ANN: The Art of Free-Portism: A Disappearing Act – Online lecture by Hadas Kedar (Collection and Display, 6 Dec 2021, 18:00 GMT)


Tax-free, offshore storage facilities storing art and other valuables is a thought-provoking phenomenon. It spotlights a small number of wealthy people that are considerably influential, exposing how they are involved and participate (whether consciously or unconsciously) in the “food chain” of the art market. ‘Freeportism’ or ‘Duty-Free Art’ has a bearing on the conceptual aspect of the art field, inviting a renewed look at movements and trends. On the one hand, the artistic object of our present era may be perceived as the protagonist of a world-wide scandal; on the other, it can be regarded as a stimulator for the discussion on the aesthetic and ethical aspects of art, and as a catalysator to the discussion on the contemporary relations between art and economy. 

Please register before 5 Dec 2021.

Hadas Kedar is a cultural entrepreneur and researcher in the field of curatorship and is currently a doctoral candidate at the joint program of the University of Reading and ZHDK. Kedar explores culture in areas distant from dominant cultural centers, focusing on curatorial and artistic acts that deal with colonized cultures in the Negev desert. Kedar founded and curated Arad Art and Architecture residency program and Arad Contemporary Art Center in the south-east Negev desert. She was the editor of EXTREME, an OnCurating issue (2021) dealing with cultures developing from the margins of the globe and the author of South as State of Mind: A Warm Wind from the South in Western Art (2021) in Theory and Criticism (Van Leer Institute). Since 2020 Kedar has been a faculty member of Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev.  

To attend please register on the IHR website (do note that you must register by Sunday 5 Dec):
Go to https://www.history.ac.uk/events/art-free-portism-a-disappearing-act.
Click on the “book now” red button on the appropriate seminar. 

You will be sent a link to the zoom session on the day of the seminar. 

If you encounter any difficulties, you can email collectingdisplay@gmail.com.
All are welcome!

Convenors: Susan Bracken, Andrea M. Gáldy, Adriana Turpin