Experimental Art Institutions in Europe in the nineties and two thousands: contextualization, Conflicts and inspiration

Abstract

This paper intends to contextualize propositions that took place in art museums and art centers since the 1990s, mostly in the European context, to foster experimental programs inside their institutional contexts. These propositions result from elements such as: the gradual transformation of the traditional museological structures towards the emergence of new models; the internalization of propositions from two generations of artists engaged with Institutional Critique, which led to the constitution of Institutions of Critique; the emergence of the independent curator; the reaction of these institutions in the face of the rising influence of globalized and corporate capitalism over the dynamic of art institutions. As an example, we contemplate the case of basis voor actuele kunst (BAK). We also observe that many of these institutions suffered alterations such as budget cuts, changes in its political thinking and the substitution of its directors, which led many authors to question the possibility of continuity of these institutional experimentations.