Project.