23rd February
For session two of the project, the New Curators met virtually to discuss their personal aims and ambitions, with a focus on five key interest areas:
We came up with a rich variety of potential learning within these areas, and we are excited to start developing our skills. We will be tracking our own progress in terms of our experience and confidence in these areas throughout the project. We have also been busy sharing reading, artists, and artwork, and it has been great to start talking about the kinds of art that influences and inspires us.
The main part of the session saw Amanda and Sally talk about their own routes into curation, and how they came to work with b-side. This was a fascinating and inspiring discussion looking at all the artists and projects Sally and Amanda have worked with, and avenues and pathways they have explored. We gained an exciting insight into what drives the team at b-side in terms of their processes, site specificity, and what curation means to them. The discussion also went into detail about the subject of Common Lands, its history, and how it came to be defined as a focus for b-side festival 2021 – plenty for us to process over the next couple of weeks!
Finally, our second session was rounded off with a discussion around two prominent sites in Chiswell: the Walled Garden and Chesil Cove (towards West Cliffs). Clearly prominent for different reasons, we were tasked with thinking about and discussing the kinds of artwork we’d like to see in these locations. This definitely got the creative juices flowing and, with some good weather coming in and the potential for actually meeting in person on the horizon, we are primed and excited to get out there and explore the island further.