'Perhaps you just aren't a curator?'
When thinking about my recent completion of my MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, this statement delivered by three respective tutors comes to mind. In a field where titles and labels hold significant weight, this remark prompts a deeper, personal introspection:
What, then, am I?
Immersing myself completely into the arts sphere since the age of 14, I have undoubtedly discovered my purpose in the contribution to creativity and culture through a variety of means. Whether that be through working and volunteering within museums and galleries, writing and editing on behalf of arts publications, or studying the field for over 7 years academically. However, my work has only just begun.
My overriding research interests focus primarily towards facilitating and mediating entry and access points into contemporary art, for both creative practitioners and audiences, with a specific interest within socially-engaged arts practice and public artwork.
These are creative methodologies within contemporary art that I believe enables the bridging of new encounters to the most fruitful aspects of the industry; whereby thoughts, ideas and sentiments are communicated in ways that words fail to communicate otherwise, compassionate connections are interwoven between people that surpass cultural, and geographical boundaries, and the arts are utilised as a pedagogical tool and for community care.
01
Art that is felt
I remember the first time I cried upon viewing an artwork.
I was 14, wandering around Tate Britain as part of a school trip, hopelessly in awe of the works around me. Stumbling across Tracey Emin’s installation ‘My Bed’ (1998), it wasn’t long before my eyes began to well, and I found myself crying within the middle of the gallery space. As emotion overwhelmed me, a sentiment I felt most profoundly was shock. How could an artwork have such an effect on me, that it moved me to tears? How could art, even more so a stationary work without words, have the power to make me feel so much?
As I have stumbled across more works, paintings, sculptures, installations, performances, archives, projects, and numerous exhibitions over the last decade, I have cried some more. I have also laughed, been surprised, got frustrated, became angry, felt hopeful, the list goes on. It is these projections of creativity that I remember, that remind me of why I want to dedicate a career to the arts, that remind me of its transformative power.
I am committed to being a jigsaw piece to the puzzle of art that encourages people to feel something, no matter what that feeling is, because I strongly believe that when something draws emotion from us, we feel connected and binded to it in one way or the other, drawing us closer to one another, and sometimes, closer to ourselves.
02
Art that is easily accessible
Over the last 14 years, arts education in the UK has been systematically deprioritised due to increasingly large cuts to structural funding.
The State of the Arts Report published by the Campaign for the Arts and The University of Warwick revealed that the UK Government’s segregation of arts from ‘strategically important’ subjects has led to a 50% cut in funding for arts and creative courses in higher education. This is only emphasised with the findings that the earnings for those working in cultural education are below the poverty line.
Children are primarily introduced to the arts through either their familial upbringing, or formal education. However, where the future of arts education becomes gradually more bleak, what happens to those whose family’s do not prioritise the arts either?
How will the next generation of artists, designers, musicians, writers, performers, actors and dancers have access to opportunities that will unlock their creative potential?
Accessibility for the arts is not only challenging for children, but for rural communities too. The South West region of England has the largest rural population, yet receives the lowest annual investment of Arts Council funding, only a quarter of what London receives.
A significant part of my prospective mission is to aid in the generation of creative opportunities for particular groups of people who are disadvantaged when it comes to accessing art feasibly, whether that is through learning and experiencing, through gaining visibility and exposure of work or receiving rightful remuneration and recognition for valued contributions to the creative sector.
03
Art that has responsibility
With great power comes great responsibility, and I don’t believe that the arts are exempt.
I passionately believe that art has a responsibility - a social and pedagogical responsibility, to communicate, to reflect, to ask questions, to critique, to enlighten, to make visible, to care, and to in many cases, be a catalyst for change. A responsibility to potential new art audiences, to our fellow creatives, to future practitioners, to publics as a whole. The arts have an immense power to impact people beyond those who consider themselves within the creative sector, especially artwork that is communicated within public spaces and through socially-engaged arts practice.
In the wise words of curator and educator Mary Jane Jacob: “Where we haven't changed is in thinking about who the audience is and who can have a valid art experience. We are still in large part talking to ourselves or stratifying our experience as professionals, people with art degrees, with money, those from privileged social and economic circumstances.”
In a society that often benefits from notions of individualism, where we have been taught to experience the self as private, subjective, separate, from others and the world, how can we utilise the arts to hold spaces for care and compassion?
While my official occupational title remains to be determined, my professional ethos is defined by concepts such as visibility, exposure, accessibility, transparency, community, and advocacy. These principles constitute my fervent passion for the arts and creativity as a whole. Thus, whether I am regarded as a creative and cultural practitioner, an arts facilitator, an arts advocate, an arts pioneer, an arts champion, or a combination of all these roles:
My commitment to the transformative power of the arts remains unwavering.
Okay. So where do we go from here?
My educational background consists of an MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art and a BA in Art & Design History with Media & Communications at Liverpool Hope University, where I worked for Tate Liverpool and National Museums Liverpool within the respective visitor experience departments.
I have written extensively for arts and culture magazines Art in Liverpool and Bido Lito, as well as for my former blog, Confessions of an Art Junkie. All articles can be found here.
During my MA, I was involved with three curatorial projects including No Man’s Land (November, 2023), Totality (March, 2024) and The Woven Project (January 2024 - Present). More information on these projects can be found here.
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Currently based in Victoria, Australia, working towards exploring my research interests in socially-engaged arts practice, public artworks and community-based projects, hoping to work alongside creative and cultural practitioners and organisations' who share a similar vision. If you think that is you, I would love to hear from you.