New Six DegreesHello Museum

In 2006, the New Museum began research to develop the Museum as Hub. The initiative’s first manifestation at the New Museum, “Museum as Hub: An Introduction,” opened in December 2007, bringing together documentation and artworks proposed by partner organizations, and providing context for their participation in the coming year. From February 2008 to March 2009, the Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Insa Art Space, Seoul, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, and the New Museum organized exhibitions and public programs that considered the topic of “Neighborhood.” In subsequent years, the Museum as Hub has pushed the possibilities of working within and beyond particular places while remaining mindful of each partner’s unique relationships to the infrastructures and institutions of art. At the New Museum, the Museum as Hub supports a range of activities—from exhibitions and public programs to residencies and discursive projects—that engage an expanding network of art spaces, initiatives, and artists from around the world. In the following conversation, Eungie Joo, Keith Haring Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs at the New Museum, and William Wells of Townhouse Gallery in Cairo, discuss the evolution of the Museum as Hub at the 2012 March Meeting, an annual gathering of artists, arts professionals, and institutions organized by the Sharjah Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates.

Special thanks to the Sharjah Art Foundation and Anne Barlow, former Curator of Education and Media Programs, New Museum, and current Executive Director of Art in General.