Curators Anonymous #7
Open Call: Join Curators Anonymous
We are Curators Anonymous, a non-profit, non-affiliated platform for curators in Belgium.
Curators Anonymous is looking for new participants who are interested in co-learning and have some time on their hands to research and explore different topics that are particularly relevant within curatorial practice:
- the role of the curator
- the current legal and socio-economic position of the curator in Belgium
- working conditions and fair practice
- best practices and tools
We are looking for participants who are interested in curatorial practice and are willing to participate in our general meetings and working groups. Those will be shaped based on the current interests of the participants and may range from a more theoretical to a more practical reflection.
The assembly is open to everyone interested in exchanging opinions about curatorial practice in Belgium and would like to take actively part to the group. We will discuss the new form of the association, the goals and how to reach them.
Our next meeting will be on Monday 15 February 2021 from 17.00 to 18.30
Agenda
17.00 - 17.15: Welcome new participants and brief introduction to Curators Anonymous
17.15 - 17.30: Objectives short and long term
17.30 - 18.00: A (new) possible structure for Curators Anonymous: proposals and discussions (working groups, levels of engagement, public events, relationship with other associations)
The meeting will take place online via Zoom, please reserve your place by emailing to curatorsanonymousbe@gmail.com, you will get the link to participate to the meeting the day before.
Curators Anonymous #6
Anonymous matinée
Thursday 9 July 2020, 10.00 - 11.30, Online (Zoom meeting)
This matinée wants to focus on the curatorial practice in today's crisis (health, unequalness, climate,...) based on the six questions by Bruno Latour in ‘What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model?’
The meeting will be divided in a plenary session, followed by break-out rooms where small groups work with the questions of Bruno Latour (around 45 minutes) and wrap-up plenary.
We invite the participants to read Bruno Latour’s text before joining:
http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/downloads/P-202-AOC-ENGLISH_1.pdf
Please contact us at curatorsanonymousbe@gmail.com if you want to join.
Curators Anonymous #5
Café Anonymous
Saturday 15 February 2020, 15.00 - 17.00, Kunsthal Gent
All people who curate in Belgium, whether regularly or occasionally, are warmly invited to come together over drinks for open discussions around keywords raised in the four preceding CA sessions, including ‘social engagement’, ‘ecology’, ‘care’, ‘listening’ and ‘privilege’.
Across Belgium, cultural budgets are being slashed. As vital links between art producers and institutions, curators have a role to play in protecting our threatened cultural landscape. So over the course of this afternoon, let’s share our stories, thoughts and aspirations to map out sustainable scenarios for curating in a post-austerity Belgium.
A supervised child-friendly area, with fun activities, will be provided.
Will attend the event:
- Heidi Ballet
- Timon Bloemen
- Sara De Bondt
- Jérôme Cotinet-Alphaize
- Dirk De Wit
- Melanie Deboutte
- Jef Declercq
- Sonia Dermience
- Marianne Derrien
- Sofie Dierickx
- Valentijn Goethals
- Laura Herman
- Antony Hudek
- Piet Mertens
- Louise Osieka
- Chiara Santini Parducci
- Samuel Saelemakers
- Evelyn Simons
- Sue Spaid
- Anna Stoppa
- Veronica Valentini
- Charlotte Van Buylaere
- Niels Van Tomme
- Danielle van Zuijlen
among many others...
Saturday 15 February 2020, 15.00 - 17.00, Kunsthal Gent
All people who curate in Belgium, whether regularly or occasionally, are warmly invited to come together over drinks for open discussions around keywords raised in the four preceding CA sessions, including ‘social engagement’, ‘ecology’, ‘care’, ‘listening’ and ‘privilege’.
Across Belgium, cultural budgets are being slashed. As vital links between art producers and institutions, curators have a role to play in protecting our threatened cultural landscape. So over the course of this afternoon, let’s share our stories, thoughts and aspirations to map out sustainable scenarios for curating in a post-austerity Belgium.
A supervised child-friendly area, with fun activities, will be provided.
