Readings & Listenings recommended by CIMAM members
For the week of July 07, 2025, we have some reading recommendations for you that CIMAM members have suggested. These articles and books are related to museums and collections of modern and contemporary art.
Books:
Political Agony and the Legacies of Romanticism in Contemporary Art
By Denis Maksimov | MoMA, 2024
The Case Against the Universal Museum
By Isaac Kaplan | Published in Artsy, April 2016
Ideas to Postpone The End of The World
By Ailton Krenak | Anansi International, 2020
Indigenous peoples have faced the end of the world before. Now, humankind is on a collective march towards the abyss. Global pandemics, extreme weather, and massive wildfires define this era many now call the Anthropocene.
From Brazil comes Ailton Krenak, renowned Indigenous activist and leader, who demonstrates that our current environmental crisis is rooted in society’s flawed concept of “humanity” ― that human beings are superior to other forms of nature and are justified in exploiting it as we please.
To stop environmental disaster, Krenak argues that we must reject the homogenizing effect of this perspective and embrace a new form of “dreaming” that allows us to regain our place within nature. In Ideas to Postpone the End of the World, he shows us the way.
Articles:
CIMAM and Museums in Crisis: Is the Single Narrative Losing Strength, an op-ed by Marisol Salanova, originally published by ARTEINFORMADO under the title CIMAM y los museos en crisis. ¿el relato único está perdiendo fuerza? on July 2, 2025.
Museums in Dialogue: Asia and Africa Originally published in Spanish by Exitmedia in the Outlander section of EXPRESS magazine, on July 3, 2025, under the title Museos en diálogo: Asia y África. Written by Diana de la Cruz.
For the First Time, Modern Art Museums Will Meet in Africa, written by Roberta Bosco and originally published in Italian for Il Giornale dell'Arte on July 7, 2025 under the title Per la prima volta i musei d’arte moderna si incontreranno in Africa.
By Eduardo Viveiros de Castro and Déborah Danowsk | Published in e-flux, Issue #114, December 2020
Podcasts:
Conversation with renowned artist Andrea Fraser with The Art of Social Change Podcast, to discuss art, institutions, and power. This conversation was recorded in collaboration with CIMAM during their 56th Annual Conference in Los Angeles.
Exclusive for CIMAM members >> Editorial Discounts
- Exclusive for CIMAM members, enjoy a 25% discount on a selection of contemporary art and curatorial books through Lund Humphries online bookstore.
- CIMAM members can now enjoy an exclusive 20% discount on all the titles included in the Hatje Cantz's selection created for CIMAM members.
Access the Members Only section to get further reading recommendations by CIMAM members.