Recognizing that there are few opportunities for emerging professionals to receive practical training and guidance, and reflecting the potential for building a pan-African curatorial network, the Curatorial Intensive in Johannesburg, the first Intensive produced in Africa, was developed by ICI in collaboration with The Bag Factory Artists’ Studio. The program was targeted toward self-motivated individuals—working independently or in institutions in Africa—who would benefit from a week of intensive conversations around the issues and questions that regularly arise for curators. The decision behind organizing this intensive recognize the importance of creating a platform for dialogue that will evolve into a network for collaboration and exchange among emerging and mid-career curators.

The selected 11 participants came from 6 different African countries (Mali, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Uganda), and there were 2 auditors from South Africa and Belgium. There were 4 male and 7 female participants, whose ages ranged from 26 to 50, which shows the program was attractive both for people at beginning stages of their career as well as to curators with broader experience.

The Intensive, Contemporary Curatorial Practice, took place in Johannesburg March 7-12, 2013. It examined the pragmatics of organizing exhibitions, while addressing the specificities of curating in the African context. The program considered experimental approaches to exhibition-making and other curatorial forms, as well as new ways of working within institutions. Speakers were strategically selected based on their knowledge and expertise, and also for the focus they could bring to the program. The criteria for the selection of speakers emphasized professionals working in Africa that are building infrastructure and promoting both a local and international dialogue, as well as two speakers that provided a global south perspective.

An international roster of speakers was invited to lead the seminars, site visits, individual meetings, and roundtable discussions. Speakers and faculty included: ICI staff María del Carmen Carrión (Associate Director of Public Programs & Research) and Renaud Proch (Executive Director), as well as Zdenka Badovinac (Director of Moderna Galerija/Museum of Modern Art, Ljubliana), Koyo Kouoh (Artistic Director of RAW MATERIAL COMPANY, Dakar), Riason Naidoo, (Director of South African National Gallery, Cape Town), Gabi Ngcobo (Creative Director of the Center for Historical Reenactments, Johannesburg), Michelle Marxuach (Co-Director of Beta-Local, Puerto Rico), Didier Schaub (Co-founder of Doual’art, Douala), Zen Marie (Artist, curator, and manager of The Substation, Johannesburg), Nontobeko Ntombela (independent curator, Johannesburg), Kelly Gillespie (Co-Founder Johannesburg Workshop of Art and Theory,  Johannesburg), and Sara Hallatt (Director of The Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, Johannesburg). 

The week-long course focused on exhibition development—from building working relationships with artists to the theoretical aspects of understanding how to turn a concept into a project—and explored key curatorial strategies for working in a range of exhibition spaces. Each day of the Curatorial Intensive, participants convened as a group for workshop seminars led by the invited professionals who addressed critical topics in curatorial practice. These included the specific issues of curating in the African context, curating in the public sphere, durational pedagogical projects, the production of events, as well as working within institutions and engaging context.

Alongside the sessions conducted at The Bag Factory, participants convened at VANSA, The Substation, and the Wits Art Museum (WAM) in Wits University. These visits served as case studies for the many issues pertinent to curating, from understanding the commissioning and installation process with artists, to working with various institutions, funders, and audiences. Central to all sessions were conversations discerning relevance and urgency, audience and publics, and the considerations between history and politics in relation to issues addressed in curatorial programming.

Throughout the program, each participant took part in two individual meetings with select ICI staff and guest lecturers. These 20 to 30 minute sessions provided the opportunity for one-on-one advising on topics that were specifically relevant to developing their project proposals.

At the beginning of the program, participants presented their project proposal to their peers and ICI staff. At the end of the program, they were required to give a longer presentation that outlined their full proposals after developing the concepts over the course of the program. The final presentations were held in a semi-public, professional forum where participants had the opportunity to receive feedback from their colleagues and the general public. The public symposium was extremely well attended, with an audience of approximately 60 people, who were eager to learn more about the program and engage with the participants.

The final stage of the program allows participants the possibility of publishing their written proposals on ICI’s website. Giving them the opportunity to revisit their ideas and promote it in an international platform. Successful proposals will go up on ICI’s website by the end of June.

This workshop brought together an emerging group of curators that were able to connect with each other and also meet a more established group of African curators. This allowed for the formation of a cross-generational pan-African network. Being the pilot program, ICI expects that in future intensives some of the participants would be involved as presenters and facilitators, as has happened in the past with other programs.

Through the open dialogue methodology implemented during the week participants learned from each other’s practices, shared mutual interests, and were able to provide peer-to-peer feedback.

