Night School at the New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York, NY :: Application Deadline: December 15, 2007 - Night School is an artist commission in the form of a temporary school. For this project, artist Anton Vidokle is organizing a yearlong program of monthly seminars and workshops that use the New Museum as a site to shape a critically engaged public through art discourse. Night School takes place on the last weekend (Thursday-Sunday) of each month, January 2008 through January 2009.

Night School is comprised of eleven seminars organized around three thematic tracks. The program begins with three series of seminars, workshops and film/video screenings conducted by Boris Groys, Martha Rosler and Liam Gillick that examines possibilities for progressive cultural practices. During the spring and summer months, the focus of the program turns to artistic agency today, and includes seminars with Walid Raad & Jalal Toufic, Paul Chan, Maria Lind and Owkui Enwezor. The fall program considers self-organization in the field of cultural production, presenting seminars and workshops with Rirkrit Tiravanija, Zhang Wei and Hu Fang, Natascha Sadr Haghighian and Raqs Media Collective. All topics will be addressed from the perspective of ongoing research and production, and as such will constitute the core structure of the school. Lectures, screenings, and conversations will take place in the New Museum theater, the 5th Floor Museum as Hub space, and informal locations throughout the local neighborhood.

In the tradition of free universities, many of Night School’s events are open to all those interested to take part. A core group of 25 participants will be selected by application, to participate in additional private workshops and discussions, and will be offered complimentary New Museum membership for one year. The Night School is now accepting applications from cultural producers including visual artists, architects, writers, filmmakers, journalists, curators, composers, performers, and others who can commit to participating in the full program throughout the year. Accepted participants will be expected to attend all monthly seminars and be present in New York for the duration of the project. Download an application form. Application deadline: December 15, 2007.

Night School is the second in a series of art projects organized around a temporary school format and initiated by Anton Vidokle. Vidokle initiated research into education as site for artistic practice for Manifesta 6, which was canceled. In response to the cancellation, Vidokle set up an independent project in Berlin called Unitednationsplaza - a twelve-month exhibition as school involving more than a hundred artists, writers, philosophers, and diverse audiences. Located behind a supermarket in East Berlin, UNP’s program featured numerous seminars, lectures, screenings, book presentations and projects including the Martha Rosler Library.

Founded in 1977, the New Museum is the first and only contemporary art museum in New York City and among the most respected internationally, with a curatorial program unrivaled in the United States in its global scope and adventurousness. With the inauguration of the Museum’s new, state-of-the-art building at 235 Bowery on December 1, 2007, the New Museum will be the destination for new art and new ideas.

For further information please write to nightschool [at] newmuseum.org

Night School is part of the Museum as Hub, which is made possible by the Third Millennium Foundation. With additional generous support from the MetLife Foundation. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts. Endowment support is provided by the Skadden, Arps Education Programs Fund and the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs at the New Museum.