Curating.info

EUNIC is delighted to present the Curatorial Exchange Programme 2012 for internship in European museums and galleries.
Education and professional development of the new generation of young curators is now a top priority for the Russian cultural organisations, as well as for related professional associations. Therefore, EUNIC has developed a project that gives its participants a unique opportunity to advance in career, study the European art market and build new professional contacts in Austria, Germany, France, Sweden, the UK and other countries. Young Russian curators will get internships (from 3 weeks to 2 months) in the leading museums and contemporary art galleries in Europe.

The programme is designed for young people who already have experience in curatorial work in the field of contemporary art. We hope that the outcome of this long-term project will be participants’ qualification update and establishment of professional contacts between the countries.

Curators for internship will be selected after the competition among application forms sent from 15 March till 4 May 2012 to curatorialexchange@gmail.com, and the following interviews with candidates. The internships will take place in different time set by the countries leading the project.

Full information about the project can be found here: http://www.eunic-online.eu/node/534

Esse arts + opinions Magazine: Be Nice to Your Curator, No 72 - Curators - Spring/Summer 2011

Contributions by curators Sylvette Babin, Sophia Krzys Acord, Paul Ardenne, Jean-Philippe Uzel, Louise Déry, Nathalie Desmet, Michèle Thériault, Marie-Eve Beaupré.

Last year’s spring/summer issue of ESSE magazine was entirely devoted to curatorial practice. What does it mean to be a curator nowadays? How does curatorial practice evolve in different settings and structures? How valid are the criticisms against the role of the curator? Esse’s issue Be Nice to Your Curator presents an array of insightful essays written by curators and prompts the reader to reflect upon the enduring role of the curator. However, since curatorial practice is not confined to exhibitions, for this special issue Marie-Eve Beaupré has been invited to intervene through comments you can find in red ink between the texts. Besides the linguistic ambiguities that the word “curator” might pose across different languages, for example, curator in English, commissaire in French, the role of the curator seems to appeal to a larger set of criticisms and speculations.

Sophia Krzys Acord in her text “Guest Curating in the museum: Lost in Translation?” explores the risks of guest curating highlighting the different ends of museum curatorial practice versus independent curating. Acord unravels the limitations of such collaboration, which might lead to conventional outcomes with respect to audience engagement and the art itself. Looking at curating from a sociological perspective, Acord investigates the process of the production of knowledge within institutional settings and in relation to independent curating.

Paul Ardenne in his text “Curating Exhibitions: An Evolving and Ambiguous Function” takes a more radical stance on curators by exposing the levels of credibility of popular star-curators, who have more or less shaped a debatable but a rock-hard landscape to act in. Seeking to map the crisis experienced in curating nowadays, Ardenne further elaborates on the current institutional imperative for curated shows by artists and provides a critique for what makes a great exhibition in a chaotic art system led by dynamics other than of the art itself.

Jean-Philippe Uzel’s “The Author-Curator and His Critics” starts off with the well-known and persistent criticism against curators for having replaced the artists. Through an interesting history of curatorial criticism, from Daniel Buren in the sixties to Paul Ardenne and artist Anton Vidokle in 2010, Uzel draws a coherent parallel between the criticisms of contemporary art itself and the practice of curating.

Louise Déry elaborates on the concept of the “love exposed” curator in a more romantic fashion analysing diligently the responsibilities of the curator in her text “Curator, Your Love’s on Display”. Déry discusses the tensions and conflicts among institutions, curators and collectors seeking to reflect on the quality of the artistic practice as well as the significance of communicating art through exhibitions that foreground knowledge and thought.

Nathalie Desmet in her “Institutional Recognition and New Curatorial Practices” explores the strategies used by institutions and curators with the purpose of constructing a new self for institutions. Desmet reports on the concept of the “New Institutionalism” and discusses its problematics by identifying the new trends in both institutional and curatorial practices and by providing critical examples.

Last but not least, Michèle Thériault’s “The ephemeral as an agent of reflexive inquiry” examines the potential of the ephemeral in the production of critical and reflective environments. Thériault reviews her curatorial practice within an academic setting, that of the university art gallery and presents three case studies where the ephemeral allows for experimental shifts in the role of artists, curators and institutions.

On the whole Be Nice to Your Curator gives readers an insider view of international curatorial practice and reconsiders the status of the curator today. There are many examples of exhibitions with supportive visual material of artworks and methods of display that are valuable for anyone interested in curating.

