Never There Yet: Revisiting Experimental Institutionalism. 

Talk by Charles Esche 

17:00–20:00

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Born in the very different world of the late 1990s, new or experimental institutionalism seems to offer a way for artists and curators to develop a different politics and contribute to positive social change. The talk will look at the legacy of these attempts, interpreted by someone who was directly involved. Using examples of his own practice as a curator, Charles Esche will sketch out the hopes and failures of experimental institutionalism and where its legacies might be useful in the very different circumstances of 2026. 

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Charles Esche is a writer and curator based in Amsterdam and is developing the Three Ashes Foundation in collaboration with members of transit.ro on land near Bucharest. For a number of years, through writing and exhibitions, he has proposed the concept of demodernising as a way for western Europeans to approach the challenge of decolonial thinking. He is a professor of contemporary art and curating at University of the Arts, London; adviser at Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht and a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam. From 2004-24 he directed the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and from 2000-2004 the Rooseum in Malmö.

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Images: 

The Experimental Station for Research into Art and Life and The Three Ashes, neighbours in Silistea Snagnovului, Romania

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