The Institution and Its Intentions

This publication collects and preserves the ideas put forward during the symposium A Model: Reimagining Museums, held at Mudam, the Contemporary Art Museum of Luxembourg. The convening explored the mission of museums today and examined how contemporary institutions can continue to serve as sources of culture, preservation, education and community in the future.

The symposium marked the final chapter of a broader program dedicated to the museum as a model, introduced by the three-part exhibition A Model, curated by Bettina Steinbrügge. The exhibition proposed a reflection on the role of the museum at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It reaffirmed the need to think of the institution as a living place, sensitive and receptive to contemporary debates. A Model considered the possibilities that arise when museum collections are reimagined as active and performative environments. It brought together more than thirty artists, some conceived new commissions, while others responded to and engaged with works from Mudam’s collection.

This publication bridges the exhibition and the symposium’s reflections. It features contributions by Giulia Bellinetti, Clémentine Deliss, Ben Eastham, Claire Fontaine, António Pedro Mendes, Florence Ostende, Agustín Pérez Rubio and Bettina Steinbrügge.

Mudam Series
This series is an edited collection of interventions, symposiums, and lectures by artists, critics, writers, curators, art historians, and thinkers that have taken place at Mudam, the contemporary art museum in Luxembourg. Each volume is dedicated to a specific artist or theme, following the museum’s exhibition program. The series is meant as a collection of working documents that open up a dialogue beyond institutional walls—a gentle nod to books still being the greatest of meeting places. Mudam Series is conceived and edited by Bettina Steinbrügge and Mudam’s editorial team.