The magazine is available in both French and English. You can get a sneak preview here http://www.esse.ca/en/revue/curators and you can purchase it here http://www.esse.ca/en/shop/magazines

Learn how to run an art gallery with this free evening course in curating. Gain experience, qualifications and get to put on your own show in Mapalim's Parlour Gallery & Project Space.

Nowadays, the creative and cultural sector is more competitive than ever. This Cultural Curators Programme offers an opportunity to increase one’s marketability by achieving a nationally recognized qualification in Cultural Venue Operations.

Have the opportunity to:

Learn the essential non-art side to organizing exhibitions and events.
Gain Level 3 qualifications in ‘Cultural Venue Operations’
Design, market, run and manage your own art exhibition (with other people’s art, not your own!) and community events. Click here to see previous exhibitions.
Choose your job role of finance, marketing, community, curating or logistics and work in a team to realise your own art event.
Learn aspects of venue management such as health & safety, photo image capture and guided tours.
Gain valuable experience that will help you further your career in the creative field.
Do this course around your day job!

The ideal candidate for this role will be extremely hardworking and a motivated team player, taking on this course as a challenge. You will have the opportunity to use the Cultural Curators Course as leverage to market yourself as a curator, marketer or events manager.

To be eligble you must:

•Be aged 19-24

•Be a UK/EU citizen or have lived in the UK for 3 years

•A passion for the arts and events!


The time commitment of the course will be 8 hours per week on a Tuesday and Thursday evening, 5:30pm – 9:30pm.

Intake dates: 13/03/12, 05/05/12

Interested candidates should email their contact details and date of birth to skills@mapalim.com with ‘Cultural curators 9 week’ as the subject line. Successful candidates will be invited to an information and interview evening closer to the time of intake.

For further details please contact Gideon Golstein skills@mapalim.com

Despite the fact that new media art might be still treated as a new and recent phenomenon of art practice, the story of new media can be traced back as early as the sixties. Artists such as John Cage, Allan Kaprow, Roy Ascott, E.A.T. have been preoccupied with themes including interaction, multimedia, electronics, kineticism, cybernetics and technology, and so have curators and theorists such as Marshall McLuhan, Jasia Reichardt, Lucy Lippard and Jack Burnham, among others. The context for artists, theorists and curators alike has been changing since that time, when this type of work formed a new territory for exploration in the arts. There was not only a change in creative language, but also a change in aesthetics and attitudes that would effect the ways we perceive artworks, exhibitions and cultural production in general.

One of the landmark exhibitions was “Les Immatériaux” curated by Jean-Francois Lyotard at the Centre Pompidou, Paris in 1985. Lyotard had already written his seminal book The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (1979) in which he examined the changes in human condition effected by technological developments in communications, mass media and computer science. The exhibition sought to present the repercussions of such a restructure of society and culture and also to construct an emergent space filled with emergent concepts. Nathalie Heinich explains “Paintings and sculptures were still present, of course, but became part of a much larger set of information made up of signs, words, sounds and technical artefacts” in a labyrinth-like exhibition space. Additionally, the notion of “immateriality” was introduced at a point when computers and interfaces were not user-friendly, a fact that also highlighted the latent problematic aspects of technology in art making and curating.∗ Curating here may have functioned as a philosophical quest authored by Lyotard, which in spite of its drawbacks has opened the door to a new era of exhibition making.

Moving forward to the mid-nineties, we can see the next wave of artists and curators engaging with new media under a new set of conditions again. Since the term “new media” is a very loose one, I would like at this point to refer to Olia Lialina’s description of new media: “a field of study that has developed around cultural practices with the computer playing a central role as the medium for production, storage and distribution”. However, it still seems that new media art cannot be contextualized under a certain canon because of its hybrid forms, and there is still a need for new media art practitioners - be they artists, curators, theorists- to provide a contextual umbrella for new media practices to be discussed.

From a curatorial perspective, new media art has brought new challenges to contemporary curating with its immaterial nature, its interactive qualities, its computer-based character and its constant developments. Anyone working with or keeping track of the shifts in new media will have noticed that new media art can be “web-based projects, sound events, virtual reality installations, mobile cellular, or PDA projects, and practices- conceptual art practices, networked-based practices, software coding or sampling” as Sarah Cook has outlined.∗∗ It is hard to permit the flexible and dynamic character of new media art to fully articulate in an exhibition space since most new media artworks tend to defy physicality. The need for new curatorial expressions to embrace the concepts of new media is becoming more and more apparent in the variety of exhibition formats.

