Capitalist Cocktails and Moscow Mules: Activism in the Museum and Gallery

This talk asks: what happens when protest crosses the threshold of the large-scale museum or gallery? Using a number of examples, among them a major museum fundraiser that parodied anti-capitalist protest; an international exhibition organized to take place in the same streets where activists gathered against G8 meetings; and the accession of artifacts from protest actions into museum collections, this talk questions the role of authoritative museums under late capitalism, ultimately recognizing such institutions as contested spaces. Kirsty Robertson is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Art and Museum Studies at Western University, Canada. Her research focuses on activism, visual culture, and changing economies. She has published widely on the topic and is currently finishing her book Tear Gas Epiphanies: New Economies of Protest, Vision, and Culture in Canada. More recently, she has turned her attention to the study of wearable technologies, immersive environments, and the potential overlap(s) between textiles and technologies. Her co-edited volume, Imagining Resistance: Visual Culture, and Activism in Canada, was released in 2011, and her tri-authored volume Putting IP in its Place: Rights Discourse, Creativity and the Everyday was published in 2013.