“To miss the sacred shadow of the secular is to misunderstand our era,” Mark C. Taylor writes in his opening statement for the latest installment of Guggenheim.org’s Guggenheim Forum, titled The Spiritual Re(Turn), launching October 19, 2009. Inspired by the exhibition Kandinsky, The Spiritual Re(Turn) examines the role of the spiritual in modern art and considers the possibilities for its reappearance today.

For the discussion, the museum has gathered a wide-ranging group: the internationally exhibited and critically acclaimed artist Huma Bhabha, recipient of the 2008 Emerging Artist Award from the Aldrich Museum of Art; Louis A. Ruprecht Jr., the William M. Suttles Chair of Religious Studies at Georgia State University, who is investigating the religious origins of the modern museum; and Mark C. Taylor, Chair of the Department of Religion and codirector of the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life at Columbia University, a leading theorist and historian of religion. Our moderator is Krista Tippett, author and host of the Peabody-award-winning public-radio program Speaking of Faith. For our live chat, which takes place on October 22, both Tippett and Ruprecht will field questions from visitors to Guggenheim.org in real time.

Visit the Forum beginning Monday, October 19, to learn more and voice your opinions.

Guggenheim Forum is an ongoing series that brings together experts from a variety of fields to discuss and debate topics related to major museum exhibitions, with the public invited to comment on the conversation and take part in live chats. Upcoming Guggenheim Forums will take place in concert with the exhibitions Tino Sehgal, which will be on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum January 29–March 10, 2010, and Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance, on view at the museum March 26–September 6, 2010.

Follow Guggenheim Forum by subscribing to the Guggenheim Forum RSS feed.