Curating in online contexts has been a prevalent mode for web-based art projects. A rewind through the recent history of new media art will remind us that the dawn of the World Wide Web proved beneficial to web artists not only because of the new possibilities of the medium, but also because it allowed a certain degree of autonomy from institutions and curators altogether. An early example of such an exhibition was the project Desktop Is (1997) initiated by artist Alexei Shulgin for which he gathered desktop screenshots from 67 artists and hosted them online for public viewing. The developments the World Wide Web brought about at that time were equally important for curators. The novel notion of distribution and communication meant that not only artworks could be distributed but also curatorial practice. The “instantaneity in contemporary culture” (Charlie Gere, 2008)∗∗∗ was and still is evident and emergent in many distributed artworks and exhibitions on the web. For example, the exhibition Beyond Interface (1998) curated by Steve Dietz at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. On the archival website of the exhibition, one can find Steve Dietz’s quote, which reads: “This online exhibition presents a simple proposition. There is art that is created to "be" on the Net. After that, it gets more complex very quickly. Beyond Interface explores some of the complicating issues but does not attempt a comprehensive investigation… the main goals of Beyond Interface are to present outstanding examples of net-based artistic activity, and to try and begin to better understand and appreciate this art and its context.” Steve Dietz is very conscious about his early venture by pointing out the uncertainties of curating web-specific exhibitions. Nevertheless, that is mostly the case when something new is coming out. By laying emphasis on the art and its context, Dietz attempts to highlight the dynamic of web-based artworks, being fluid and hybrid and also the Web as a space for art production, curating and cultural interaction. However, while distributed curatorial practice on the web might fulfill the democratic and decentralised expectations of its medium, it also could ensure the work is easily confined to a specialist audience online.

Curating new media art in “offline” contexts is another main method of presenting such work. From the eighties onwards, many different spaces and structures have flourished to support new media art activities. New media centres such as ZKM in Germany, The Banff Centre in Canada and FACT in England; festivals, like Ars Electronica and Transmediale; galleries such as the Furtherfield Gallery in London; and labs such as the V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media in the Netherlands, among others. Contemporary art museums have been quite wary of new media art, with some exceptions such as SFMOMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Baltic. Simply stated, the visibility of new media art exhibitions in museums is low compared to mainstream contemporary art shows. The exhibition Database Imaginary (The Banff Center, Alberta, Canada, 2004) curated by Sarah Cook, Steve Dietz and Anthony Kiendl included works from 1971 to 2004. The exhibition sought to explore the idea of the database as an evolving phenomenon in human culture, featuring works such as Hans Haacke’s “Visitors’ Profile” (1971), a questionnaire about contemporary events that was distributed to museum visitors to a group exhibition in Milwaukee and Graham/Mongrel’s “Lungs-London.pl” (2004), a Perl software-code poem based on the 1792 poem London by William Blake. Database Imaginary attempts to establish connections between old and new art forms that share a common ground. Such exhibitions provide a space, firstly, to reflect on the continuum of ideas taking “shape” through a range of mediums and secondly, to discover the correlations that new media art shares with its precursors. The idea of creating narratives that are not fragmentary and follow the trail of art development also shows the dynamic of curatorial practice itself. If museums refrain from showing new media art by being skeptical about the qualities of such art in the course of art history, then exhibitions, such as Database Imaginary, provide for the art references that institutions may lack.

There is no doubt that there is not a singular practice or canon of curating new media art and that is primarily triggered by the hybridism of the art itself. Christiane Paul (2008) has argued that ‘Because new media art is more process-oriented than object-oriented, it is important to convey the underlying concept of this process to the audience’.∗∗∗∗ New media art curators need to be constantly resourceful in order to create evocative spaces and experiences. As new media art gradually enters the museum doors, curatorial strategies need not only communicate the art but also the fact that the exhibition itself is a process.





∗ See Nathalie Heinich (2009) “Les Immatériaux Revisited: Innovation in Innovations” and Sarah Cook (2008) “Immateriality and its discontents. An overview of main models and Issues for Curating New Media” in Christiane Paul (ed.), New Media in the White Cube and Beyond. Curatorial Models for Digital Art. University of California Press, pp 26 - 49

∗∗ Sarah Cook (2008), “Immateriality and Its Discontents. An Overview of Main Models and Issues for Curating New Media”, in Christiane Paul (ed.), New Media in the White Cube and Beyond. Curatorial Models for Digital Art. University of California Press, p. 27

∗∗∗ Charlie Gere (2008). “New media Art and the Gallery in the Digital Age” in Christiane Paul (ed.), New Media in the White Cube and Beyond. Curatorial Models for Digital Art. University of California Press, p. 23

∗∗∗∗ Christiane Paul (2008), “Challenges for a Ubiquitous Museum. From the White Cube to the Black Box and Beyond”, in Christiane Paul (ed.), New Media in the White Cube and Beyond. Curatorial Models for Digital Art. University of California Press, p. 65

Job Description
(French below)

La Galerie SAW Gallery is looking for an exceptionally creative and energetic individual to join their small team in the role of Curator.