Will attend the event:
- Heidi Ballet
- Timon Bloemen
- Sara De Bondt
- Jérôme Cotinet-Alphaize
- Dirk De Wit
- Melanie Deboutte
- Jef Declercq
- Sonia Dermience
- Marianne Derrien
- Sofie Dierickx
- Valentijn Goethals
- Laura Herman
- Antony Hudek
- Piet Mertens
- Louise Osieka
- Chiara Santini Parducci
- Samuel Saelemakers
- Evelyn Simons
- Sue Spaid
- Anna Stoppa
- Veronica Valentini
- Charlotte Van Buylaere
- Niels Van Tomme
- Danielle van Zuijlen
among many others...
Curators Anonymous #4
From Me to We: Reconfiguring Community
Saturday 7 December 2019, 17-21h
La Loge, Rue de L’Ermitage 86, 1050 Brussels
On Saturday, December 7 from 17-21h, Curators Anonymous organises its 4th meeting during
which we will identify action steps for creating solidarity and a crisis ethics
amongst arts and activist organizations. Speakers and participants will suggest
alternatives to classical curatorial and artistic performances that often go hand-in-hand
with individualism, a competitive ethos, (art) market-oriented actions and
unpaid labor in hierarchical and oppressive environments.
We
invite artists, curators and cultural workers to briefly introduce their own praxis
which center on relations rather than on production; focus
on the maintenance of (social) infrastructures which are usually kept out of
sight; and examine ways of doing which redefine the criteria of success. The
presentations will be followed by one-hour workshops divided into several
groups, during which the speakers will co-develop concrete steps and proposals
as how to transform modes of relationality and integrity.
The
event will pursuit CA’s aim to conceive and develop new models of social
infrastructure with the primary goal to engage them in democratic processes that reflect open societies and
differing values. We are interested in community and socially-engaged practices and the question of how art institutions could
learn from these. We hope to develop a long-term, sustainable discourse and structural
change in order to overcome the capitalist regime of visibility, success and
CV-based actions. In other words, we aim to take our responsibility seriously
by providing imaginative spaces for communities to develop social
infrastructure and collective transformation, rather than spaces functioning as
displays for passive spectatorship.
Programme
17.00: Welcome by convenors Jana J. Haeckel and Laura Herman
17.10: Staci Bu Shea on the politics of living and care
17:40: Ilse Ghekiere on sexism in the arts
18:10: Grace Ndiritu on healing practices for the arts
18:40: Tereza Stejskalová on reshaping institutions from an horizontal perspective
19:10: Break
19.30: Group workshops with Ilse Ghekiere, Grace Ndiritu, Staci Bu Shea and Tereza Stejskalová.
20:30: Concluding remarks and announcement of the next Curators Anonymous session.
Drinks will be served.
Supported
by La Loge, the Czech Center Brussels and the Goethe-Institut Brussels
Saturday 7 December 2019, 17-21h
La Loge, Rue de L’Ermitage 86, 1050 Brussels
On Saturday, December 7 from 17-21h, Curators Anonymous organises its 4th meeting during which we will identify action steps for creating solidarity and a crisis ethics amongst arts and activist organizations. Speakers and participants will suggest alternatives to classical curatorial and artistic performances that often go hand-in-hand with individualism, a competitive ethos, (art) market-oriented actions and unpaid labor in hierarchical and oppressive environments.
We invite artists, curators and cultural workers to briefly introduce their own praxis which center on relations rather than on production; focus on the maintenance of (social) infrastructures which are usually kept out of sight; and examine ways of doing which redefine the criteria of success. The presentations will be followed by one-hour workshops divided into several groups, during which the speakers will co-develop concrete steps and proposals as how to transform modes of relationality and integrity.
The event will pursuit CA’s aim to conceive and develop new models of social infrastructure with the primary goal to engage them in democratic processes that reflect open societies and differing values. We are interested in community and socially-engaged practices and the question of how art institutions could learn from these. We hope to develop a long-term, sustainable discourse and structural change in order to overcome the capitalist regime of visibility, success and CV-based actions. In other words, we aim to take our responsibility seriously by providing imaginative spaces for communities to develop social infrastructure and collective transformation, rather than spaces functioning as displays for passive spectatorship.
