Making Art Global (Part 2): 'Magiciens de la Terre' 1989

This book is part of Afterall's Exhibition Histories series. It offers extensive visual representation and critical reappraisal of the famous and infamous 'Magiciens de la Terre', which took place in Paris in 1989. Co-editor of this publication, Lucy Steeds contributes the lead essay, arguing that the show, which was promoted as 'the first worldwide exhibition of contemporary art', may be seen as an inadvertent model for transnational and project-based curating in the ensuing era of neoliberal globalisation.

In 1989 the ambitious exhibition ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ opened in Paris, presenting the work of over one hundred artists, only half of whom would be described as Western. In a radical bid to open up the art world centred in West Europe and North America, ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ argued for the universality of the creative impulse and endeavoured to offer direct and equal aesthetic experience of contemporary works of art made globally.

Making Art Global (Part 2), the fourth title in the Exhibition Histories series, focuses on ‘Magiciens de la Terre’, with photographs and gallery plans representing the exhibition in detail. An essay by Lucy Steeds provides an extended examination of its context and choices, while arguing that the show may be seen as an inadvertent model for transnational and project-based curating in the ensuing era of neoliberal globalisation. Jean-Marc Poinsot contributes a reflection on the discursive legacy and Pablo Lafuente's opening essay inscribes ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ within the wider history of exhibition practice. Texts from the time include previously unpublished material, such as a programmatic statement by curator Jean-Hubert Martin and a conference paper by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.

This book was launched with a long weekend of films and debate co-curated by Lucy Steeds and George Clark for Tate Modern, 11-14 April 2014 (http://www.afterall.org/2014/04/08/Magiciens_Reconsidered_programme.pdf).

• http://www.afterall.org/2014/04/08/Magic...