Saturday, January 26, 2013

About and around curating in media: interview (B92), Beokult (RTS TV2)

  • Interview for B92 website

            Sonja Gočanin, B92 associate, made an interview with the two of us, where we tried to answer several key questions on the contemporary art and culture sphere, from our viewpoint, and, of course, on the About and around curating project.

Interview (in Serbian): Srbija i kustosiranje u 21. veku (Serbian and curating in 21st century)



  • About and around curating in Christmas issue of Beokult

    We had the honour to be in the company of most creative younger art and culture professionals who marked 2012, in the opinion of editoral staff for culture of RTS TV Belgrade. This is a part of the programme, covered by journalist Maja Tucaković, broadcasted on 6th and 7th January 2013 (in Serbian).
I


Sunday, January 20, 2013

About and around curating: Opening of season #03


Very soon to be expected our first session for year 2013 of About and around curating #22, in some of Belgrade's public spaces.

Our ambitious agenda for this season is divided in several directions: Academic course, regional/international collaboration and, of course, open public sessions.
Like we did in first season, we intent to create and produce art project together with our participants in season #03 too, with a practical goal- realisation of an exhibition. More on About and around curating #22.
Also, more on project activities and description fof 2013 you can find here.

We would like to express our gratitude for many who greatly supported us and send valuable comments regarding last post: Our bad business experience with The Cultural center of Belgrade, which is published too as article, by our approval, on portal ArtLeaks.
 

About and around curating in 2013



About and around curating/ Kustosiranje is an educative and research project, based on the idea of lifelong learning, designed for professionals and students from the fields of arts and culture, and open for general public. Based on the experience of professionals as a basis of knowledge, the project is transparent and flexible, based on alternative methodology, with an idea to verify the theoretical assumptions through critical and practical experiences. The project’s tendency is to gather young, future and graduated/ established arts and culture professionals in order to give them a clearer picture of the professional curatorial possibilities that lie ahead, developing and nurturing the society’s understanding for all professions that this vocation covers.

As part of the final activities of each season, exhibition project will take place together with the participants of the project as practical, hands-on part of the programme. The exact timetable, venue, form, system and norms of the selection of the exhibition project’s participants will be announced opportunely, during the season. A group of 5-10 participants are being selected by the following criteria: motivational letter (a draft on and exhibition project, concept, idea; why I want to participate in About and around curating) and participation in the public programme. Afterwards, a month of two before the exhibition, in cooperation with the exhibition venue/institution, meetings and workshops with the participants are taking place in order to define the exhibition concept, selection of artworks, setting, catalogue, accompanying programme etc. The authors of the project are present merely as moderators – advising and providing logistics. For 2013 two exhibitions have been arranged with the gallery of Dom omladine.

About and around curating/ Kustosiranje is a public and non-profit programme, open for all creative individuals from the fields of arts and culture. For more information, subscribe to our newsletter: about.and.around.curating@gmail.com, and check our blog: aboutandaroundcurating.blogspot.com.


Project description and origins:

That’s not a cabinet vocation, but a truly dynamic activity, which requires everyday attendance, devotion, the quest for sources, connecting information and people, intelligent deliberation of both present and the past, throughout the challenges, which are all a part of everyday life, according to the professor Jerko Denegri, in a very interesting conversation.

By understanding the surroundings in which the curatorial vocation exists and develops in Serbia, especially among younger professionals, based on challenges as shortage or even lack of professional practice, the deficit of stable and long-lasting specialised curatorial courses and schools, the conservative public image of a curator’s profession, the connection between the public and the civil sector, employment and sustainability troubles; these are all the most important strategic questions to be raised through the project  About and around curating/ Kustosiranje. Instead of stating unnecessarily the impoverished and almost helpless state in the curatorial field, it is required to point the examples of good practice, to encourage the possibilities of self-realisation, to stress the importance of cooperation and team work, but also to give support to proactive attitude in developing independent projects in the fields of arts and culture. After all, the main focus is on questions that define the curatorial profession, the questions which are in line, that “breathe” with the contemporary, esthetical and social tendencies. The technology of making an exhibition project, curator-artist relation, different methodological approaches (public institution and independent work), arbitrariness and the representativeness of the profession, curator as an artist (and vice versa) – are just some questions on which we seek possible answers, by developing the About and around curating/ Kustosiranje project as a research activity, publicly accessible and visible, affirmative towards the curatorial vocation.