Participants included

Mika Conradie, Josh Ginsburg, Hama Goro, Nkululeko Khumalo, Portia Malatjie, Bongo Mei, Robinah Nansubuga, Karen Obling, Marie Helene Pereira, Mthabisi Phili, and Maria Fidel Regueros.

Image  Gallery of ‘Before and After’ pictures of the Kuona Trust Library.

Work has been completed on the upgrade of The Kuona Trust Art Library which currently houses one of Kenya’s most extensive collections of art literature, including rare archive material. The Library is the only non-University based public arts library in Nairobi and a vital resource.

Project highlights.

• Development of online access to the library through a digital cataloguing system- widening access to its resources.
• Purchase of more diverse art books and subscriptions to art publications further broadening this important collection of literature.
• Purchase of up to date technology including new computers (and internet access) DVD player and digital projectors broadening the resources available to artists and researchers.

The refurbishment has already led to increased membership to and the consolidation of the library as a resource for studio artists, as well as a donation of LP records and music CDs and the creation of a music section in the library.

Kuona Trust was founded in Nairobi, Kenya in 1995 to serve the visual arts and has since worked with over a thousand artists. It provides studio space, training and opportunities as well as hosting international artist workshops and residencies- Kuona is the only organisation of it’s kind, working exclusively with visual artists, in East Africa.

Based in the heart of the capital, Kampala, work has just reached completion on the addition of further studio space to support the development of practising artists in Uganda. The space will be purposely designed to promote dialogue and exchange amongst resident artists and will include a central communal workshop space.

32˚ East additionally intend to offer residents introductions to audiences, collectors, other artists and cultural practitioners, as well as informal tuition and guidance through a peer-led working environment- in both artistic and professional development.

32˚ East is a centre for contemporary Ugandan art which has recognised remarkable untapped and un-fostered potential in the Ugandan arts scene.

development of its gallery, studios and participation space in London with a major  Arts Council

England pledge of £1 million.

Gasworks, a non-profit contemporary visual arts organisation based in London, has received a £1million commitment from Arts Council England towards the purchase and renovation of its building. This is the first of a two-stage process and launches a £1.8 million capital campaign to secure the future of the organisation. The capital development project will represent a significant investment in emerging artists and in the cultural life in the capital.

Gasworks provides studios for London-based artists and delivers a programme of international artists’ residencies, exhibitions and participatory activities. Gasworks is also the hub of the Triangle Network, a network of artists and art organisations in over 30 countries around the world.

Securing a sustainable future for Gasworks

The pledge from Arts Council England is a huge step towards realising Gasworks’ once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase and refurbish the building that has been its base for the last twenty years. The redevelopment will:

• Secure for the long-term one of the few art spaces in the Vauxhall area, where art is both made and experienced.
• Create a new fit-for-purpose participation space, to host community-led workshops for adults and children living in Gasworks’ vicinity.
• Build two additional studio spaces for artists, addressing the need for workspaces in South London at a time when major studio providers are closing their buildings.
• Enhance the ‘experience of art’ for visitors, providing a larger and more flexible exhibition space and creating better communal facilities.
• Improve the building’s environmental performance, upgrading the heating system and building insulation.

Need for the project

The redevelopment will secure and increase Gasworks artists’ studio provision, responding to a critical and identified need for centrally located, affordable facilities where artists can develop their practice. Securing Gasworks’ future aligns with the Mayor of London’s Cultural Strategy: Cultural Metropolis, which identifies the continuing pressure on artists from increasing rents on short-term studio space: “the temporary use of vacant buildings for artists’ workspace has dominated the provision of artists’ studios which perpetuates the trend for artists studios to kick start regeneration, but then become victims of it when prices rise”.

The timely purchase and refurbishment of Gasworks will safeguard the future of its provisions in an area of London undergoing extensive regeneration including the Vauxhall and Nine Elms’ redevelopment (with new landmarks such as The Tower, the new American Embassy, Embassy Gardens and the Albert Embankment regeneration project), and the creation of ‘Vauxhall One’ Business Improvement District (BID).

In developing the project Gasworks has carried out extensive consultation with artists, local residents, community leaders and local teachers. The London borough of Lambeth has endorsed the project by awarding a grant to support the development phase of the project. Read more

Realising Gasworks’ Capital Project

Gasworks has already begun the work involved in realising its ambitions and is currently recruiting a design team to help develop plans for the building. Construction work is scheduled to begin in 2014 and the newly refurbished building will reopen in 2015.

The capital campaign to raise the £800,000 required to match the £1 million pledge from Arts Council England will be formally launched in April 2013. Donations will be sought from individuals, the corporate sector and trusts and foundations; and in October 2013 a charity auction of donated artworks will be held at Christies, the proceeds of which will support the project. Gasworks will make a second stage submission, with their developed proposals, to Arts Council England within the next eighteen months for final Capital Investment Programme funding.

