Introducing The Art World: What If…?!
What if we reimagined everything in culture, from painting to patronage? Tune in to The Art World: What If…?! to hear some of the leading thinkers, creators and innovators in the art world rethink the system, exploring the consequences with wit, wisdom and humor.
Join art journalist Charlotte Burns and world-renowned art advisor Allan Schwartzman as they exclusively interview museum leaders, collectors and artists including MoMA director Glenn Lowry, Guggenheim deputy director Naomi Beckwith, non-profit leader Kemi Ilesanmi, curator Cecilia Alemani and Sandra Jackson-Dumont, the director of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and many others over the course of the series.
From the team behind In Other Words and Hope & Dread, The Art World: What If…? is brought to you by Schwartzman& for Art& and produced by Studio Burns.
Transcript:
Charlotte Burns:
Hello, I’m Charlotte Burns, an arts journalist.
Allan Schwartzman:
And I’m Allan Schwartzman, an art advisor.
Charlotte Burns:
And this is a brand-new podcast series from the makers of In Other Words and Hope & Dread.
Allan Schwartzman:
It’s called The Art World: What If…?!
[Audio of guests]
Charlotte Burns:
Each week we'll be joined by fascinating people—innovators in art and culture—from museum directors and other leaders to curators, collectors and artists.
Naomi Beckwith:
It’s true. You know, we have a planet burning, but we also have, in many ways, museums burning.
Allan Schwartzman:
Our conversations are with today’s leading thinkers and creators, among them Naomi Beckwith, Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Kemi Ilesanmi, Glenn Lowry, and Cecilia Alemani. And others whose names may not be as familiar to you yet.
Glenn Lowry:
If we can’t have these conversations, if they become so polarized that they lead to divisiveness, political alienation, even violence, then we are going to fail as a society.
Charlotte Burns:
We’ll be asking our guests to imagine different futures for the art world. We’ll be asking them, “what if?”
Allan Schwartzman:
This show is driven by the need to look now at culture from different perspectives because we’re on the precipice of dramatic cultural and historical change that we’re probably not able to see. We want to shift our perspectives—and yours.
Kemi Ilesanmi:
There’s a power in naming. Making things visible and legible so that you can then decide what to do with the thing that you just named. [Laughs]
Charlotte Burns:
Once we’ve named it, how do we navigate it? What are some of the biggest shifts that need to happen for art to stay relevant in a dramatically changing world?
Glenn Lowry:
If you go to a museum for certitude, you will ultimately be disappointed.
Cecilia Alemani:
Can we look at what’s been happening since the pandemic as a sort of, a new wave coming through the art world?
Allan Schwartzman:
So what are these new waves? How do we overcome some of these complex issues? And how do we talk? How do we think about value?
Naomi Beckwith:
Listen, the market is dominant because it’s glitzy, and it has things that people understand, like numbers. My job, and the job of my colleagues, is to do something that gets people to grasp the ineffable.
Cecilia Alemani:
What if financial values was no longer the way we talk about success?
Charlotte Burns:
What if art and culture can change the world?
Kemi Ilesanmi:
You have to name dreams so that the universe can figure out how to help you make them happen. So if we don’t invite people to even name the dream, they can’t get to where they need to go.
Allan Schwartzman:
The Art World: What If…?! will be available weekly from January 12th, when you can listen to three bonus episodes right away.
Charlotte Burns:
The Art World: What If…?! is brought to you by Art&, the editorial platform created by Schwartzman&. The executive producer is Allan Schwartzman, who co-hosts the show together with me, Charlotte Burns of Studio Burns, which produces the series. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.