ArtMatters 2005
Museum Collections Today—
Acquisitions and Deaccessioning

Open to all museum professionals, this conference addressed the key issues facing museums in today's dynamic environment. Among the topics discussed were the unprecedented competition museums face in acquiring the best works by contemporary artists in an overheated market; the challenge for an institution in acquiring both a private collection and the environment created for it; the respective roles of curators and art dealers in discovering and promoting new artists; the ripple effect of major acquisitions on institutional mission and programming; and deaccessioning in a difficult economic climate. Speakers included museum directors, curators, dealers, artists, collectors, and other prominent art world figures. For a full list of speaker and topics, download the conference program.

The American Federation of Arts gratefully acknowledges those who have generously supported ArtMatters 2005:

Program Support	Antenna Audio Joseph and Sylvia Slifka Foundation, Inc.
Event Sponsorship	Christie's (evening reception) Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance (coffee reception)

The AFA would also like to extend a special thank you to the Dahesh Museum of Art, El Museo del Barrio, and the Jewish Museum for hosting the conference.

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Signature Buildings

Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall, New York, NY
With Aaron Betsky, Director, Netherlands Architecture Institute; Zaha Hadid, Principal, Zaha Hadid Architects; and Daniel Libeskind, Principal, Studio Daniel Libeskind
Moderated by Joseph Giovannini, architect and architecture critic, New York magazine

Presented by the American Federation of Arts and co-sponsored by the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University.

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Chola Bronzes

The AFA, in collaboration with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, hosted a symposium in conjunction with The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India, a groundbreaking exhibition—the first in the West devoted to the art of Chola bronzes—featuring ninth-to-thirteenth-century temple bronzes from South India. Moderated by Guest Curator Vidya Dehejia, former Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the symposium examined the context of bronzes in ancient temple ritual, as well as in the contemporary festival cycle. The speakers included Padma Kaimal, Leslie C. Orr, Indira Viswanathan Peterson, and Joanne Punzo Waghorne, accomplished scholars in the fields of Indian studies, religion, and art history.

	Shiva as Nataraja, Chola period, ca. 1100
	Bronze, 35 inches
	Dallas Museum of Art; Gift of Mrs. Eugene McDermott, the Hamilton Charitable Foundation, and an anonymous donor in honor of David T. Owsley

 

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Directors Forum

Designed to foster a dialogue among art museum directors around the country and internationally, the Directors Forum provides a unique opportunity for museum directors to meet colleagues, share ideas, and discuss topics of vital concern to the profession. Since its inauguration by the AFA in 1994, the conference has drawn more than 800 museum directors.

Event Pictures

Transcripts

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Curators Forum

Curators Forum is an annual conference for art museum curators and invited distinguished professionals in the art world and related fields. The program was conceived in response to the need for museum curators to have a forum to discuss topical issues and professional concerns. The first Curators Forum was held in 2001 and was followed by programs in 2002 and 2003.
The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) has begun developing its own programming and broadening its constituency. At this point we are confident that the programmatic and networking needs of art museum curators will be addressed by the AAMC, and we have therefore decided to discontinue the AFA’s Curators Forum. We will instead present an annual thematic conference that will explore timely issues of interest to all art museum professionals, including curators.

Event Pictures

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