Art of curation

Different Strokes

I  have realised that the curator’s role is more that of enabler,” says Hans Ulrich Obrist, the artistic director of London’s Serpentine Galleries. “I’ve never thought of the curator as a creative rival to the artist… I think of my work as that of a catalyst — and sparring partner.” For American artist John Baldessari, curation is “ideally, a collaboration (between the artist and the curator) in which one inspires and challenges the other.”  

Over the years, an art curator has been euphemistically called a chef; taste producer; conductor; exhibition maker; and so on. S/he is seen as someone who creates an intellectual discourse and/or validates a cerebral content. Italian curator Franceso Bonami insists that “in today’s market-driven contemporary art environment, curators retain the important task of highlighting art’s non-commercial dimension.”

Delhi-based art writer and critic Meera Menezes has been closely associated with the Indian art scene for almost three decades. “I have virtually grown up with many of the artists who are entrenched in the contemporary art world.” Author of Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde: Sonata of Solitude (2016), Menezes has also curated several group exhibits including ‘Living off the Grid’ (2009 / 15 artists); ‘Slipping Through The Cracks’ (2012 / 12 artists) and ‘Imagined Futures Reconstructed Pasts’ (2016/16 artists). Her recent curatorial venture, titled ‘Here be Dragons and other coded landscapes’, is currently on at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (April 13-May 31, 2017).

Excerpts from an interview in which Menezes shared her views on the process of curation; interactions with artists; and contours of her latest project.


On the process of curation

I often use the analogy of ping-pong to describe my curatorial practice. Once I develop a curatorial concept or idea, I lob it to the artists for their inputs, and they send it back to me with their spin/take on it. This to and fro of ideas between the artists and me is very important. I find that artists tend to come up with very creative ways of looking at concepts, which I couldn’t have dreamt of.

If this process of ping-pong goes well, it can be highly enriching for both the artist and the curator. Ideally speaking, I would love the artists to create works based on my concept. But recently, given the busy schedules the artists have, I select existing works, which I think fit in conceptually.


Looking back at previous curatorial projects

Every one of my projects has been a huge learning for me. In fact, in one of them, when I thought the curatorial process failed, I came up with the concept of ‘Room for Failure’, which dealt with the notion of failure and success. It was staged in 2013 with several artists at the Devi Art Foundation, Delhi.


On an ideal curatorial project

I see curation as a means of knowledge production. For me, an ideal project is one where there is a meaningful dialogue between the artists and the curator and an exchange of ideas among the artists themselves. If this can open up new ways of seeing for the audience as well, it is the proverbial icing on the cake.


On the importance of the curatorial note

The curatorial note or concept is of vital importance as it is the starting point of a dialogue between artists and the curator. Ideally, it should evolve over time as both share their inputs in the process. Often it is also a set of propositions or questions, which both curator and artists should deliberate on.


Your advice to young curators

I am bad at giving advice! Having said that, I believe that each curator has to craft his/her own strategy and see what works for them. Also, the thinking on the ‘curatorial’ keeps evolving, and young curators need to keep abreast of the current discourse. The visual language is very important and should not be neglected in favour of text-based works. I would also prefer having a poetic element in the art works; they cannot be merely didactic or illustrative.

On her favourite art event

Undoubtedly, Documenta in Kassel, Germany is my favourite art platform. Documenta 9 (1992) really broadened my understanding about art. It was the first time I was seeing such experimentation with media and themes, coming as I did from pre-liberalised India.

Documenta 13 (2012) by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev too was an eye-opener because her curatorial concept brought in a post-humanism aspect. Closer home, I found Insert (2014) by Raqs Media Collective broadening the discourse around the visual arts in a meaningful way. I have also thoroughly enjoyed all the three editions of Kochi Biennale.


Her take on artists as curators

Love it! Artists have a special way of seeing the world and bring that sensibility with them. Of course, they may not always have a strong concept in place but operate more intuitively or visually. One of my favourite shows was ‘Resemble Reassemble’ (2010) curated by Pakistani artist Rashid Rana. Also, the Kochi Biennale is helmed by artists. The three editions had Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu (2012), Jitish Kallat (2014) and Sudarshan Shetty (2016) as artistic directors. I am looking forward to what Anita Dube has in store for us at the next edition in 2018.

On her latest curatorial venture

I noticed that maps or cartography was a recurrent motif that cropped up in a number of artists’ works. Some artists interestingly mapped the physical space such as a land or urbanscape, while some others were mapping memories or histories. There were a few artists who also dealt with the body itself as landscape. My curatorial intervention for ‘Here be Dragons and other coded landscapes’ was to offer artists a chance to code the world and play the cartographer; and an invitation to map times, spaces, constellations, human bodies, histories or even memories. In doing so, they could make unexpected linkages and re-imagine the world as we know it.

Interestingly, when I heard artist Nilima Sheikh speaking about her landscapes being coded, it provided a creative impetus to an idea which I was toying with for a while.