LOOP Talks 2022: Ethics of Collecting: A New Code of Conduct
Loading video, please wait
- 00:00
- Speakers
- Haro Cumbusyan, Sylvia Kouvali and Piergiorgio Pepe
Throughout history, collectors have played a positive role in supporting art ecosystems. At the same time, we have also witnessed stories about unethical behaviours. It is in response to this realization, and to reaffirm that collectors have a critical positive role in artistic production and experimentation, that a code of conduct was conceived by an international collective of collectors. The code is a voluntary set of standards to guide contemporary art collectors in their interactions with artists, artworks, galleries, institutions and other art stakeholders. It is meant to encourage collectors to think about ethical issues and become agents toward a more fair and socially just art world. It invites collectors to fully appreciate the position of power they have, and that power comes with responsibilities. The panel explored some aspects of the code and was an opportunity to dialogue with the audience on these important topics.
Haro Cumbusyan
- Participant, Speaker
Haro Cumbusyan, currently based in Zurich, is a social entrepreneur and a collector of media art. He is the Founding Director of collectorspace, a nonprofit organisation that through its exhibition program, off-site events, and publications, aims to open up private collections to public view as well as to critical review. Haro is also the founder of EK BİÇ YE İÇ (Sow’n Mow, Eat’n Drink), a social enterprise with the mission of exploring options for a healthy, pleasant, and sustainable life in big cities. Haro serves on the Board of Directors of Protocinema, New York/Istanbul; and is a former Board Member of Studio Voltaire, London; is a member of New York MoMA’s Acquisition Committee of Media and Performance Art; and sits on the Selection Committee of LOOP Barcelona.
Last update 11th October, 2018
Sylvia Kouvali
- Speaker
–
Piergiorgio Pepe
Piergiorgio Pepe (he/him) is a Paris- and Αthens-based ethics practitioner and contemporary art collector. Through his advisory firm Quantum Ethics, he has advised organizations on ethics and compliance programs since 2018. From 2005 to 2018, he worked as an ethics officer in the pharmaceutical industry. Before then, he worked for 10 years as a senior EU lawyer for an international city law firm in London. He’s also active in academia (Sciences Po, INSEAD, and Seton Hall), where he regularly teaches courses on business ethics and ethics in the art sector. Piergiorgio has been collecting art with his partner Iordanis Kerenidis since 2006. The Kerenidis Pepe Collection has organized Phenomenon since 2015, a biennial program for contemporary art on the island of Anafi, Greece, for which they received in 2018 the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award. Piergiorgio is a member of the board of the curatorial office Council.