Programme
17.00: Welcome by convenors Jana J. Haeckel and Laura Herman
17.10: Staci Bu Shea on the politics of living and care
17:40: Ilse Ghekiere on sexism in the arts
18:10: Grace Ndiritu on healing practices for the arts
18:40: Tereza Stejskalová on reshaping institutions from an horizontal perspective
19:10: Break
19.30: Group workshops with Ilse Ghekiere, Grace Ndiritu, Staci Bu Shea and Tereza Stejskalová.
20:30: Concluding remarks and announcement of the next Curators Anonymous session.
Drinks will be served.
Curators Anonymous #3
The Ecological Angle
Saturday 21 September 2019, 14.00, MuZee, Ostend
The session will feature a series of conversations with the convenors, culminating in a short collective writing workshop.
Programme
14:00: Welcome by convenors Antony Hudek and Sue Spaid
14:05: Kunstenpunt, on Belgium’s “green track” and the "Reframing the international" card game
14:15: Heidi Ballet, independent curator, whose exhibitions explore human beings' impact
14:45: Nicolas Galeazzi, artist and a.pass program coordinator, on research as ecology
15:15: An Fonteyne, from noAarchitecten, on the transformation of KANAL-Centre Pompidou
15:45: coffee/tea break
16:15: Régine Debatty, writer and researcher behind the blog, leads a short collective writing workshop via Skype. we-make-
17:00: Concluding remarks and announcement of the next Curators Anonymous session.
Warm thanks to Mu.ZEE for its hospitality and to Kunstenpunt for its ongoing structural and financial support. Free entrance to Mu.ZEE for Curators Anonymous is supported by Curatorial Studies, KASK & Conservatorium.
The session will feature a series of conversations with the convenors, culminating in a short collective writing workshop.
Programme
14:00: Welcome by convenors Antony Hudek and Sue Spaid
14:05: Kunstenpunt, on Belgium’s “green track” and the "Reframing the international" card game
14:15: Heidi Ballet, independent curator, whose exhibitions explore human beings' impact
14:45: Nicolas Galeazzi, artist and a.pass program coordinator, on research as ecology
15:15: An Fonteyne, from noAarchitecten, on the transformation of KANAL-Centre Pompidou
15:45: coffee/tea break
16:15: Régine Debatty, writer and researcher behind the blog, leads a short collective writing workshop via Skype. we-make-
17:00: Concluding remarks and announcement of the next Curators Anonymous session.
Warm thanks to Mu.ZEE for its hospitality and to Kunstenpunt for its ongoing structural and financial support. Free entrance to Mu.ZEE for Curators Anonymous is supported by Curatorial Studies, KASK & Conservatorium.
Curators Anonymous #2
How do we listen?
Thursday 6 June 2019, 20.00, Chateau Nour, Brussels
° Dear,
Let’s have a look at the motive of the blind leading the blind, and have a look at ourselves, and our position within the art world. In the conflictual economic ecosystem that we consider our professional field, precarity is constantly lurking around the corner. General frustrations often arise, and good intentions risk turning into worst practices, resulting in a polarised and competitive working environment.
From our first assembly, we’ve noticed a variety of agenda’s willing to be tackled. Rather than singling some of them out, we’re opting for a different approach. Embracing the hybridity that makes up curatorial work in Belgium, we want to create a common ground in which we can share experiences, resources, help and support. A hybrid group in which all of the aforementioned concerns can resonate. Consider Curators Anonymous a bottom-up catalysator for a more liveable visual arts field in Belgium. But first, let’s have a collective listening session to incorporate tools on how we can make this happen.
We’re happy to invite you on June 6th, for an evening of listening, at Chateau Nour (13 Square Albert 1er, 1070 Brussels).
Programme
20.00 Welcome
20.15 Listening sessions with David Bernstein, Sonia Dermience, Philippine Hoegen, and Sue Spaid amongst others.
21.15 Collective discussion and reflection moment. Defining next steps for Curators Anonymous
Your hosts for the evening are Louise Osieka and Evelyn Simons for Curators Anonymous.
Drinks will be served.
° Dear,
Let’s have a look at the motive of the blind leading the blind, and have a look at ourselves, and our position within the art world. In the conflictual economic ecosystem that we consider our professional field, precarity is constantly lurking around the corner. General frustrations often arise, and good intentions risk turning into worst practices, resulting in a polarised and competitive working environment.
