PARASOPHIA 京都国際現代芸術祭2015

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A collaborative project by Parasophia & Future Beauty

Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 is scheduled to be held at two museums as its main venues: the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art and the Museum of Kyoto.  As part of our process of working toward the exhibition in the Spring of 2015, the Parasophia Office will invite our Professional Advisory Board member Chris Dercon (Director, Tate Modern) to deliver a lecture as a contribution to our research on the activities and perspectives of one of the most cutting-edge art museums in the world.
Tate’s long history begins in 1897, with a small collection of British art. Today it is composed of four major sites: Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St. Ives.  Tate Modern is a museum of international modern and contemporary art, located in London.  The plan for its creation was announced in 1992, and following a conversion of the former Bankside Power Station into gallery by Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron, the museum was opened in May 2000.  Nearly a decade later, Tate Modern began “The Tate Modern Project” to develop the museum further, adding a new building to the south of the current building.  Chris Dercon became the Director of Tate Modern in April 2011.  Dercon is also well known as a curator whose activities reach across the globe.  At this lecture, he will speak about the new vision and strategy of Tate Modern as its present Director.
Before being appointed as the Director of Tate Modern, Dercon was the Director of Haus der Kunst in Munich.  During his time at Haus der Kunst, he co-curated the 2011 Munich version of Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion with Akiko Fukai, the Chief Curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute.  The exhibition opened at the Barbican Art Gallery in 2010 and traveled in five cities around the world.  On March 21, 2014, a renewed version of the exhibition will open at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, with the title Future Beauty: The Tradition of Reinvention in Japanese Fashion.  This Open Research Program is presented in collaboration with the Kyoto Costume Institute and the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the organizers of this exhibition.

Tate Modern: www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern
The Kyoto Costume Institute: www.kci.or.jp
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto: www.momak.go.jp/English

About the Open Research Program
The Artistic Director and his curatorial team will conduct part of their research for Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 publicly, in the form of lectures and other events in this program.

About the Professional Advisory Board
The Professional Advisory Board consists of professionals who provide advice and support to the Artistic Director.

Chris Dercon
Born 1958, Lier, Belgium. Dercon is an art historian, a documentary filmmaker cultural producer, and Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 Professional Advisory Board member. In April 2011, he was appointed Director of Tate Modern in London. He was previously Director of Haus der Kunst in Munich (2003–11), the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam (1996–2003), and Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam (1990–95), as well as Program Director of P.S. 1 (the present MoMA PS1) in New York (1988–89). He curated and co-curated, amongst others, exhibitions of André Cadere, Dan Graham, Konstantin Grcic, Hans Haacke, Carlo Mollino, Helio Oiticica, Paul Thek, Ai Weiwei, and Franz West. He has published, contributed to, and edited many catalogues, art publications, lectures, and interviews worldwide. His current interest lies particularly with old and new textiles. He has made extensive cultural research and co-operations with cultural producers in Brazil (c. 1988), North Africa and the Levant (c. 1992), Japan (c. 1993), China (c. 1999), India (c. 2005), and most recently in West Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Saudi Arabia.