Cultural Property and Heritage: Who Owns the Art?

Cultural Property and Heritage: Who Owns the Art?
Louise Blouin Foundation - The Metropolitan Club
While cultural objects and their makers tend to garner the bulk of media attention, how artworks and artifacts are preserved, presented and described has a significant impact on how culture is understood and received by audiences. Moreover, during the past two decades, the art world has undergone an expansionary phase with respect to the construction of new museum venues – for instance, the Guggenheim in Bilbao or the Louvre in Abu Dhabi – and the discovery of new artistic settings – for instance, the Chinese, Indian or Iranian art scenes – which has been largely instigated by curators and art world insiders eager to discover new artists and create new experiences. This panel will ask: what is the role of cultural institutions in respect to the presentation and communication of artworks? Further, what role does curatorial practice play in discovering new art forms and bringing new voices to the public? Lastly, what role do market forces play in how we view and understand art?