Active Withdrawals. Life and Death of Institutional Critique
Book Launch with Lisa Rosendahl, Nina Möntmann, Ellen Blumenstein, Biljana Ciric and Nikita Yingqian Cai
Active Withdrawals; Life and Death of Institutional Critique is based on the seminar titled Active Withdrawal-Weak Institutionalism and the Institutionalization of Art Practice, organized by Biljana Ciric and Nikita Yingqian Cai, between July 27 and 28 in 2013 at Guangdong Times Museum. The seminar and the publication are part of the para-curatorial series initiated by Guangdong Times Museum. The publication has included existing texts and newly commissioned ones which respond to the concept of “active withdrawal”. The notion of withdrawal or laziness rooted in Eastern philosophy and way of life is manifested in multiple ways in the field of contemporary art: as a position distanced from the mainstream and situated at the margins in order to protect autonomy and artistic integrity, as an active observer with fluid connections that one can easily be reactivated, as a much needed break from the hustle of the art world, or even as a form of self-cultivation. While the confrontational and critical approach of institutional critique, adopted primarily by artists in English and American contexts, has been recognized as part of the canonical narrative of art history, it is necessary to readdress the importance of active withdrawal within the current global art system, where different protocols have been developed in response to diverse cultural-political contexts.
Active Withdrawals. Life and Death of Institutional Critique
Co-published by Guangdong Times Museum and Black Dog Publishing in May 2016
Contributing Writers: Lisa Rosendahl, Nina Möntmann (, Eva Gonzalez-Sancho, Ellen Blumenstein, Pelin Tan, David Teh, Alia Swastika, Maja Ćirić, Nikita Yingqian Cai, Reuben Keehan, Lina Džuverović, Biljana Ćirić, Antonia Alampi, Maria Lind, Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, Kathryn Meyer, Judy Freya Sibayan, Elena Filipovic, Zdenka Badovinac, Angela Harutyunyan
Co-edited by: Biljana Ćirić, Nikita Yingqian Cai
Design by Toby Tam
