The Office for…Art in a Multipolar World

Mi Yous' talk provides a diagnosis of the socio-political contexts that surround art in a multipolar world. The golden era of globalization is no more, and we are only slowly coming to terms with the fact that the grand alignment of assumptions across the globe—the acceptance of neoliberal globalization, of liberal democracy as the only possible political form of a state, of the expectation of the state to deliver progress (however it is measured), and of the experience of economic stability for those included in the economic body politic—may have been a historical contingency. In the face of geopolitical fallouts, the shattering of a liberal progressive social contract, rising claims to value pluralism, the survival of art’s exceptionalism depends on realism. My reflections are guided as much by analytical inquiries as by my practice as a researcher and curator. Through these reflections, I hope to offer a horizon of thinking and experiments in artistic, curatorial and sociopolitical practices that speak to a “good,” consensus-based multipolarity.

Mi You is a curator and professor of Art and Economies at the University of Kassel / documenta Institut, where she leads research on the social, economic, and political conditions of art. She’s the author of the book Art in a Multipolar World (Hatje Cantz, 2024). As a curator, she works between ancient and futuristic imaginaries of societies and technologies, and the history, political theory, and philosophy of Eurasia. Her most recent exhibitions include the 13th Shanghai Biennale (2020–21), “Lonely Vectors” at the Singapore Art Museum (2022), “Clouds, Power and Ornament” at the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (2023), and “Really? Art and Knowledge in Time of Crisis” at Framer Framed (2024). She serves as chair of the committee on Media Arts and Technology for the transnational NGO Common Action Forum and is a Berggruen Institute Europe fellow.

‘The Office for…’ is a new series of artistic and discursive programmes exploring what might be possible if the criteria of ‘contemporary art’ are displaced, temporarily, by alternative frameworks which open up for a multitude of perspectives in one of events such as talks, gatherings, lectures, workshops, screenings, etc. OCA invites people, initiatives, institutions, and organisations that are contributing and inspiring to expand the possibilities of thought, knowledge, and action throughout the planet.