Hans Ulrich Obrist, David Wallace-Wells, Judith Bernstein, Zanele Muholi, Elena Soboleva, and Stuart Comer will come together in December 

From climate-change denial to Stonewall at 50, advisor Ed Winkleman on this year’s Miami Beach Conversations program

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<p>One of the most unfortunate side effects of our seemingly new Dickensian era in human history is that, depending on who you are, it is either the best of times or the worst of times. Even if you have the most honorable of intentions, any step you might take to correct problems in one direction can undo progress in another. For example, in the US we have rarely been more socially and politically divided, but our economy has been exceptionally strong recently, and many policy makers are hesitant to do anything that might reverse that. Likewise, while capitalism is reportedly lifting hundreds of millions of people worldwide out of poverty, the turmoil being brought on by nationalism, climate change, and related refugee crises threaten political stability across the globe. And it’s not only in major world events that we see such a stark dichotomy. Even in the contemporary art market, we contend with the paradox that while many artists and galleries are doing extremely well, many others are struggling to survive, leaving some concerned about the long-term viability of the market’s middle tier. There could be terrible consequences across the industry if it were to crumble. Again, though, most proposed corrections to any of these problems come with a clear downside for someone.</p>  <div>In the context of the 2019 Conversations program for Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB), which brings together artists, gallerists, collectors, activists, academics, cultural figures, and others to discuss topical issues that intersect with contemporary art and the art market, this portentous backdrop prompted us to try to do more than merely rehash the sensationalist headlines of the day, and indeed to try to give audiences ‘information they can use’ across the entire program. To that end, we have asked our moderators and panelists to reserve time to also discuss the possible productive ways forward on their panel’s topic. Specifically, what are the participants doing themselves, or what might the audience do, with this information? For a discussion on a social or political issue, for example, what are the real-world actions people can implement to respond productively? Or in a discussion on an artist’s practice, how can people support that artist’s work if it speaks to them?</div>

<p>Some of the topics in this year’s program are admittedly much larger and more serious than the contemporary art market, such as the regressive legislation cropping up in many US states aimed at taking away women’s reproductive rights, and the international rise of nationalism and the violence it has begun to unleash. While some may feel that discussing these issues in the context of an art fair trivializes them, I would argue that as long as artists are dealing with these subjects in their work, we owe it to them to facilitate a context where they can be discussed openly and honestly. Further, any truly productive ways forward require as much transparency as possible. While this year’s program includes several controversial subjects – the ethics of museum funding, the direction LGBTQIA+ culture is heading 50 years after the Stonewall riots, how to challenge climate-change denial, and how social-media standards often clash with artists’ freedom of expression – it is our sincere hope that our audience will take away not only a better understanding of how influential figures both within the artworld and beyond are thinking about these matters, but also what they personally can do with the information being shared.</p><p>Likewise, when the focus of the panel is on artists’ practice, we want the audience to feel more than informed, we want them to leave feeling empowered to champion that artist in any way they can. In addition to a panel on the influence and legacy of Carolee Schneemann, we are fortunate to have some of the most influential and up-and-coming contemporary artists, writers, and thinkers in this year’s program, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7088/Rirkrit-Tiravanija" target="_blank">Rirkrit Tiravanija</a>, Precious Okoyomon,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8868/Nicole-Eisenman" target="_blank">Nicole Eisenman</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/search?q=Marilyn%20Minter" target="_blank">Marilyn Minter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/13560/Nandipha-Mntambo" target="_blank">Nandipha Mntambo</a>, Lotic (J’Kerian Morgan), Sharmistha Ray,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/11376/AA-Bronson" target="_blank">AA Bronson</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/12651/Carlos-Motta" target="_blank">Carlos Motta</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/10595/Judith-Bernstein" target="_blank">Judith Bernstein</a>, Narcissister,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/11558/Alexis-Rockman">Alexis Rockman</a>, Allison Janae Hamilton, Spencer Tunick,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7283/Agnieszka-Kurant" target="_blank">Agnieszka Kurant</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/47553/Paul-Mpagi-Sepuya" target="_blank">Paul Mpagi Sepuya</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/13609/Zanele-Muholi" target="_blank">Zanele Muholi</a>, Mike Dorning, and David Wallace-Wells. Hopefully contributing to our audience’s passion for supporting the artists are several panels on contemporary collecting, which will cover topics as varied as the do’s and don’ts of finding new collectors; what young collectors expect from the art market; and how to navigate the international art market in an age of rising nationalism, including the impact of tariffs, legislation, and protests on which artists get collected or even which art fairs are able to survive.</p>

<p>My brilliant predecessor in advising for the Conversations program at ABMB, Mari Spirito (founding director of Protocinema, Istanbul and New York), once explained to me that, while the art in the galleries’ booths and other ABMB locations is the ‘show,’ she viewed the Conversations program as ‘the tail’ of the fair, helping to extend the experiences and ideas the audience discover there into the future. We work to support that notion by placing videos of each panel online, but also through an approach to the program’s topics that acknowledges the audience has come, in part, to learn but also, perhaps, to be inspired.</p>  <div>Conversations takes place December 5-7 in the auditorium of the MBCC. The full program can be found&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach/conversations-show" target="_blank">here</a>. The panels are free to attend and open to the public.&nbsp;</div><div>Top image:&nbsp;Installation view of Zanele Muholi’s presentation with Stevenson at Art Basel Miami Beach 2018.</div>

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Hans Ulrich Obrist, David Wallace-Wells, Judith Bernstein, Zanele Muholi, Elena Soboleva, and Stuart Comer will come together in December