The Center for Public Scholarship is pleased to present the 32nd Social Research conference, "The Fear of Art," on Thursday and Friday, February 12 and 13, 2015, at The New School in New York City. 

Ai Weiwei is delivering the keynote address with a video he has created especially for the conference, "The Censorship of Artists: Artists in Prison, Artists in Exile."

We have chosen this theme for our next conference because freedom of expression remains under threat in both totalitarian and democratic states. Artists continue to be imprisoned and exiled and art continues to be banned and destroyed, all of which gives evidence of the power of images to unsettle, to speak truth to power, to question our cherished cultural norms and what we hold sacred. 

The conference examines how art can threaten, terrify, and provoke the wrath of political, religious, and cultural regimes. Speakers examine the history of art censorship, the role of artists as collaborators and rebels, and the self-censorship of gallery and museum directors. The agenda also pairs artists and scholars to discuss activist art, the threat posed by art, the potency of art, artists at risk, and artists in exile. Museum and gallery directors will discuss the role of self-censorship.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, PEN American Center, and the India China Institute at The New School. The conference is made possible with generous support from Agnes Gund, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Larry Warsh, the Ford Foundation, and ArteEast.

Event Program

Thursday, February 12th

Session 1: Reflections on Art Censorship and Banning
12:00 –2:00 p.m.

A. "Degenerate Art" in Nazi Germany
Olaf Peters, Professor of Modern Art History and Art Theory, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg; curator, "Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937" exhibition at the Neue Galerie, March 13–June 30, 2014

B. Artist as Collaborator with Totalitarian Regimes 
Emily Braun, Distinguished Professor, Director of the Art History Program, Deputy Chair of the Department of Art and Art History, Hunter College and the Graduate Center

C. Banning, Censorship, Defamation, and Destruction
David Freedberg, Pierre Matisse Professor of the History of Art and Director of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University
Moderator: Agnes Gund, philanthropist, art patron, and collector; founding trustee, Agnes Gund Foundation; President Emerita, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA); Chairman, MoMA PS1

Session 2: Activist Art
2:15-3:45 p.m. 

Ricardo Dominguez, artist, co-founder, the Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT); Associate Professor of Visual Arts, University of California San Diego
Stephen Duncombe, Associate Professor, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University; co-founder, School for Creative Activism; Co-director, Center for Artistic Activism
Moderator: Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director, PEN American Center

Session 3: The Potency of Art
4:00-5:30 p.m.

Holland Cotter, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, the New York Times

Paul Chan, artist

Moderator: Carin Kuoni, Director, Vera List Center for Art and Politics, The New School for Public Engagement

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Session 4: The Censorship of Artists: Artists in Prison, Artists in Exile
6:00-7:30 p.m. 

Ai Weiwei, Chinese contemporary artist and political activist 
(via a video made for the conference funded by Agnes Gund and Larry Warsh)
Followed by a panel discussion:
Melissa Chiu, Director, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden 
Ethan Cohen, founder, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, specializing in Chinese contemporary art
Minky Worden, Director of Global Initiatives, Human Rights Watch

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