The Hidden Conference is a three-part series of filmic investigations in museum storages. All three films evoke the discussions one can imagine artworks in a museum’s storage spaces might have with one another. They become protagonists in a filmic narrative that unfolds in front of a handheld camera; their invisible nexuses and the condition of silent coexistence are enlivened besides scientific or chronological claims by the restless camerawork and the montage of textual fragments, images and sound elements. The soundscape is an equal partner in supporting this fictionalization process.

The third and final part The Hidden Conference: About the Shelf and Mantel (2015) was shot at Tate’s storages in London.


 

The Hidden Conference: About the Shelf and Mantel, 2015

35mm film, color, optical sound, 14 min.

Images 1, 2, 3: Film still © Rosa Barba
Image 4: Installation view at Secession, Vienna, 2017. Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger © Rosa Barba

The Hidden Conference: About the Shelf and Mantel 2015 has been on display at the following locations:

Gaasbeek Castle, Lennik, 2024

The Tanks at Tate Modern, London, 2023

Maxxi Museum, Rome, 2011

Arter, Istanbul, 2012

carlier gebauer, 2011

Sprengel Museum, 2012

ICA Boston, 2016

Hamburger Bahnhof, 2016

ARTER, Istanbul, 2019

Tate Modern, 2020


The Hidden Conference: About the Shelf and Mantel, 2015 has been screened at the following locations:

ICA London, 2013

Gene Siskel Center, Chicago, 2013

Filmforum, Gorizia, 2013

Starr Auditorium, Tate Modern, London, 2010