TIAMSA Conference Brussels 2023

Atomium Brussels

Towards a Sustainable Art Market?

Friday 30 June – Saturday 1 July

Call for Papers
Conference Programme (or scroll down)
Conference Programme Brochure
Speaker Abstracts & Biographies

The conference is open to all TIAMSA members
Please RSVP to inna.schill@artmarketstudies.org.

For new memberships, please see artmarketstudies.org/join/register/.

The theme for the 2023 TIAMSA annual conference is ‘Towards a Sustainable Art Market’? The conference, organised in cooperation with the Université libre de Bruxelles, aims to shed light on the question of sustainability (in all its dimensions: social, economic and environmental) in the art market. As all sectors of the economy, the art market must consider the challenges brought by climate change, but also reflect on its actions and on the manner by which artists and artworks have been fostering discussion on sustainability in general.

Artists have for a long time questioned our world, and the impact of humanity on the planet is no exception as is borne out by the plethora of ecologically themed art in the past fifteen years. How does the art market deal with artworks and artists openly discussing environmental issues? Has this response shifted as environmental issues have come to be more widely discussed? Can artists and artworks help promote a more sustainable environment and art market? How have they already done so?

It is indeed acknowledged that the global art market is also contributing to climate change. The increase in the number of exhibitions requiring artworks to travel, the boom of art fairs which generate vast amounts of waste are only part of the issue. How do the art market and its stakeholders envision a sustainable future? On a more positive note, what are the existing actions undertaken by art market participants to reduce their carbon footprint and their ecological impact? Did the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in the usage of online auctions, and more generally digital technologies, have an impact on the market? How are regulations and policies aiming at bringing a transition towards more sustainable practices affect the art market?

Call for Papers

Conference Programme (Updated 22 June 2023)
Brussels, Université libre de Bruxelles, June 30th – July 1st, 2023
Booking details to come

June 30th

13:45 Welcome Coffee (R42 building)

14:00: A word from the Chairs (Room R42.5.503)

14:15- 16:00 Session 1:  Museum, Curating, and Sustainability Chair: Olav Velthuis (Room R42.5.503)

  • Claudia Quinones (Canvas Art Law), “Museums and the Climate Crisis: Where Do We Go from Here?”
  • Marina Maksimova (Sotheby’s Institute) “Exploring slow curating in the times of crisis”
  • Olav Velthuis & Márton Gera (University of Amsterdam), “The Sustainability of Cultural Philanthropy: Why Private Art Museums Close”

16:00 Coffee Break

16:30-18:00 Session 2: Art, Art market and sustainability; Chair Véronique Chagnon-Burke (Room R42.5.503)

  • Ulrike Hahn (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Audiences and their experience of climate-related art exhibitions
  • Julie Reiss (Independent art historian), “More Art, Less Carbon: Material Sustainability”
  • Adelaide Duarte (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) & Marta Perez-Ibáñez (Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid) “Sustainable Collecting: The Need for a Paradigm Shift”

18:15-19:30 Roundtable: Towards a Sustainable Art Market? Chair Anne-Sophie Radermecker (Room R42.5.503),

  • Caroline Gentsch Specialist in Contemporary Art at Bonhams-Cornette de Saint Cyr (Belgium)
  • Noémie Goldman Gallery director at Gillis Goldman Fine Art and Agnews Brussels
  • Emmanuel Van De Putte Senior Director, Managing Director at Sotheby’s Belgium & Luxembourg
  • Nele Verhaeren Managing director of Art Brussels

19:30- Walking Dinner (kindly offered by CEBRIG)

July 1st

8:00 Welcome Coffee

8:30-10:30 Session 3: Technology, Media and Sustainability, Chair: Filip Vermeylen (Room R42.2.103)

  • Georgia Gerson (University of York), “The Hall of Mirrors?: Readdressing art investment in the contemporary NFT market through the lens of commercial dealerships.”
  • Zhongbo Tian (New York University) “Post-Merge NFT Carbon Emissions and Sustainable Reduction Strategies”
  • Anita Archer (University of Melbourne) “The global art market as sustainable ecosystem: creativity and well-being in the digital age”
  • Ulrike Hahn & Filip Vermeylen (Erasmus University Rotterdam) “Mirror or Hammer? News Media Coverage of Climate-Related Art”

10:30 Coffee break

11:00-12:30 Session 4 Sustainability and Asia, Chair Kim Oosterlinck (Room R42.2.103)

  • Zoran Poposki (The Education University of Hong Kong), “Art Ecology and Sustainability of Hong Kong’s Art Market”
  • Georgina S. Walker (The University of Melbourne), “Islands of Art – From toxic destruction to cultural destination: Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Teshima Island, Japan”
  • Kim Oosterlinck, Anne-Sophie Radermecker & Yuqing Song (Université libre de Bruxelles), “Does Authenticity Really Not Matter in China? An Insight into the Art Market for Chinese Artworks”

12:30-13:30 Sandwiches (Room R42.2.103)

13:30 – 14:30 Galleries and Sustainability, Chair Alicja Jagielska-Burduk (Room R42.2.103)

  • Melanie Fasche (Sotheby’s Institute), « The Power of Joining Forces for a More Sustainable Art Market – Collaborative Strategies of Contemporary Art Galleries”
  • Anne-Sophie Radermecker (Université libre de Bruxelles), “The Market for Antiques: Research Perspectives for More Sustainable Consumption Behaviours”

15:00 AGM

Location
The conference will take place at the Université libre de Bruxelles, on the Solbosch campus, building R42. The exact location of the building is 42 Avenue Roosevelt. A complete map of the campus is available here.

https://www.ulb.be/fr/plans-et-acces/solbosch

To find a given room, the university has the following system: the first element is the building (R42), the second element, the level (note that levels are not the same thing as the floors, in the R42 building you can get in at level 2 and level 5!), the last element being the room number.

Coming by train?

If you arrive at the Gare du Midi (South Station), Take the Subway till Louise, get out there and catch the Tram 8 (Stop Cambre-Etoile) from there it is a short walk.

If you arrive at the Gare Centrale, Take Bus 71 direction Delta (stop ULB) from there it is a short walk.

Coming by plane?

Taxis are always an option, but they are quite expensive to go to Brussels.

There are two public transport options from the airport: the trains run to the Gare Centrale and Gare du Midi regularly. An alternative is bus 12 that goes downtown. In function of your hotel location, you may favor one or the other.