Third Space Opens at BMA – Explore.
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The Birmingham Museum of Art has been hard at work preparing for the creation and opening of the largest contemporary art exhibition in the museum’s history.
“What I love about contemporary art is that there is no right or wrong way to look at it. You don’t have to have a lot of background about art. What you bring to the work is how you interpret it.”
-Wassan Al-Khudhairi, Hugh Kaul Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
See Bham Now’s special preview of what visitors have in store.
The exhibition, entitled Third Space, explores a shared cultural experience between the American South and the Global South. You can expect over 100 works of art from more than 90 international artists. With a variety of art forms including painting, sculptures, textiles, drawings, photographs, and videos, you are sure to be mesmerized by the carefully curated collection.
Third Space will be on display through 2018, with new artwork being rotated into the exhibition every 6 months. In order to accommodate the exhibit, major renovations were made. A wall was removed and replaced with glass doors to create an inviting atmosphere for visitors.
The exhibition is segmented into 4 themes, each examining and tying together the American and Global South’s cultural connections:
If you are interested in diving deeper into each piece, the exhibition offers the Smart Guide, which is a mobile companion that allows visitors to view more details about the works, their artists, and audio insights from Birmingham community members. The Smart Guide can be accessed from personal devices or borrowed iPads at the museum.
To add to the experience, there is also an audio guest book, where visitors pick up a phone receiver and leave their own story and personal experiences.
In addition to the acquired pieces, there is a commissioned piece, “2x”, by Rural Studio, an off-campus design-build program of Auburn University. The piece has 3 functions –
- To be gazed upon
- To be sat upon (yes, it is a seating area!)
- To be reused.
After the exhibition has made its run, the wood will be reused to build a home in Newbern, Alabama as part of Rural Studio’s initiative to provide durable, livable, and affordable homes for West Alabamians.
Throughout Third Space’s time at the BMA, there will be a free program called Chapters where artists from around the country will come to discuss their practices and gatherings from the exhibition. 6 Chapters will take place over the course of the exhibition with the artists coming from varying backgrounds and disciplines.
The Opening Party is tonight, January 27th at 7PM. It’s free for members and $25 for the general public.
Tip: go ahead and become a member of the BMA and receive a $5 discount with code SAVE5.
