Elvira Vannini on Queering Institutions to Preserve Experimental Art

Art historian and critic Elvira Vannini argues that institutions can safeguard experimental art practices by becoming 'queer'—not in terms of gender identity, but by adopting a subversive, self-redefining approach against neoliberal governance. She contrasts this with alternative institutionalities that operate outside official systems. Vannini cites the Museo Reina Sofía under Manuel Borja-Villel as a model: instead of acquiring artists' archives outright (as the Tate did for Latin America or the Galleria Nazionale di Roma for Carla Lonzi's fund), the museum funded the cataloging of the Chilean collective CADA's documentary collection and arranged for its return to a Chilean institution, keeping only a copy for exhibition, consultation, and education. This approach preserves the archives' aesthetic-political antagonism and socio-linguistic experimentation while situating them within plural, local genealogies. Vannini emphasizes the importance of anti-institutional experiences—feminist, queer, trans*, antiracist, antifascist—that engage with transversal, geopolitically situated archives through creative work on documents, images, and voices, resocializing narratives marginalized by hegemonic discourse. The interview is part of a series on Artribune exploring how institutions can support experimentation, following contributions from Marco Scotini and Gino Gianuizzi.