Alessio Antoniolli, Director, Gasworks & Triangle Network, said, ‘We are delighted that the Arts Council is generously supporting the ambitious purchase, refurbishment and redevelopment of Gasworks.  This vital funding will secure the future of our organisation and enable us to significantly expand the important work we do by providing affordable studio space for leading artists in central London, while acting as a hub for other grass-roots artists’ organisations worldwide. We look forward to developing the architectural plans for our unique building, improving our gallery, education and studio spaces while proactively seeking the remaining support and funding to realise our project.’

Peter Heslip, Director of Visual Arts, Arts Council England said: ‘Gasworks offered a compelling proposal and was successful at Stage 1 in a competitive capital round. We are delighted that this will now offer Gasworks the opportunity to purchase its building and secure its future. This National Portfolio Organisation plays an important role developing artists early in their careers and introducing international artists to the UK. We recognise the importance of the project which makes a difference to artists working and living in London and look forward to working closely with Gasworks as they develop this scheme for a second stage submission within the next eighteen months.

Our capital programme is focused on making world-class artistic centres more sustainable, enabling them to continue to thrive – and while Vauxhall goes through a period of change, Gasworks can remain at its heart, delivering great art for the local community’.

Notes to Editors:

About Gasworks

Founded in 1994 as a UK registered charity, Gasworks provides studios for some of the most promising artists in London. It also develops a programme of 16 international artists’ residencies and 4 ambitious exhibitions each year. The programme has been responsible for providing the first major platform for many award-winning UK and international artists. These include internationally recognised artists Subodh Ghupta (India), Song Dong (China) and Renata Lucas (Brazil); as well as London-based artists Lynette Yadom-Boakye, Matthew Darbyshire and Turner Prize nominees Goshka Maçuga, Spartacus Chetwynd and the Otolith Group. At the same time, Gasworks delivers an extensive programme of participation activities in collaboration with local communities and schools. Every year, over 650 children and their families living in Lambeth take part in Gasworks’ participation projects. For more information please see www.gasworks.org.uk

As the hub of the Triangle Network, an international network of 30 grass-roots arts organisations from across the world, Gasworks has unparalleled links with artists and arts organisations in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, South Africa, Lebanon, Brazil and Colombia amongst others.
www.trianglenetwork.org

About Arts Council England
The Arts Council champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, Arts Council England will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £1 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. 

Arts Council England’s Capital investment programme aims to support arts organisations to become more sustainable and resilient businesses by funding the maintenance and improvement of existing buildings and equipment. A total of £234.6 million of National Lottery money will be invested from 2012-15. Twenty project proposals including Gasworks have been successful in the first stage of the second round of the large capital programme for grants over £500,000.
www.artscouncil.org.uk

For further information and images, please contact Holly Jennison, Communications Coordinator on 020 7587 5202 or email: holly@gasworks.org.uk

- Part one – La Version de las chicharras

Starting from this quote ‘Sabido es que a las chicharras les rasca el sol y cantan para olvidarse. Cuando no cantan, duermen un sueño tonto. Cuando cantan en exceso, revientan’  from A. Caicedo cult’s book “ Que Viva La Musica!“ I tried to investigate, through interviews with academics and musicologist , the relationship between the colombian popular culture of Salsa (music and dance) as revolutionary act, and its historical legacy, connecting cultural identity and urban/social transformation into a visual essay.

- Part two – La Version de Ariel

In the second part of the project I tried to narrate a little history of a community radio, Oriente Stereo, recently attacked ( Silenciata ) by a street gang, in order to underline the very meaning of the oral tradition, as essential in the process of constitution of a community able to resist the exploitation through the cultural exchange activated by the speech.

For more information about the artist and his practice and involvement with Helena Producciones take a look at this article in Frieze Magazine

The infallibility of the archive has long been exposed to its more fragmentary and partial nature,  capable of being utilised, manipulated and distorted.  What is included and excluded is a political concern, and what constitutes an archive has been questioned.

With this in mind, it is almost impossible to conceive of what an archive of a network such as Triangle might look like. How can a multifaceted set of relationships across the world be represented in any single place, and how can the explosive creative activities that happen throughout the network be represented by administrative papers, photographs and booklets?

