Residency programme for curators

The residency, which offers practice-based training for curators, says Khoj, serves as a training ground for emerging curators who will engage with various modes of artistic practice as well as be actively involved in critical writing.

On offer are two residencies, wherein a curator has the scope and scale to delve into a rich archival repository at Khoj in aural, visual and textual media which the candidates can identify as themes to curate process-based art practices. Working with this premise, the resident curator can engage with ideas of representation and develop an exhibition model to ‘represent’ processual art practices that defy containment within the traditional exhibition space.

Funded by Jamsetji Tata Trust, the curatorship programme, is of two months’ duration (mid-July to mid-September) culminating in a project/ exhibition by end-October 2011. After a juried selection process, invited curators will be provided travel expenses, housing, and a stipend for expenses while in residence at Khoj studios, as well as a seed budget for the proposed exhibition.

The resident curator will have at his/her disposal the archive and library. The residency is part of a four-year curatorship programme by India Foundation for Arts (IFA) in collaboration with select institutions across the country. The programme has been designed in collaboration with institutions across the country, which will operate as nodal centres towards building capacity in area of art curatorship.

Each nodal centre will administer a series of projects that will critically examine and energise curatorial theory, visual art curatorial practice, film curatorial practice and research on exhibition policy. It is aimed at strengthening curatorial capacity within the arts constituency and develop a vibrant public discourse on representation of art in India.

The fellowships are aimed at addressing specific gaps in museum curating in India and will bring about a vital change in the culture of art appreciation in the public domain.
Aspiring students can mail their applications with a copy of their resume, three writing samples/post-graduate thesis, catalogues/documentation of exhibitions they have curated in the past, brief proposal for residency, and two recommendation letters from art professionals familiar with their work.

Besides, applicants should also articulate their concerns and aspirations as a curator, offering some perspective on the context of curatorial practice in India and how their proposed curatorial project hopes to address this context. The last date for submitting applications is May 31, 2011. These may be sent either via e-mail/post to: Khoj International Artists’ Association, S-17, Khirkee Village, New Delhi - 110017 or e-mail: [e-mail] For more details contact Assistant Programme Executive Mohit Kaycee at [e-mail]