From our first assembly, we’ve noticed a variety of agenda’s willing to be tackled. Rather than singling some of them out, we’re opting for a different approach. Embracing the hybridity that makes up curatorial work in Belgium, we want to create a common ground in which we can share experiences, resources, help and support. A hybrid group in which all of the aforementioned concerns can resonate. Consider Curators Anonymous a bottom-up catalysator for a more liveable visual arts field in Belgium. But first, let’s have a collective listening session to incorporate tools on how we can make this happen.
We’re happy to invite you on June 6th, for an evening of listening, at Chateau Nour (13 Square Albert 1er, 1070 Brussels).
Programme
20.00 Welcome
20.15 Listening sessions with David Bernstein, Sonia Dermience, Philippine Hoegen, and Sue Spaid amongst others.
21.15 Collective discussion and reflection moment. Defining next steps for Curators Anonymous
Your hosts for the evening are Louise Osieka and Evelyn Simons for Curators Anonymous.
Drinks will be served.
Curators Anonymous #1
The current legal and socio-economic position of the curator in Belgium
Thursday 14 March, 2019 from 16.00 to 19.30, Atelier Vlaams Bouwmeester, Galerie Ravenstein, Brussels
We have the pleasure to invite you to the first open discussion on the current legal and socio-economic position of the curator in Belgium. It is a first step to address the often precarious working conditions of curators.
Curator's Anonymous is a diverse and open platform in progress that welcomes all curators active or based in Belgium, whether informal, freelance or institutional.
Programme
16.00 introduction of "Curators Anonymous"
16.20 On possible models of community building (Nikol Wellens, Kunstenpunt)
16.50 Presentation and discussion of main concerns
17.20 Break
17.30 Current relationship institutions and curators (Jan Bloemen, Z33)
18.00 The contract as a tool. Towards an ecology of practices (Julie van Elslande, Caveat - Jubilee)
18.30 Discussion and decision on the form of next event (scheduled for 6 June)
19.00 Drinks
The meeting will take place in English, but we will do our best to accommodate translations to French and Flemish if needed.
Do let us know if you will attend by 4 March by confirming your presence with an email to: curatorsanonymousBE@gmail.com
Curators Anonymous is a non-profit, non-affiliated association of curators in Belgium, founded in 2019 offering a platform for exchange on pressing issues affecting curators – their socio-economic and legal status, professional environment and societal roles.
Working from bottom-up, this responsive, supportive structure intends to ally active freelance and institutional curators from all generations in order to share knowledge and experiences. Through regular public meetings and an online presence, it discloses the various visible and invisible responsibilities of curators and their valuable contribution to the national arts landscape.
Curators Anonymous is supported by Kunstenpunt and KASK/HoGent
The current legal and socio-economic position of the curator in Belgium
We have the pleasure to invite you to the first open discussion on the current legal and socio-economic position of the curator in Belgium. It is a first step to address the often precarious working conditions of curators.
Curator's Anonymous is a diverse and open platform in progress that welcomes all curators active or based in Belgium, whether informal, freelance or institutional.
Programme
16.00 introduction of "Curators Anonymous"
16.20 On possible models of community building (Nikol Wellens, Kunstenpunt)
16.50 Presentation and discussion of main concerns
17.20 Break
17.30 Current relationship institutions and curators (Jan Bloemen, Z33)
18.00 The contract as a tool. Towards an ecology of practices (Julie van Elslande, Caveat - Jubilee)
18.30 Discussion and decision on the form of next event (scheduled for 6 June)
19.00 Drinks
The meeting will take place in English, but we will do our best to accommodate translations to French and Flemish if needed.
Do let us know if you will attend by 4 March by confirming your presence with an email to: curatorsanonymousBE@gmail.com
Curators Anonymous is a non-profit, non-affiliated association of curators in Belgium, founded in 2019 offering a platform for exchange on pressing issues affecting curators – their socio-economic and legal status, professional environment and societal roles.
Working from bottom-up, this responsive, supportive structure intends to ally active freelance and institutional curators from all generations in order to share knowledge and experiences. Through regular public meetings and an online presence, it discloses the various visible and invisible responsibilities of curators and their valuable contribution to the national arts landscape.
Curators Anonymous is supported by Kunstenpunt and KASK/HoGent