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April 18, 2014

The MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) and the MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST) present Public Space? Lost & Found, a two-day symposium and accompanying exhibition to celebrate the living legacy of artist and educator Antoni Muntadas and collectively redefine ideas of public space and its multiple functions. Convening scholars, artists, architects, and planners from MIT and beyond, the symposium will engage contemporary critical discourses and practices on public space. The links below provide more information about the program, speakers, and exhibitors:

Symposium
Exhibition

 

The symposium and exhibition investigate the definitions of public space across disciplines, and the tools, tactics, and consequences of reclaiming — or to use a term coined by Muntadas, creating interventions in — public space through art and architecture. Public Art, that is art in public space, is a concept that has been in discussion and revision throughout the evolution of the terms “art” and “city” themselves. Recent movements — including those in Egypt, Madrid, New York, and around the world in Occupy communities — have exposed the distance between “public” and “space” and reflect citizen interests in recovering and re-appropriating the city or town square. The themes of the symposium draw from Muntadas’s career at MIT and his artistic practice, a legacy that directly affects the work and philosophies of many of the invited speakers.

This program was made possible by funding provided by CAST; the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, Office of the Dean (SA+P); MIT Department of Architecture; ACT; the Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT); MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing (CMS); Center for Civic Media; and the Media Lab.

This program is presented in collaboration with the MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology.