Forming Feminisms: Current Approaches to Women, Art, and Gender at Utrecht University Art History.

Showcasing the work of staff and recent RMa graduates at Utrecht University Art History. Held in collaboration with Centraal Museum.

This event brings together the work of staff and recent graduates of the Research Masters programme in Art History at Utrecht University, all of whom are working on questions of gender, the category of the woman artist, feminist and queer approaches within modern and contemporary art. Coinciding with the major exhibition Good Mom/Bad Mom exhibition at Centraal Museum, this event focuses on institutional practices, feminist art histories, and decentering epistemological frameworks. Speakers will present new methodological insights into curating and collecting practices alongside discussions of form, representation, and visibility.

Friday 6th June 2025 12:30-17:00

Note that entry to the event requires a ticket to Centraal Museum. We strongly encourage you to view the Good Mom/Bad Mom exhibition ahead of the event.

Programme

12:30 Doors open

12:45 Welcome and Introduction
Prof. Dr. Cadence Kinsey (Professor of Contemporary Art and Global and Social Challenges, Utrecht University)

12:50 Panel: Challenging Institutions
Dr. Hestia Bavelaar, “From Praise of Women to Blame of Women: Opportunities and Obstacles for Female Artists in the Netherlands Working Between 1900 and 1960”
Gabriëlle Negrón, “Inherited Formats, Radical Futures: Feminist Art Histories and the Deconstruction of Patriarchal Narratives in Dutch Museums”
Valeria Mari, “On Speaking Terms with Feminist Art Curating Through a Global Perspective”

14:20 BREAK

14:40 Panel: Breaking the Binary
Pia Seidel, “Mother Nature in Distress: Contemporary Collages of the Black Female Body as Reflections upon Ecology”
Joost Nikkessen, “Surreal Drag: Cahun, Duchamp, and the Art of Gender Play”

15:40 BREAK

15:45 Closing discussion: on Good Mom/Bad Mom
Laurie Cluitmans (Curator of Contemporary Art, Centraal Museum) in conversation with Dr. Lora Sariaslan (Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Utrecht University)

17:00 Drinks

Abstracts and registration at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/forming-feminisms-tickets-1333023632569