In The Foreground: Conversations on Art & Writing: A Podcast Series A Podcast from The Clark Research & Academic Program
What does it mean to make art history? Today more than ever, we must consider the role of art in society, how knowledge is shared (or obscured), and the way histories are made—and unmade.In the Foreground: Conversations on Art & Writing asks these questions, while also considering the personal stakes of scholarship. Each episode offers a lively, in-depth look into the life and mind of a scholar or artist working with art historical or visual material. Discussions touch on guests’ current research projects, career paths, and significant texts, mentors, and experiences that have shaped their thinking. We invite you to join us in and listen in on these conversations about the stakes of doing art history today.
In the Foreground is available on iTunes, Spotify, and anywhere else you may listen to podcasts.
Episode 9 – November 3rd
“An Art History Yet to Come”: Kirsten Scheid on Palestinian Art
Associate professor of anthropology at the American University in Beirut Kirsten Scheid discusses her research as the Clark/Oakley Humanities Fellow at the Clark Art Institute in 2019–2020. Scheid worked on an ethnography of aesthetic encounters in contemporary Palestine, building on her career-long research into and archival documentation of artmaking in Palestine and Lebanon. She discusses issues of access and ethics around archives and shares her belief in the power of archives to “hail an art history yet to come.” She reflects on imagination as an ethical practice.
Episode 10 – November 10th
“Can You Show Thinking?”:Mieke Bal on Film & Writing
The work of cultural theorist, critic, and video artist Mieke Bal focuses on gender, migratory culture, psychoanalysis, and the critique of capitalism. Bal discusses her early influences and reflects on what drew her to filmmaking, delving into several of her video projects, including a “film about thinking” on Hubert Damisch. Bal describes the intersection between art history and the cinematic, and recounts how, for her, writing, filmmaking, and curating represent distinct modes of thinking and making.
Episode 11November 17th
“Philosophical Grounding”: Michael Ann Holly on Creating Visual Studies
Michael Ann Holly, Starr Director Emerita of the Research and Academic Program (RAP) at the Clark Art Institute, discusses what initially drew her to art history and her contributions in founding RAP. Holly describes her career trajectory, including her role as one of the founders of the first department of visual studies in the United States, at the University of Rochester, in 1986. She also speaks about what interested her in historiography and shares some of the texts in critical theory that she enjoys teaching.
The podcast is produced by Caroline Fowler, Caitlin Woolsey, and Samantha Page, with music by lightchaser and sound editing by John Buteyn. Additional support is provided by Jessie Sentivan, Gabriel Almeida Baroja, Alice Matthews, and Yubai Shi. Visit clarkart.edu for more information.
https://www.clarkart.edu/Research-Academic/Podcast/Podcast-homepage