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Donnerstag 15.01. 18.00 Uhr

Trading on Art

Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America

Conversation

Location: ifa Bibliothek, Charlottenplatz 17, 70173 Stuttgart
Language: English
Admission: free
Registration: via anmeldung@daz.org

Amid rising trade conflicts between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the North American economic landscape has shifted considerably. Addressing these recent changes and their history since the 1980s, Trading on Art reveals how culture plays a significant role in these dynamics. The book demonstrates how art has long served as a stage for political negotiations between governments and as a means to communicate to diverse publics. This event addresses how visual art became a simultaneous tool of diplomacy, driver of identity, and site of resistance for various actors in North America supporting and contesting free trade, including politicians, artists, and citizens.

In their conversation, Sarah E. K. Smith and Petra Mostbacher-Dix will explore how cultural actors have shaped dominant understandings of North America as a specific regional identity formation and why these insights matter now more than ever.

With: Sarah E. K. Smith, Western University and Petra Mostbacher-Dix (Moderation)
In Cooperation with: ifa (Insitut für Auslandsbeziehungen)

Portrait Sarah Smith

Sarah E. K. Smith

is a scholar and curator whose research explores contemporary art, museums, and the cultural politics of global engagement. As an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University, she holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Art, Culture and Global Relations. Dr. Smith’s work focuses on cultural diplomacy, cultural labour, and the role of visual art in shaping international relations. She is a founding member of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative and part of the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance.

Image: private

 

Petra Mostbacher-Dix

is a freelance journalist, art historian, and presenter. She writes for the Stuttgarter Zeitung, the Staatsanzeiger BW, LIFT, Die Deutsche Bühne, and other media outlets, focusing on art, dance, culture, and social issues. She gained curatorial experience at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and hosts the magazine SuR – KulturPolitik für Stuttgart. She also teaches journalism at Macromedia Stuttgart and dance history at the New York City Dance School in Stuttgart.