Dialogue Series 2022: Public

Dialogue is a decade-plus public program series at the MCA. While it has morphed over the years, it is now a yearly set of programs with a rotating theme, and is part of a museum-wide commitment to sustained inquiry about museum practice, access, and inclusion.

The theme for this year’s Dialogue Series is Public. The public sphere is often expressed as open, free, and accessible—in contradistinction to the closed, less free and accessible world of the private. Consider, for example, the value accorded to public universities, libraries, or museums over their private versions. This year’s speakers, however, both question this common understanding of public and propose other models to reimagine our relationship to this idea.

The 2022 series is also more collaborative than previous ones as we extend our working relationship with the Chicago Humanities Festival—their fall festival theme is also, fittingly, Public—and produce a collaborative program with the Public Art Fund in New York.