From sculpture parks to museum-affiliated public gardens, and from collections of works displayed throughout cities, subways, train stations, public buildings, roundabouts, and highways to those found on university campuses, public art collections are countless and omnipresent on an international scale. Yet, despite the significance of an art form regarded as a common good in the service of the community, the challenges of preserving it as both heritage and artistic object remain considerable. Attributable to numerous material, legal, and political factors and constraints, the complexity of building a collection within public space lies at the heart of the reflections raised by this conference. While the goal is to examine the dysfunctions and tensions that accompany the heritage-making of public art, it also aims to highlight initiatives that invent new modes of conservation, experiment with alternative forms of sustainability, and propose management and valorization frameworks suited to the specific nature of an art intended to belong to everyone.

Conference organized by Julie Bawin as part of the CDR-SH research project “Musealization of Public Art” (University of Liège)

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PROGRAM:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20

9:30 Welcome and opening of the symposium

9:50 Julie Bawin (Professor, University of Liège)
(In)visibilité(s) et durabilité de l’art dans l’espace public

10:30 François Mairesse (Professor, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
La place de la collection d'art public au sein du champ muséal : approche muséologique

Discussions

11:30 Pedro Lorente (Professor, Universidad de Zaragoza)
Les collections de musées d'art contemporain installées dans l'espace public en Espagne

Discussions

12:30 Lunch (free)

14:00 Thérèse Legierse (Directrice, Nouveaux Commanditaires-Belgique) Making Art, Making Society

14:30 Francisca Vandepitte (Senior Curator Modern Art & Magritte Museum, Associate Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Événement ou pérennité ? Réflexions sur la conservation d'art public dans un contexte muséal

Discussions

15:30 Coffee break

16:00 Laurent Vernet (Director, Galerie de l’Université de Montréal)
Sur des expériences en gestion de collections d'art public municipale et universitaire à Montréal : enjeux et opportunités

Discussions

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21

10:00 Conversation between Julie Bawin (Professor, University of Liège), Carine Fol (Curator of Art dans l’espace public / Kunst in de Publieke Ruimte) and Katrien Laenen (Coordinator, Platform Kunst in Opdracht)
Faire collection dans la ville : les collections d'art public à Bruxelles

Discussions

11:15 Claire Barbillon (Director, École du Louvre)
La sculpture publique en environnement marin : un défi pour la création et pour la conservation

11:45 Claire Maingon (Associate Professor, University of Rouen)
Sculptures d'architecture et murs sculptés : un patrimoine invisibilisé ?

Discussions

12:45 Lunch (free)

14:15 Thierry Dufrêne (Professor, University of Nanterre)
L'œuvre de personne pour personne : collections sans artiste ni collectionneur

14:45 François Hers (Artist, founder of Nouveaux Commanditaires)
Ne pas faire collection. Le protocole des Nouveaux Commanditaires

Discussions

15:45 Coffee break

16:15 Éric Van Essche (Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles)
Faire collection du Street Art : les nouveaux musées de l’art urbain

16:45 Nora Sternfeld (Professor, Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg)
Contre-Monuments et Para-Monuments. Histoires contestées et partagées dans l'espace public post-nazi

Discussions

Closing of the symposium

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Organizer
Julie Bawin (Professor, University of Liège)

Organizing Committee
Camille Hoffsummer (PhD Candidate, University of Liège)
Alix Nyssen (PhD Candidate and Assistant, University of Liège)
Alexander Streitberger (Professor, University of Louvain)
Éric Van Essche (Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles)

Scientific Committee
Pedro Lorente (Professor, Universidad de Zaragoza)
François Mairesse (Professor, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
Francisca Vandepitte (Senior Curator, Modern Art & Magritte Museum, and Associate Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Éric Van Essche (Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles)

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To view the schedule, follow the link and download the PDF : https://www.shaec.uliege.be/cms/c_12766769/fr/l-art-public-au-defi-de-la-collection