12 April 2021 - 28 June 2021

Fast Forward: Speculative Institutions

Mercer Union has invited Toronto-based collective ma ma for an extended term of curatorial research through public events and engagements. ma ma | in residence begins with Fast Forward: Speculative Institutions, a three-part program on speculation and imagination that will consider how institutional critique can be a catalyst for institutional change. These programs—which include guest speakers Claire Bishop and Chaédria LaBouvier—will reflect on radical practices in writing and curating that can lead to material transformation and ethical futures.

ma ma is a curatorial collective and roving art space founded by Magdalyn Asimakis and Heather Rigg in 2018. ma ma is interested in how embodied experience and knowledge can be articulated in multiple media. They have curated several exhibitions and programs in Toronto–with local and international artists and curators–exploring how power structures and social infrastructures are built and navigated. They are currently working on two forthcoming publications: A Big Heritage With A Glorious Past (with Critical Distance Centre for Curators), and ma ma at The Table: A Diasporic Cookbook (with Art Metropole and Brittany Shepherd). More information about ma ma is available at mamaprojects.net.

Monday 12 April 2021, 6PM
Art historian Claire Bishop will discuss her writings A Speculative Review of #NewMoMA and MoMA Tour 2064, and reflect on speculation as a way of imagining ethical institutional practices. Her talk will be followed by a discussion with the audience moderated by ma ma.

Monday 17 May 2021, 6PM
Curator, art historian, writer and organizer Chaédria LaBouvier will contribute a triptych work: a short, written introduction, clips of an unfinished film project, and a talk. All works will focus on interrogating what’s been called an art-world reckoning, and the cost and site of this foundation.

Monday 28 June 2021, 6PM
Heather Rigg and Magdalyn Asimakis lead a workshop on speculative writing. This program will encourage participants to imagine the future of arts institutions through new forms of writing and critique. This will be a collective exercise for writers at all levels.

SESSION is a project modelling itself after an incubator that invites cultural practitioners to engage with questions that emerge out of a given exhibition. SESSION is made possible with Leading Support from TD Bank Group

Image courtesy of ma ma collective