You will develop and organize critical and innovative exhibition programs that appeal to a wide range of audiences, in accordance with Galerie SAW Gallery’s mandate. You will work to build the centre’s relationships with artists and organizations from the Ottawa-Gatineau region, Canada and abroad. You will use your expertise in communications to contribute unique community outreach programs and public relations initiatives.

You will work closely with the Director to research, plan, manage and deliver all aspects of the gallery’s programs.

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La Galerie SAW Gallery est à la recherche d’une personne exceptionnellement créative et dynamique pour se joindre à leur petite équipe à titre de commissaire.

Vous élaborerez et organiserez des programmes d’expositions critiques et novateurs qui s’adresseront à un public élargi, en accord avec le mandat de la Galerie SAW Gallery. Vous contribuerez à établir et à renforcer les relations du centre avec les artistes et les organismes de la région d’Ottawa-Gatineau, du Canada et de l’étranger. Vous utiliserez votre expertise en communications pour créer des programmes de développement de publics et d’action communautaire, ainsi que des initiatives en relations publiques.

Vous travaillerez de près avec la direction en ce qui concerne la recherche, la planification, la gestion et les différents aspects des programmes de la galerie.
Requirements

You will have at least three years of experience in curating exhibitions, in producing publications, in organizing events and in leading teams to deliver projects. You will have a diploma in studio arts, art history, curatorial studies or a related field, along with solid experience working in an artist-run organization, and a broad knowledge of contemporary art. You will have outstanding writing and editorial skills, including proven grant writing skills. As an active figure in the contemporary art scene, you will have exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively. You will have a strong background and interest in outreach and community development. A thorough knowledge of and demonstrated interest in performance and media art programming will be an asset. A strong command of both French and English will be preferred.

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Vous avez au moins trois années d’expérience en commissariat d’expositions, en production de publications, en organisation d’événements et en gestion d’équipes pour réaliser des projets. Vous avez un diplôme en arts plastiques, en histoire de l’art, en études commissariales ou dans un champ connexe, de même qu’une solide expérience de travail dans un centre d’artistes autogéré et une excellente connaissance de l’art contemporain. Vous avez des compétences remarquables en rédaction, et vous avez déjà écrit avec succès des demandes de bourses et de subventions. En tant que figure active sur la scène de l’art contemporain, vous avez des compétences interpersonnelles exceptionnelles et vous savez travailler en collaboration. Vous avez un bagage solide et un intérêt véritable pour le développement de publics et l’action communautaire. Une connaissance approfondie de la performance et des arts médiatiques, de même qu’un intérêt avéré pour leur programmation constituent un atout. Une excellente connaissance de l'anglais et du français est un avantage.
Additional Information

JOB TYPE

This is a full-time permanent position, with benefits.

HOW TO APPLY

Please e-mail your CV along with a statement of intent, a selection of writing samples and three professional references to sawgallery@artengine.ca. Sample catalogues of exhibitions/projects may be mailed to: Galerie SAW Gallery, Attn: Hiring Committee, 67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa ON K1N 7B9.

CLOSING DATE for Applications: Friday, June 24, 2011

START DATE of Position: Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Galerie SAW Gallery is committed to employment equity and considers all candidates for employment regardless of race, ethnic origin, gender identity, age, creed, disability or sexual orientation.

Please be advised that Galerie SAW Gallery is only able to contact candidates selected for an interview. Thank you for your interest in this employment opportunity at Galerie SAW Gallery.

MANDATE

Galerie SAW Gallery

- promotes contemporary Canadian and international artists, emerging and established, from diverse cultural backgrounds;

- presents a contemporary art program with a strong focus on Canadian performance and media art, with bilingual interpretative material produced for each exhibition;

- adapts to the changing nature of the contemporary arts by maintaining an evolving interdisciplinary presentation space comprised of SAW Gallery, Club SAW and the SAW outdoor courtyard;

- serves the needs of diverse communities through audience development initiatives;

- engages in collaborations with other arts organizations to increase opportunities for exhibiting artists and to outreach to new audiences;

- commits to paying artist fees above CARFAC recommendations.

