Hi everyone! My name is Sofia and I am a Postgraduate Student at the University of Edinburgh studying MScR Collections and Curating Practices. I will use this blog to document the research and the development of a curatorial group project for the Art Collection of the Centre for Research Collection investigating curatorial knowledge production.

I am originally from Italy but I moved to Edinburgh four years ago to study  History of Art at the University of Edinburgh. For my undergraduate dissertation, I carried out a feminist research on the iconography of power used to represent Mughal Empress Nur Jahan. This research challenged the colonialist perception of the empress’s political role, shining a light on the matriarchal system of power traditional to Mughal culture, long overshadowed by Western patriarchal historical sources. My research was awarded the University of Edinburgh Robert Hillenbrand Prize as the best Undergraduate dissertation in Islamic Art. I was chosen to be part of a video talking about my dissertation and my undergraduate experience which you can watch here:

Four years ago, I began my career in art history because I recognised art as a universal language capable of connecting people through their shared humanity. However, through my studies, I also became aware that my understanding of art as an accessible, universal subject was inaccurate as I learnt about the various structures that make the art world tainted by inequalities, elitism, and exclusion. Holding onto my belief in the power of art as a tool of cohesion and social justice, I became passionate about researching how art could be mobilised to achieve social change and to ensure that the benefits of creativity and culture could be enjoyed by all. My commitment to the pursuit of art inclusivity and accessibility led me to specialise in contemporary art with a focus on feminist art practices and cultural policies.

This interest led me to explore multiple professional pathways to challenge cultural elitism. I began focusing on art education and outreach programs gaining experience in art therapy with the NHS. I  learnt how to ideate and deliver creative workshops by volunteering for the CRC as a Mentor for the Arts and Awards Programme and for the project ‘At Home with Heritage.’ I have now just finished an internship with the CRC as an Engagement Assistant where I created a programme of events and activities  for students to engage with the summer exhibition ‘Robert Blomfield-Student of Light.’ These experiences informed my practice as a curator as I aspire to centre throughout any of my curatorial projects community engagement and prioritise it every step of the way.

As a non-native speaker, I questioned the inaccessibility of art historical academic language as a cause of alienation and further mystification of culture. Feeling unwelcomed by art language I reclaimed new, more accessible ways of communicating about art through cultural journalism. I moved my first steps as a contributor for The Student- Edinburgh University Student Newspaper- where I was then elected Art Editor and Deputy Editor in Chief. In the past year, I became a freelance art journalist receiving commissions from national and international art newspapers like The Skinny, Hyperallergic, ArtUK and Artmag. I was also recently selected as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival’s Emerging Writers Programme to review two of its 2022 exhibitions.

I also began to work in cultural consultancy for institutions like the National Museum of Scotland and Creative Scotland as an expert in youth art accessibility.
For the project Scotland 365, I advised the NMS on possible strategies to increase the engagement of young people. We ideated a permanent youth arts group to host professional, social and educational co-designed activities. Our research and recommendations were collated in a zine that will circulate at the NMS.

I also took part in the Scotland 365 marketing campaign ideated by young people called ‘Find Your Thing.’ This paired young people with NMS artefacts to show that within the museum there are objects of cultural relevance for all of us. Here is me and Moby the Whale an object I chose as whales are a recurrent motif in my life which came to symbolise home, family and my heritage coming from a family of fishermen.

Here is a wee interview explaining a bit better why I chose as my object the skull of this whale:

Since 2019 I am also a member of the National Youth Arts Advisory Group (NYAAG) an advisory board run by young people which supports Creative Scotland and the wider Scottish cultural sector in matters of youth art strategies and accessibility. Being part of the NYAAG Community Participation group, I specialized in the development of strategies to involve untested youth audiences and in supporting initiatives about youth arts accessibility. My expertise in these fields is proven as I was chosen to be part of the selection committee of Creative Scotland Youth Arts Bursary Programme and of the Youth Partner Groups for the Edinburgh International Cultural Summit 2022 (EICS). I was also among the four young people who for the first time were invited to form a Youth Delegation and attend the Summit at the Scottish Parliament to voice young people’s interests. During the summit I was interviewed about the importance of community consultancy and alternative forms of knowledge production, here is a little extract:

I look forward to this Guided Research Placement to bring together my diverse practices and my interests. I am eager to test my knowledge and learn more about sustainable and socially inclusive forms of art curation that centre audiences’ needs and envision nonhierarchical forms of knowledge production.

Welcome! / Sofia Cotrona Guided Research Placement (2022-2023) by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0