what is contemporary in contemporary art collecting?

Abstract

The title question of the article starts from the agambenian philosophical premise to think what can be pointed out as new in the institutionalization processes of private collections of contemporary art in Brazil, and what contributions are being made to the development of the art system. For that, data collected in a doctoral thesis that investigates the social and artistic repercussions of this type of institutions are crossed with another survey organized in qualitative and quantitative methodology and field work that identified collectors in the five regions of the country. The research adopts the modeling conceptual of the art system as an environment in which artistic narratives are woven into a complex arrangement of historical-conjunctural factors, putting their limits and notions in permanent confrontation. Institutionalization strategies, their heterogeneous scales of action and the role they play are approached, marking the configuration and functioning of different models adopted to give visibility and legitimization to collections in a country with a continental dimension and multifaceted cultural identities.