28 November - 3 December 2009
Bridgetown, Barbados

The three symposia for the conference are formed around the themes of "Breaking the Silence", "Reconstructing/Deconstructing Identity: Place and Memory" and "Generational Shifts Within The Caribbean Diaspora". Caribbean Curatorship and National Identity is an examination of how history is interpreted and heritage is shaped by communal memory for audiences, old and new, local and foreign. The topic allows for a broad array of issues to be examined in intensive consultation through a regional symposium and master classes to be developed in conjunction with the Museums Association of the Caribbean (MAC), the National Art Gallery Committee (NAGC), the International Curators Forum (ICF) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM).—(website »)

Speakers include: Peggy McGeary, Florence Alexis, Lonnie Bunch, Kevin Farmer, Alissandra Cummins, Hans-Martin Hinz, W. Richard West, Jr., George Abungu, Amareswar Galla, Okwui Enwezor, John Akomfrah, Ewan Atkinson, Janice Cheddie, Therese Hadchity, Winston Kellman, Tumelo Mosaka, Keith Piper, Maureen Salmon, Julien Anfruns, Delia Barker, Asif Khan, Leslie Taylor, Graeme Evelyn, Christine Eyene, Tom Finkelpearl, Florence Alexis, David A Bailey, Adelaide Bannerman, Tumelo Mosaka and Tom Trevor.

11th International Istanbul Biennial

6 June 2009, 11 am-2 pm British Pavilion

AFTER IMAGE

This is the ICF’s inaugural dialogue in a series of events addressing platforms of production and exhibition of the moving image, that is to be continued at the Istanbul Biennial in September and during London Film Festival in October of 2009.

In celebration of the work of Steve McQueen the symposium will ask a distinguished panel to reflect on the ways in which the contemporary moving image has become radicalised as a medium of democratic artistic enquiry.

Steve McQueen will present a work in the British Pavilion which has already generated considerable international expectation. Will his exhibition reflect the desire of the Director of the 53rd International Art Exhibition, Daniel Birnbaum, to explore through Making Worlds, the production of ‘vision’ or the projection of a world seen and modeled through the work of art?

In particular we are interested in discussing how artists have engaged with the mainstream processes of production in cinema whilst retaining their aesthetic and political edge. Does this dialogue between cinema, gallery and digital platforms challenge the curator to find new ways to make the staging of vision memorable. The focus of the discussion will be Steve McQueen and his work in the gallery and cinema.

With John Akomfrah, Daniel Birnbaum, Clive Gillman, Teka Selman, Allison Thompson and Mark Waugh.

Supported by the British Council, Arts Council England and engage, the National Association for Gallery Education.

22 January - 23 January 2009

CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Symposium exploring the theme of translation in the context of the Middle East, Part One. This will be the ICF's most ambitious project and it will take place at three sites: Tate Modern and Tate Britain in London and we are in discussion about making our third site the opening of the Sharjah Biennial.

The main partner of this project is Tate National. In this symposium, we want to explore how the Middle East is defined? How does the interpretation of modern and contemporary art from the Middle East and its diaspora effect its understanding at home and abroad? How have ideas about tradition and modernity emerged in art practice? What will be the impact of new and emerging spaces for seeing and exhibiting modern and contemporary art in different parts of the Middle East? This two-day symposium brings together artists, curators and writers to discuss recent developments in contemporary art from the Middle East and its diaspora.

Tate National reflects the growing importance of the ways in which Tate relates to other organisations in the UK and abroad. It includes sections on the Tate Partnership Scheme launched in early 2000, with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund; Visual Dialogues, funded by the DCMS, which documents a project initiated and managed by Tate in partnership with a range of art galleries around England; and Tate International, which covers Tate Collection exhibitions and loan exhibitions made in partnership with other museums and galleries and National Collections, and which features the new arrangements for loans between national institutions.

This symposium is organised by Tate and the International Curators Forum and is part of the World Collections Programme in association with NAFAS online magazine. The World Collections Programme is a collaborative initiative between six UK organisations which aims to develop greater access to their collections and expertise by building partnerships with organisations in Asia and Africa.

13 February - 14 February 2009

BLACK DIASPORA VISUAL ART

This conference is part of a series a series of symposiums and exhibitions that explore visual art in the Black Diaspora.