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TYPE D’EMPLOI

Il s’agit d’un poste à temps plein et permanent, avec avantages.

COMMENT POSER SA CANDIDATURE

Veuillez expédier par courriel votre CV accompagné d’une lettre d’intention, d’une sélection d’échantillons de textes et de trois références professionnelles à : sawgallery@artengine.ca. Des exemples de catalogues et de projets d’exposition peuvent être postés à : Galerie SAW Gallery, à l’attention du Comité d’embauche, 67, rue Nicholas, Ottawa ON K1N 7B9.

DATE LIMITE pour le dépôt des candidatures : le vendredi 24 juin 2011

DATE D'ENTRÉE en fonction : le mardi 9 août 2011

La Galerie SAW Gallery s’engage à poursuivre une politique d’égalité d’emploi et considèrera tous les candidats indépendamment de l’origine raciale ou ethnique, du genre, de l’âge, de la religion, du handicap ou de l’orientation sexuelle.

Veuillez noter que la Galerie SAW Gallery entrerait en contact uniquement avec les candidats retenus pour une entrevue. Merci de votre intérêt pour cette offre d’emploi à la Galerie SAW Gallery.

MANDAT

La Galerie SAW Gallery

- apporte son appui à des artistes contemporains canadiens et internationaux, émergents et établis, provenant de milieux culturels divers;

- présente un programme d’art contemporain axé sur la performance et les arts médiatiques canadiens, soutenu par du matériel didactique bilingue produit pour chacune des expositions;

- s’adapte à la nature changeante des arts contemporains en assurant le maintien et le développement d’un espace de présentation interdisciplinaire formé de la Galerie SAW, du Club SAW et de la cour extérieure de SAW;

- subvient aux besoins de communautés diverses à travers des initiatives visant le développement de publics;

- établit des collaborations avec d’autres organismes artistiques afin d’offrir une plus grande visibilité aux artistes et de rejoindre de nouveaux publics;

- s’engage à payer des cachets d’artistes supérieurs aux recommandations de CARFAC.


Send Submissions To: Tam-Ca Vo-Van, 67 rue Nicholas Street, Ottawa Ontario, Canada K1N 7B9, e: sawgallery@artengine.ca

The ICA wishes to appoint an Assistant Curator with previous experience of working in a commercial gallery or institutional environment. You will become a part of the Creative Team working on the realisation of the ICA’s contemporary art programme. The successful candidate will have proven experience of delivering complex artist projects. Applicants must have extensive knowledge of contemporary art, an ability to work with people from all walks of life, and an understanding of artists needs. This position requires exceptional administrative and communication skills, as well as the ability to manage budgets and deliver within a given time frame.

For more information please visit the ICA website. Applications by covering letter and CV to administrator@ica.org.uk.

Deadline for applications:22 April 2011. Interview dates to be arranged thereafter, within the week starting 25th April but to be confirmed.

OPEN CALL

SYNAPSE – The International Curators’ Network at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin)
in the framework of the Asia-Pacific Weeks 2011 (September 6–17)
www.synapse.info


Duration: September 7–10, 2011, with a public keynote speech by Peter Weibel on September 6, 2011

HAUS DER KULTUREN DER WELT invites up-and-coming curators to apply for SYNAPSE – The International Curators’ Network at Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Moderated by international curators, scientists and other experts, the first network meeting of SYNAPSE will focus on the interactions between science and art. Among other questions, it will address how scientific topics can be approached by curators. In interdisciplinary workshops, ten selected SYNAPSE curators and the five winning curators of Meridian I Urban.Curatorial Projects on Health will generate new project ideas. Visits to galleries, museums, and project and exhibition spaces will connect SYNAPSE participants with the vibrant Berlin art scene.

Jury members
• Katja Blomberg (director, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin)
• Yu Yeon Kim (independent curator, NYC and Seoul)
• Osvaldo Sánchez (curator/director, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City)
• Adele Tan (art historian and critic, Singapore)

Application requirements
The call is open to international up-and-coming curators with initial curatorial experience. Since lectures and workshop sessions will be held in English, applicants must be able to speak and write English fluently.

Facts
An international jury will review the applications and announce the ten selected participants by end of June 2011. Participation in the workshop is free of charge. Each participant will receive a travel subsidy of up to €500. Haus der Kulturen der Welt will support the participants in seeking additional funding and will provide board and lodging for the duration of the workshop.

A project in cooperation with the 4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art 2011.
The Asia-Pacific Weeks are supported by the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin.

For more information on how to apply, please visit the The International Curators' Network website

Deadline for entries: May 31, 2011