Artist Michael Blum speaks with curator Regine Basha. Blum’s work Exodus 2048, commissioned by the Van Abbemuseum for Be(com)ing Dutch, is installed on the fifth floor as part of Museum as Hub: Be(com)ing Dutch at a Distance. The multipart project presents an “Imagined Future” in the year 2048, in which the state of Israel has dissolved and the Van Abbemuseum serves as a temporary camp for Israeli refugees. The project’s “what-if” scenario addresses the role of the host and the refugee far into the future. In the context of the New Museum, the U.S.’s own particular history in relation to emigration and its strong relationship with Israel are reflected.

This artist talk is in conjunction with Museum as Hub: Be(com)ing Dutch at a Distance, on view on the fifth floor until March 29, 2009.

Michael Blum is an artist and writer based in Vienna. His work aims at critically re-reading the production of culture, myths, and history. Recent projects include A Tribute to Safiye Behar, 9th Istanbul Biennial (2005); Lippmann, Rosenthal & Co., De Appel, Amsterdam (2006); Cape Town - Stockholm (On Thembo Mjobo), Mobile Art Production, Stockholm (2007); and Exodus 2048, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2008), in the framework of Be(com)ing Dutch.

Regine Basha is an independent curator based in Brooklyn. Since 1993 she has worked in Montreal, New York, and Texas and has realized several projects in parts of the Middle East and Latin America. Her curatorial projects and collaborations with artists often involve working with specific contexts and alternative formats concerned with temporality and place. For a list of exhibitions, see: http://web.me.com/ginabasha

Banner image: Michael Blum, Exodus 2048, 2008 Courtesy the artist