To Be Destroyed: A Call for Ideas

The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) is calling for submissions that respond to the thematic of an upcoming exhibition, entitled TBD, that will be on view September 6 to October 26, 2014 in Toronto, Canada.

The exhibition proposes that the definition of a museum is not fixed but rather “to be determined.” By asking “what is a contemporary art gallery?” the exhibition questions our fundamental assumptions concerning the role and importance of museums in society and their associated architectural forms. MOCCA’s galleries will become a place of inquiry and discussion featuring artworks and activities that destroy existing paradigms and offer projections about the shape of museums in the future. This is a particularly timely topic given the proliferation of museum architecture in Canada and abroad and the current juncture in MOCCA’s existence which sees the institution searching for a new and permanent venue.

We are asking architects to propose how museums and galleries can be re-imagined once our existing ideas about them are destroyed. Proposals may deal with how these institutions are situated within the urban landscape or how they may be reformulated given the evolution of digital and networked realities. Submissions could examine the interrelation of the artwork, audience and architectural ‘container’ of the museum or look at its position within larger networks of economy or culture. Other lines of inquiry might cover the range of possibilities along spectrums of ephemerality or scale. MOCCA is interested in all submissions which answer “what is a contemporary art gallery?” in an innovative way.

Submissions are welcome from practitioners across all experience levels. The jury’s selections will be included in the exhibition.