Close Reading Seth Siegelaub - How To Read Donald Duck

The Stedelijk Museum organizes close-reading groups, spread across four afternoon sessions, on specific subjects related to the exhibition Seth Siegelaub: Beyond Conceptual Art. This program reflects on ideas about conceptual art, the cooperation between artist and curator, and the traces this has left both in art history and in our society. The program titles refer to significant projects by Siegelaub: How Is Art History Made, How To Read Donald Duck, Curatorial Attitudes, and Textiles. Four specialists will help participants examine and analyze these subjects, and collaboratively recontextualize them.

This second edition of the series will be led by Prof. Cees Hamelink and will focus on the magazine How To Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic (1976). This bestseller, published by Siegelaub, appeared during a period in which he turned his back on the art scene and settled in Paris. There, he cultivated an interest in mass media from a leftwing perspective. In line with the political atmosphere of the time, he eventually redirected his publishing activities to scholarly research and critical essays on communication.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Cees Hamelink is professor emeritus in international communication at the University of Amsterdam and professor emeritus in media, religion, and culture at VU University Amsterdam. He has worked on communication and human rights in many fields. As his field of expertise and remarkable academic work on communication is strongly connected with the publication How to Read Donald Duck (1976) by Seth Siegelaub, the Stedelijk Museum is extremely proud to welcome him as a guest speaker.

ABOUT THE SELECTED TEXTS FOR THE READING GROUP

To receive the selected materials, please make a reservation via reservations@stedelijk.nl.

MORE CLOSE READINGS ON SETH SIEGELAUB

Close Reading Seth Siegelaub: Curatorial Attitudes
Speaker               Maxine Kopsa (director Kunstverein Amsterdam, curator and critic)
Date                   March 18, 4 – 5 pm
Language             English 

Close Reading Seth Siegelaub: Textiles
Speakers             Sara Martinetti (researcher and curator)
                          Merel van Tilburg (art historian, University of Geneva)
Date                   April 1 , 4 – 5 pm
Language             English