Museum of the Commons Climate Assembly on April 19th on the role of L’Internationale art and cultural  institutions in the present environmental and geopolitical crisis with participating institutions MSU (Zagreb), Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid), MACBA (Barcelona), M_HKA (Antwerp), MSN (Warsaw), Salt (Istanbul),  Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), with Institute of Radical Imagination (Naples), tranzit.ro (Bucharest, Cluj and Iaşi) HDK Valand (Gothenburg), NCAD and IMMA (Dublin).

Museum of the Commons. This is the fourth cooperative project led by L’Internationale, focusing on the themes of climate, translocal cooperation, and artistic strategies of healing and repair. Museum of the Commons weaves together three transversal thematic threads corresponding to key challenges contemporary societies are facing: Climate tackles issues of the current planetary climate crisis, the sustainability of institutional, artistic and cultural practices and processes, and the urgency of transforming our politics, societies, cultures and ways of life. Situated Organisations queries the role of museums and art organisations as actors in complex social networks and ecosystems, to seek new ways of democratizing institutions and to render them more open, inclusive and useful. The final thread, Past in the Present, focuses on the crucial roles our local and shared histories hold in constituting contemporary identities, politics, societies and cultures, investigating the persistence and long-lasting impact of historical and current environmental and colonial violence. In doing so, the confederation seeks to mobilise art and culture as strategic tools in processes of healing, reconstruction and repair of damage that has been inflicted.

L’Internationale

What: L’Internationale is a European confederation of museums, arts organisations and universities, founded in 2009. It takes its name from the 19th century worker’s anthem written by Eugène Pottier

Why: L’Internationale was founded to offer an alternative model to globalising art institutions that replicate the structures of multinational powers and their centralised distribution of knowledge. Believing in the power of art to be a platform for the discussion of a renewed social contract, we advocate for a new internationalist model that challenges exclusivity and emphasizes common heritage through interconnected archives and constituent-led approaches, fostering individual and collective emancipation.

Who: In its current configuration L’Internationale brings together eight major European art institutions: HKW (Berlin, Germany); MSU (Zagreb, Croatia); Museo Reina Sofía(Madrid, Spain); MACBA (Barcelona, Spain); M HKA, (Antwerp, Belgium); MSN(Warsaw, Poland), Salt (Istanbul, Turkiye), Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, the Netherlands), with Institute of Radical Imagination (Naples,Italy), tranzit.ro (Bucharest, Cluj and Iasi, Romania),and VCRC (Kyiv, Ukraine). L’Internationale has three academic partners: HDK-Valand (Gothenburg, Sweden), NCAD (Dublin, Ireland) and ZRC SAZU(Ljubljana, Slovenia) and three associate organisations IMMA (Dublin, Ireland), MG+MSUM (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and WIELS (Forest, Belgium).

How: L’Internationale’s principle funder is the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. The current EU funded programme, ‘Museum of the Commons’ runs from February 2023 – December 2026 and includes a €2m grant that is match funded by the partners of the programme. The confederation works across programming (exhibitions, seminars, schools, residencies, public programmes) research and publishing (through L’Internationale Online), and communication.