Considering these nonsensical questions, I have nevertheless been spending much time pouring through the archival boxes stored at Gasworks. Aware of the partiality of the stories such an archive might suggest to me, I continue to look with the addiction of a treasure hunter with my metal detector in hand. The boxes hold over twenty years of materials that have been accumulate through the London office: correspondences in the form of letters, cards, faded faxes and emails;  reports and meeting minutes; funding applications; newspaper clippings, gallery flyers, workshop catalogues, artist postcards; and the occasion sketch, artist publication, poster or workshop related remnant. Although much of the materials I have been considering are tied to specific logistical arrangements for workshops or studio buildings, there is a wealth of material collected that more generally pertains to events happening in many artworlds across the globe.

These bits of paper and information form part of the network, each piece having had some agency amongst many actors. Each document has a materiality of its own. The faded faxes are now hardly legible, their look and feel set in a past age. Evidence of the changes to technology, they prompt reflection on how we are able to communicate. In this materiality one is reminded of the mechanisms through which a network functions, and how central communication is to the building of relationships and opportunities. Furthermore, amongst the more formal documents can be found many personal greetings and gestures, handwritten letters and cards signed off ‘with love’ or ‘send my love to he/she/them’. Such details suggest a network built on a foundation of friendships and goodwill that spans continents.

Prevalent amongst the administrative paperwork, letters, faxes, budgets etc, is evidence of artists and coordinators travelling through the network to various places across the world. These traces suggest people met, places visited, artwork made or seen, and tales told.  As Jayce Salloum writes about her experience of archives,  ‘[y]ou can walk into the vaults, there are files, stacks and shelves of material. The records are static but movement is written all over them.’ A first experience of the boxes suggests an odd stillness and quietness to the archive, yet as one beginning to explore there is a significant witnessing to the tremendous amount of energies that have been spent making things happen. It is this impetus for creating new and exciting opportunities within the network that perhaps relegates the archival impulse; the future is pressing with its demands and potential.

As a researcher it is tremendously useful to get the names, dates, place names of events that have happened, but for me this can only ever make up part of the research. Although a good starting point and helpful preparation, I am always too aware that the archival materials can only reveal so much. It is in conversations with artists that one really gets a sense of what the workshops, residencies, or studios are about. Yet I am increasingly aware that my conversations can be guided by what I already know from the archive; interviews with new people can sometimes be unfocused or difficult and it helps to have prompts.  In this sense the archive is always in relation to the memories of the people I talk to, all of whom have slightly different stories to share and points to emphasise. Conversations and visits to places brings these archival materials to life, and makes the research seem vivid and real. Reversely, details that have come up in conversations can later be clarified with the help of archival material. If an archive can help jog a memory, or set a fact straight then it is worth preserving and using. On its own it is an assemblage of past things that seems to offer clarification and demand interaction. My work threads in and out of the archive, bringing it into the present and bringing the present into the past.

Emily Crane

The Mirrored Hammer Istanbul Special Part 2 by Andyabbott on Mixcloud

Included in the mix:

A conversation with Kaba Hat (recurs throughout)
Street musicians and city sounds (recurs throughout)
Ricochet live at Babylon
Kim Ki O live at Peyote
Elizabeth live at PiST
Excerpt from SHARE sessions at Arkaoda
Grup Ses Beats live at Peyote
Poster-İti live at Peyote
Barıştık mı- Göstembil Project live at Peyote

Khoj International Artists Association was founded in 1997 and is an artist led, alternative space for experimentation and international exchange based in New Delhi.

Khoj prides itself in having built an international reputation for outstanding alternative arts incubation, creation, production, and presentation, playing a central role in the development of the local art community. As a deliberate policy, its core invitees have been from South Asia resulting in the development of a regional network. Over the past 12 years, artists from Iran, Egypt, Cuba, Argentina, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan and several countries in Africa, have participated in its programs and projects.

For further information, news on events and Khoj’s past and upcoming programmes and opportunities, an extensive archive of images and video, and to sign up to their regular newsletter visit their website. There is also a vast and impressive collection of artist biographies, with links to projects they have been involved with at Khoj.

Artist and film maker Chris Paul Daniels (originally from Rotherham, South Yorkshire) has been selected to take part in the Triangle Network International Fellowship programme at Kuona Trust, Nairobi, Kenya as resident Fellowship artist.

Take a look at Chris’ blog of his time at Kuona here

Daniels’ work is characterised by participation with the public and experimental documentation of communal perspectives and memories regarding geographical location. He has exhibited work nationally and internationally, including BFI Southbank, IKON Gallery, Chisenhale Gallery, National Media Museum, FACT and Cornerhouse. After graduating from the Royal College of Art, he won the Deutsche Bank Award for Art in 2010 for his collaborative project with Maria Anastassiou, Kelvin Brown and OKO Lab.