Making Movement Memorable Tino Sehgal and Boris Charmatz at Tate

This chapter reflects on the implications of memory and practices of remembrance in performance- and choreographic-based exhibitions and events inside museums by focusing on the works and poetics of Tino Sehgal and Boris Charmatz and their collaborations with Tate Modern in London. Discussing the increasing tendency to host performances and contemporary dance in museums and art galleries over the past two decades, the author considers how dance and performance constitute effective tools for challenging theoretical and museum discourses on documentation and preservation and for exploring the politics of memory and participation. Starting from a shared germinal idea about a dancing museum, Sehgal and Charmatz have contributed to the recent shift of the museum towards the acquisition of performance- and choreographic-based artworks and to the empowerment of their audience. In conclusion, the chapter argues that their works resulted in opposing strategies, revealing both the potential within and the problematic aspects of the current dialogue between the museum and these dance- and performance-based artworks.