“Place making, world picturing, and connectivity are the most common concerns of artists these days because they are the substance of contemporary being. ”
——Terry Smith (Smith, 2012, p.28)
What specific issues would guide you?
Centre-periphery.
Asian diaspora.
Artists and curators working independently without governmental/institutional support.
Why are these issues so pressing?
The problems can be attributed to an imbalance in resources and support. The involvement of Violence, Peace, and Peace Research by Johan Galtung in the first week indicates that both structural and personal violence is contributed by uneven distribution under the power doctrine (Galtung, 2018). Since we are all familiar with the kernel of the word “curator”, whether from the quote by Harald Szeemann that “the word curator already contains the concept of care (Szeemann, 2001, p.167)” or the ancestries root of its semantic development linked with the connotation of care-work (Fowle, 2007), young curators should manifest the essence by holding the responsibility to tackle these issues.
How would you actively encourage change?
Working with artists and the public to address contemporary art issues with genuine and sincere. In the article Independent Curatorship, Jean-Hubert Martin writes “Today curators are needed who not only have a good feeling for art but who can establish a trustful relationship with the artist (Martin, 2007, p.39).” The ambition to spark changes through contemporary curating depends not on the sole effort of the curator but on genuine collaboration with artists. Only through collective practices and sincere dialogues can we anticipate impacts to be effectively conveyed through various artistic mediums.
Who would you collaborate with to facilitate this change?
The broader public as possible. In the aforementioned article, Jean Hubert Martin starts by pointing out the different characteristics of two types of public when participating in art events (Martin, 2007). Some are art amateurs who have certain prior knowledge, while others are pure visitors who look for experiences. To balance and leverage the preferences, and later manifest through curatorial practice will be an important lesson for curators to learn.
How would you ensure that these changes had longevity?
Always engage with art practices with an open-minded and genuine heart.
What would be your guiding principle?
Terry Smith once concluded the respective practices conducted under Kirk Varnedoe, Okwui Enwezor and Nicolas Bourriaud as “expand the white cube, decolonize the biennial, domesticate the gallery space (Smith, 2012, p.32).” By contextualizing this within contemporary curating, we as young curator can adopt it as a guiding principle to address issues on a smaller scale.
(words: 340)
Reference:
Galtung, J. (1969) Violence, Peace, and Peace Research. Journal of peace research. [Online] 6 (3), 167–191.
Fowle, K. (2007) ‘Who cares? Understanding the Role of the Curator Today’, in Rand and H. Kouris (eds) Cautionary Tales:Critical Curating. New York: Apexart, pp.26.
Szeemann, H. (2001) “Does Art Need Directors?” in Words of Wisdom: A Curator’s Vade Mecum On Contemporary Art, edited by Carin Kuoni. New York: Independent Curators International, pp. 167.
Smith, T. (2012) ‘What is contemporary curatorial thought?’. Thinking contemporary curating / Terry Smith. New York: Independent Curators International., pp. 28.
Smith, T. (2012) ‘What is contemporary curatorial thought?’. Thinking contemporary curating / Terry Smith. New York: Independent Curators International., pp. 32.
Martin, J-H. (2007) ‘Independent Curatorship’, in Rand and H. Kouris (eds) Cautionary Tales:Critical Curating. New York: Apexart, pp.36-45.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.