Artist and curator Marissa Neave recently posted an interesting meditation on her undergraduate program at OCAD, Criticism and Curatorial Practice, and how curating education is perceived and practiced there.
Biennals Map, Rafal Niemojewsk, from the Royal College of Art’s One of Neave’s observations feels especially apt in describing my experience in a curatorial program:
“[rather than creating hypothetical curatorial proposals,] To me, curatorial work is much more about working with limitations than having a boundless imagination. Of course, imagination plays a strong role and curatorial practice is nothing without it. But when it comes to what kind of curatorial skills I’ve developed in school, striking a balance between limitations and imagination is not one of them.”
Working creatively within set limitations is a theme I’ve been interested in a lot lately, and some of my favourite shows have been ones that used self-imposed restrictions, or overcame external ones, in interesting and innovative ways. I suppose one of the problems is that it’s difficult for artists or curators to encounter those limitations until they are in the process of putting a show together and bump up against the restrictions of time, money, artist/gallery availability, theoretical disagreements and resources in a real, tangible, kinesthetic way. Aside from finding enough money to ensure that every student gets the opportunity to mount their own show before graduation – which UBC and now U of T have done – I’m not sure how to provide that kinesthetic opportunity in a university program, especially since students are often paying big money to be in classes and want to spend that time and money focusing on their studies and don’t always have time to be pitching and mounting shows in their spare time.
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