The institutions of culture – public or independent – are in the position to actively participate in the project About and around curating/ Kustosiranje, by being a partner organisation, offering practice or advices relating to younger colleagues.

Project mission: on curatorial practices, developing toolbox and required skills, on the technologies of preparation and realisation of independent exhibition project, education and supporting proactive attitude of young and future art curators, team work, developing entrepreneurship in the field of culture, spreading share culture

Target group: final-year(s) students and graduates of Arts universities (art history, visual and applied arts, architecture, dramatic arts, etc), professionals from the fields of arts and culture (curators, artists, managers and entrepreneurs)

Venues: cultural institutions in Belgrade: galleries, museums, cultural centres in Belgrade, 120min each session, every two weeks. In between sessions, organised public guidances and visits to exhibitions and artistic events

Project authors: Andrej Bereta and Srđan Tunić (curators, art historians)


Work in progress – in realisation for Seasons #03 (January – June) and #04 (September - December) 2013:

  • Publication on the first year of About and around curating project (springtime 2013)
  • Academic course About and around curating students' exhibition in Art space U10 (28.02. – 13.03.2012.)
  • Exhibitons with participants of the public programme (June 2012); in cooperation with gallery of Dom omladine Beograda
  • Internacional project, in cooperation with cultural institutions   (universities, NGO's, museums, artistic collectives); spring 2013
  • Public programme - public cultural institutions, exhibition spaces etc.


Established cooperation and support in 2012: First year of the project



Contact:
Udruženje građana „ARTIKAL: Društvo za promovisanje i negovanje savremenog i slobodnog umetničkog izražavanja“ / Civil association „ARTIKAL: Association for curating and promoting contemporary and free artistic expression“, Beograd

Andrej Bereta: andrej.bereta(@)gmail.com
Srđan Tunić: srdjan.tunic(@)gmail.com

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Our bad business experience with The Cultural center of Belgrade


Our bad experience: Unprofessional attitude of The Cultural center of Belgrade’s management towards About and around curating

      Collaboration with The Cultural Center of Belgrade (KCB) related to our engagement for the 53rd October Salon, precisely the leading people of this house and Salon, Mia David and Zorana Djakovic, we describe as dishonest and unprofessional. Even though we previously appreciated their support of the first season of About and around curating- as hosts for first session (Artget Gallery, guest Aleksandra Estela Bjelica Mladenović), and later during Festival Mikser 2012, as valuable technical support; our later collaboration, instead of expected upscale direction, was completely oppositely directed.


 We were invited on the 53rd October Salon in June 2012, by the Salon’s Coordinator Zorana Djakovic publicly and quite officially, while she was our guest on 13th session of About and around curating; and few weeks later curator and selector of the Salon Branko Dimitrijevic confirmed the same invitation, and additionally, on his suggestion, we started discussing on more activities that we could take under our responsibility (facilitating project for Art collective Expodium).

1) In official flyer, meant to be shared to visitors on exhibition site, we were neglected with inadequate and imprecise role- only as support for someone else’s project (Expodium). Later excuses from KCB’s Director Mia David, for such “misunderstandings”, even if we accepted them, actually, didn’t improve the situation, because:
2) Contract about our engagement, which we mentioned several times, while we met, and patiently waited for proposed draft (It’s been usually said: It is so busy period, and as soon as we find some time…), which we’ve never been offered actually; and on top of that all:
3) We remained unpaid for any material support (including fee), which, as is well known, on quite regular basis every participant gets from this institution, on occasions like this.
4) Finally, through correspondence with KCB’s Director David, we realized that our project wasn’t from start never included in the budget of the 53rd October Salon.

   Our conclusion, therefore, is that we were vanished deliberately from printed edition, and lack of Contract proposal missed, actually, because we were never meant to be paid for job that we done, by invitation of same institution, as most frequent support program of the 53rd October Salon.

