Never Spoken Again Opening Lecture (June 17, 2021)

(Recorded on June 17, 2021) Join David Ayala-Alfonso, curator of the exhibition, Never Spoken Again, for a discussion of this exhibition that questions the underpinnings of modern collections. Ayala-Alfonso will be joined in the discussion by artist Sofia de Grenade, whose work will be on view in the exhibition.
About the Exhibition:
On a desk of the private study collection of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, an old stuffed parrot guards a small library and a vast, yet obsolete ornithology collection. An excited young scientist reads a story on the origins of the desiccated animal for the purpose of entertaining a group of visitors: it may have been the last “speaker” of a dead Indigenous language from colonial Venezuela, or a German prince’s precious gift to the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. There is no clear understanding which of these versions, if any, might be true. This long-obscured anecdote inspires Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections, a traveling exhibition that reflects on the birth of modern collections, their origin stories, and the art institutions that sustain them. The unknown truth of the story invites speculation and encourages the formation of alternative narratives surrounding the works on view. The exhibition collects stories of fabrication, chance, and deceit that live silently, yet dynamically, between the layers of modern history.
The internationally recognized contemporary artists featured in the exhibition, including Morehshin Allahyari, Daniel R. Small, Carlos Motta, and Michael Rakowitz, perform as artist-scholars, opening a critique of material culture, iconography, and political ecologies. Their practices examine not only the objects and the systems of distribution that facilitate their circulation but also the disciplines and subjects of study that perpetuate boundaries. The works shed light on myths, simulations, fake currencies, war games, and the slow violence of systematic racism that historically underpin collecting practices. In conjunction with the Telfair Museums-organized exhibition Progressive Regression: Examination of a 19th Century Museum, on view at the Telfair Academy, there is a call for a renewed consideration surrounding human agency in how our histories and futures may be reimagined.
Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections is curated by David Ayala-Alfonso and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI). It is the result of a new series of programs, pioneered with the support of the Hartfield Foundation, aimed at providing opportunities to alumni of ICI’s Curatorial Intensive as they move through the stages of their career, and reflecting ICI’s commitment to fostering and championing new curatorial voices who will shape the future of the field. Never Spoken Again is made possible with the generous support of ICI’s Board of Trustees and International Forum, with additional support from SAHA. The presentation at Telfair Museums has been organized in collaboration with Erin Dunn, associate curator of modern and contemporary art.
Visit telfair.org for more info.