Crit Club is a performance by Cem A. where two teams debate an unrealistic question about art. We are often stuck between the binary of praise and non-engagement in the art sphere where people are increasingly hesitant to inhabit spaces of disagreement.

In the context of this performance, participants are humorously invited to engage in what could be termed a contextual performance—a departure from their usual roles as artists or curators, aimed at broadening their perspectives and bolstering their influence within their community. As the performance progresses, guests are challenged to navigate uncharted waters through roleplay and quick thinking, grappling with existential inquiries such as: Does their expertise illuminate the issue at hand, or does it falter in the face of adversity? Can they uphold their understanding of art world dynamics in a doomsday scenario? Do they embrace the given scenario, or do they seek to defy the confines imposed by the moderator? 

By proposing an impossible-to-answer question, Crit Club creates a situation where ostensibly there’s nothing at stake – or so it seems.

Crit Club has received valuable contributions from past speakers, moderators and curators such as Shane Anderson, Karen Archey, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Sterre Barentsen, Nikola Bojić, Kate Brown, Umer Butt, Cihad Caner, Kara Chin, Ben Davis, Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu, Özge Ersoy, Bettina Freimann, Pete Fung, Moshtari Hilal, Steph Huang, Adelita Husni-Bey,  Idil Galip, Kabir Jhala, Jitish Kallat, Geert Lovink, Renzo Martens, Ilga Minjon, Molemo Moiloa, Edie Monetti, Ahmet Öğüt, Lucia Pietroiusti, Manuel Pelmuş, Farid Rakun, Riad Salameh, Urok Shirhan, Nora Sternfeld, Karim Sultan, Wang Tuo, Marc Tuters, Lua Vollaard, Alex Wissel, Mi You, Abbas Zahedi and Gary Zhexi Zheng.