Spotlight on Curation

While the first edition focussed on South Asian contemporary art and included only one foreign curator — Nadia Schneider Willen from Switzerland — the second expanded to include two such curators. This year will see five from India and as many from abroad — Alessandro Vincentelli from the UK,Che Kyongfa from Japan,Daniel Muzyczuk from Poland,Kathrin Rhomberg from Austria and Oliver Kielmayer from Switzerland. The Indian curators are Mumbai-based Girish Shahane,Nancy Adajania and Sandhini Poddar; Delhi’s Pooja Sood; and Pune-Berlin-based Natasha Ginwala.

Over the first day,activities will include individual presentations on the curatorial practices of each of these 10 people,as well as focus on exhibitions curated in the last two years. On the second day of the hub,the focus will shift to discussions,allowing the various attendees to interact with each other.

Predictably,the greatest positive from an event such as this is the sharing of ideas that it facilitates. For the two days,the 10 curators will be joined by close to 100 others,primarily from the art fraternity,though the list has also included English professors on previous occasions. “The

nature of the Experimenter Hub seems focussed on enabling a conversation,” says Vincentelli,curator at BALTIC,a contemporary art gallery in Gateshead,England.

Apart from just focussing on conversations between different curatorial parties,the event’s model of dividing these parties between those familiar with practices in India and those that bring experiences from elsewhere is a positive.

For participants,the chance to interact with such varied parties is rewarding. Kielmayer,Director of Kunsthalle Winterthur gallery,for instance,counts the exhibitions he has curated abroad as among his most preferred. “You to meet different people. Also,sharing working experience with different local art scenes is the best and fastest way to learn about other cultures as well as human beings,” he says.

Having curated and taught curatorial practices extensively in India and elsewhere in the world,Adajania believes that such an event comes as a welcome addition. “It is a welcome pmove in the direction of knowledge production,which is one of the major deficits of our Indian art world,” she says. “More significantly,the Hub provides an opportunity for a peer review mechanism by which we may compare curatorial experiences both within and outside of India.”

While the Hub is open to the public,one must register via email as the gallery can accommodate 100 people.