Mudam Talk. Deconstructing MudamLand
Where: Mudam Auditorium
With: Simon Fujiwara, François Cusset
Moderated by Clara Froumenty
Framework: Simon Fujiwara. A Whole New World
Language: EN
Access: 10€
Max 128p.
Booking required:
mudam.com/rsvp-fujiwara-philosophy
.As Marshall McLuhan stated, in a society where “the medium is the message”, what can this art exhibition teach us about our own experience of the contemporary world? Beneath the colourful and fun aspect of the exhibition, Simon Fujiwara touches on a variety of contemporary issues that have impacted his personal history, as well as society as a whole.
In this conversation, prof. François Cusset and artist Simon Fujiwara will discuss the philosophical interpretations that can be made of the show A Whole New World.
Throughout the museum galleries or “worlds” created for Mudam’s temporary theme park, thought-provoking conversations emerge in the subtext: the flattening of identity into image; how biopower affects what and who we deem ungrievable; the way museums manufacture emotion and stage authenticity... Concepts formalised by philosophers and thinkers associated with cultural studies and the so-called French Theory.
Going back and forth between the artworks and these references, Cusset and Fujiwara will bring a deep analysis of the show from each of their perspectives. Cusset will draw on concepts such as biopolitics, commodification and consumerism, simulacra and spectacle, while Fujiwara will guideus through the hidden thinking processes and ideas behind the works.
Biographies:
François Cusset (1969, Paris) is a writer and intellectual historian who lives in Paris. A professor of intellectual history and American studies at University of Paris Nanterre, he also gives seminars at Sciences-Po Paris, in various Swiss and Belgian art schools, as well as graduate schools in the US. He started his professional life in New York City (1991-2000) holding successive positions as a journalist, cultural attaché, and literary agent. The author of twelve acclaimed works of nonfiction, from political pamphlets to global intellectual history, he has also authored three novels and an experimental narrative on the 2020 Covid lockdown. Among his books translated from the French: French Theory: How Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze & Co. transformed the Intellectual Life of the United States (University of Minnesota Press, 2008), The Inverted Gaze: Queering French Literature in America (Arsenal Pulp, 2011), How the World Swung to the Right: Fifty Years of Counterrevolutions(Semiotext(e)/MIT Press, 2018), and The World Unleashed: New Logics of Violence (n-1 edições, 2025). He is currently working on a book about machofascism and the future of masculinity, forthcoming in 2027.
Simon Fujiwara (1982, London) has held solo exhibitions at institutions such as Kiasma, Helsinki (2024); Prada Aoyama, Tokyo (2022); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2021); Blaffer Art Museum, Dallas (2020); Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; Kunsthaus Bregenz (2018); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2016); The Carpenter Center, Harvard University, Cambridge (2014); Kunstverein Braunschweig (2013); Tate St. Ives (2012); The Power Plant, Toronto (2011) and Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf (2010). He has participated in numerous group exhibitions and biennials including at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; M+, Hong Kong (2025); Ulsan Museum (2023); Kunsthalle Hamburg (2022); Schwules Museum, Berlin (2020); The Shed, New York; 16th Istanbul Biennial; Hamburger Bahnhof (2019); Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main (2017); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2015); 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012) and the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2009). His work is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Hamburger Kunsthalle; Centre Pompidou, Paris and Fondazione Prada, Milan. Simon Fujiwara lives and works in Berlin.
