One independent exhibition-maker, six art collectives and collaborations, 13 individual artists who use the pronoun “he” and 17 individual artists who use the pronoun “she.” That’s the breakdown of artists whose work will be included in the Carnegie International, 57th Edition, 2018.
The triennial event, which runs Oct. 13, 2018 to March 25, 2019 at the Carnegie Museum of Art, will feature artists from more than 25 nations including Austria, Bahamas, Cameroon, Cherokee Nation, Colombia, England, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Navajo Nation, Nigeria, Nonuya Nation, Pakistan, Palestine, Scotland, Senegal, Switzerland, United States of America and Vietnam. The 32 artists and art collectives will present works in a range of mediums including sculpture, installation, photography, drawing, painting, film and performance art.
“The International is sort of about checking in on the mediums of contemporary art,” says Ingrid Schaffner, curator of the project. “The International isn’t an exhibition. The International is a curatorial project.”
Schaffner had worked as chief curator of the exhibition program at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania since 2000 before taking over the International in 2015. Her work on the project began with a series of research trips with five curator colleagues who served as her traveling and thinking companions: Magalí Arriola, Doryun Chong, Ruba Katrib, Carin Kuoni and Bisi Silva.
“It can be sort of overwhelming to think, ‘how am I going to cover the world,’” Schaffner says. “So I decided to invite five colleagues, whose work I admire, but who I’d never met.”
As a result of those trips, Schaffner crafted her vision for the International which invites visitors to explore what it means to be “international” in present day. The museum itself is a major component of the project as it is designed to emphasize the importance of enjoying art in the company of other people.
“Our museum is referred to as the ‘immense building,’” says Schaffner. “The International is about really bringing people into the world that is this museum.”
Highlights of the International include a collaboration between novelist Han Kang and filmmaker IM Heung-soon; an exhibition-within-the-exhibition by Koyo Kouoh that interacts with pieces from the museum’s collection; and an interpretation by Lenka Clayton and Jon Rubin of rejected works from the archives of the International dating back to the 1800s. (The International was established in 1869.) The project will also feature International alumni who will be bringing back previous works to the museum.