    Because of such irresponsible and unprofessional attitude towards us, as authors of project About and around curating, we must state to colleagues and wider public that we DON’T RECOMMEND any kind of collaboration with KCB, while current management leads this institution. Our warning is specially related to artists and independent art organisations, domestic and foreign. In Serbian cultural field, particulary in public sector, running of institutions is a deeply dark matter- last 3 decades or so Applications for employment are so rare, or never actually happen; many Open calls for projects, aren’t actually open, at all, and used as cover for some purpose. All important decisions are made far from any public sight, under rules of political and nepotistic interests and deals. That is most important reason for lack of responsibility for (un)quality of institution’s work; not to mention business ethics. Actual moment urges for crossover collaboration between civic/ independent and public sector, which nowadays more and more is needed for institution due to a lack of financial resources to develop and maintain own projects, and moreover asking themselves- what are they doing, how and for who, anyway? (the matter of transparency); therefore it is extremely important to take a real good look at unprofessional business manners and to persistently insist on clean relations, contracts, material duties, deadlines. In any institution, no matter which sector, public or civic, a lot of professionals are working dedicated to their jobs, just like they do in KCB, as well, but, on our opinion, those don’t lead this institution, today.


Belgrade 16.01.2013.
                                                                  Andrej Bereta and Srdjan Tunic
Curators, Art historians
Authors of the project About and around curating/ Kustosiranje
NGO ARTIKAL, Belgrade



You can download a .pdf of this file on this link.


Monday, January 14, 2013

First year of the About and around curating project



First year of the About and around curating project

           

Established cooperation

Professionals and collectives (participants of the public programme):





Institutions and organisations:






Special programme:

  • About and around curating at Mikser festival (25.05. – 02.06.2012) – exhibition project (supported by the Ministry of culture of Serbia)
  • About and around curating at the 53rd October salon (22.09. – 04.11.2012); accompanying programme and cooperation with artistic collective Expodium from Netherlands


Academic course About and around curating: The technology of the exhibition process / the realisation of the project – “real world”

Realisation: by call from professors Mladenović and Antonijević, autumn 2012 and an exhibition in spring 2013; teaching associates and co-authors (A.Bereta and S.Tunić)

Lecturers:
  • Curators, art historians, Andrej Bereta and Srđan Tunić (Civil Association ARTIKAL)
  • Associate professor Milorad Mladenović, academic painter and architect (Faculty of Architecture, Belgrade)
  • Professor Radoš Antonijević, academic sculptor (Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade)
  • Assistant Ivan Šuletić, painter (Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade)
Students (7 by each department, total 21) of University of Belgrade:
  • Architecture
  • Art History
  • Fine arts (sculptors)

Goals:
  • Practical activities of a curator
  • Proactivity and teamwork
  • Networking students of art faculties
  • Exhibition as a project




Presentation of the project

  • March 2012 Copenhagen, The Factory of Art & Design (with support from Danish Arts Council, UKK – Young Art Workers and curator Tijana Mišković)
  • May 2012 Belgrade, festival Mikser
  • September 2012 Zagreb, the 31st Youth Salon (by call from curator Vladimir Čajkovac, HDLU)
  • December 2012 Istanbul, Cultural innovators Network; Belgrade, the Festival of education of grown-ups



Planned activities for Season #03 (January – June 2013)

  • Publication on the first year of About and around curating project (springtime 2013)
  • Academic course About and around curating students' exhibition in Art space U10 (28.02. – 13.03.2012.)
  • Exhibitons with participants of the public programme (June 2012); in cooperation with gallery of Dom omladine Beograda
  • Internacional project, in cooperation with cultural institutions   (universities, NGO's, museums, artistic collectives); spring 2013
  • Public programme - public cultural institutions, exhibition spaces etc.


We are very satisfied with the achieved work results, colleagues' support and understanding by the general public. We've been enriched by sharing, exchange of experiences and positive vibrations. Therefore, we are grateful to everyone who participated in any way in the project Kustosiranje / About and around curating!

We are keeping on, of course...


Belgrade, January 2012
Andrej Bereta and Srđan Tunić