Week 11: Jí Jū Exhibition, Ethics, and Site Visits

Jí Jū Collective: ‘Our Shell’

Last week the Collective installed an exhibition entitled ‘Our Shell’, where we exhibited artworks from members of the collective alongside an installation we collectively created including pairings of images from our adopted home (Edinburgh) and our hometowns, exploring how we seek belonging and create a ‘shell’ in unfamiliar environments. This was a celebratory moment for the collective, as we put into practice theoretical skills we have been developing: more on this in the reflection text.

Photo of exhibition install, image courtesy author.

Preliminary Budget

**This budget also does not reflect fees for participants in the closing night reading, which I will indeed add.

This week I continued fleshing out a preliminary budget for my ISCP, which can be viewed above. A major concern I have is in regards to the ethics of commissioning just one artist (Nidhi Bodana) to create a new work, and include previously existing works by all others. Returning to week 3’s readings on ethics & care has helped me navigate this issue: as I “attempt to make reasonable decisions while taking the positions of others into account” (Chen 2023), I am equally as constantly aware of my own positionality in regards to the themes explored in the exhibition, to which these texts provide guidance into how I navigate aligning “’caring about’ with ‘caring for’”(Krasny & Perry, 8) within my work.

Highlighted text from Krasny, Elke and Perry, Lara. eds. Curating with Care. Routledge, 2023, pp 8.

Highlighted text from Chen, Meng-Shi. ‘Ethics of Curating.’ Curatography. The Study of Curatorial Culture 5 (2021). https://curatography.org/5-3-en/

Out of Blue Drill Hall Site Visit

Photo of main hall, image courtesy author.

Visiting the site this week highlighted how suitable the space is for the exhibition — publics flowing in and out of the main hall & cafe, studio-holders traversing the space, the tall ceilings and skylights imbuing an openness and almost replicating the feeling of being outside…

Preliminary sketch of exhibition plan.

After visiting, the inclusion of a reading room in the front supplementary space seems crucial — being the first space visitors engage with, it would exist as a casual, accessible, and stimulating space that offers reading materials, research, and the exhibition publication as a way to ease publics into the theme of the exhibition, or serve as a space of contemplation before leaving.

Sketch of reading room

Programming

My approach to programming and how it intersects with the exhibition has slightly shifted, detailed in this brief schedule/outline of the programming:

Opening night: Performance from Alvi Ostgard & newly commissioned performance from Nidhi Bodana.

Closing night: Music performance from Kinaara, partnership with Scottish BPOC Writers Network to present a reading from poets & authors.

Publication & partnership with Out of the Blueprint: 24page publication printed onsite, including contributions from participating artists (& written works from members of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network. The publication will be freely disseminated at the exhibition and at sites around Edinburgh, including libraries and cultural centers.