It is a major collaboration with the National Art Gallery Committee in Barbados, AICA Southern Caribbean and the Arts Council of England.

The conference takes as its starting point Stuart Hall and the question he poses in his essay “Modernity and its Others: Three Moments in the Post – War History of the Black Diaspora Arts”. The essay offers an analysis of three ‘moments’ in the post-war black visual arts in the UK. The main contrast identified is between the ‘problem space’ of the artists–the last ‘colonials’–who came to London after World War II to join the modern avant-garde and who were anti-colonial, cosmopolitan and modernist in outlook, and that of the second generation–the first ‘post-colonials’–who were born in Britain, pioneered the Black Art Movement and the creative explosion of the 1980s, and who were anti-racist, culturally relativist and identity-driven. In the work of the former, abstraction predominated; the work of the latter was politically polemical and collage-based, subsequently embracing the figural and the more subjective strategy of ‘putting the self in the frame’. This generational shift is mapped here in relation to wider socio-political and cultural developments, including the growth of indigenous racism, the new social movements, especially anti-racist, feminist and identity politics, and the theoretical ‘revolutions’ associated with them. The contemporary moment–less politicized, and artistically neo- conceptual, multi-media and installation-based–is discussed more briefly.

The symposium will explore some of these themes in Hall’s paper with particular reference to their applicability to the contemporary Caribbean context and the relationship of the contemporary moment to earlier developments. Questions include:
❍ Is there a Caribbean canon?
❍ Can we discuss a Caribbean aesthetic in the 21st century?
❍ What are the institutional models?
❍ How do we identify the different ways forward?

The Symposium takes place at the Frank Collymore Hall in Bridgetown in conjunction with a number of site-specific artists’ projects.

The National Art Gallery Committee Barbados was established for the benefit of all. With a commitment to free admission, a central and accessible site, and extended opening hours, the gallery has ensured that its collection can be enjoyed by the widest public possible, and not become the exclusive preserve of the privileged. The committee continues to pursue a vigorous and socially inclusive outreach programme and caters for the needs of all groups in society.

16 March - 20 March 2009

CURATING IN THE MIDDLE EAST

In partnership with the Sharjar Biennial and Tate, the ICF will continue its exploration of the emerging positions on contemporary curatorial practice through a week-long series of workshops for emerging contemporary art curators from the Middle East region. The programme will bring together 7 curators from across the region, from the Maghreb, North Africa, the Gulf, Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan together with 6 curators from the UK to participate together in a programme of intensive workshops over a week in March 2009. 6 Bursary places are available!

The programme will take place in Sharjah and Dubai, timed to coincide with Art Dubai and the Sharjah Biennial between Monday 16 March and Friday 20 March 2009. In addition to the published programme of events surrounding the launch of Art Dubai and Sharjah Biennial, participants will take part in a programme of workshops taking place every day during that week.

The programme of workshops will focus on three key areas:
- Commissioning artists and artworks –the process of commissioning artists and artworks from concept to realisation.
- Building institutions – from building capital infrastructure to developing an organisation's intellectual capital.
- Dialogue and exchange – the relationships between institutions and audiences, between the private and the 'public' sectors and between the national and international.

The programme will be led by David A Bailey, Paul Domela, Axel Lapp, Gilane Tawadros and Mark Waugh with contributions from other international curators and arts professionals. Our group of Middle Eastern Curators is made possible with the support of the World Collections Fund.

20 September - 30 November 2008

The Liverpool Biennial is the UK's largest festival of contemporary visual art. Established in 1998, this year will see the fifth festival take place. Since its inception, this international exhibition has commissioned well over 100 new works, many for the streets and public spaces of Liverpool, by established contemporary artists from around the world.

European Biennial Network &
International Curators Forum

Saturday, 20 September 2008
A Foundation
67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY

For reservations telephone +44 151 709 7444
or email rosy@biennial.com

11.00 - 12.30 Between Biennials: Short-term effect or long-term results?
Is it appropriate on the opening day of Liverpool Biennial to look at the long-term results of biennials? Or is the primary role of biennials to provide a short-term injection into the bloodstream of art and city. Can they do both? Since the expansion and proliferation of biennials in the 1990s, can we now begin to detect accumulative benefits within their local arts ecologies? If so, why does criticism focus mainly upon the reception of authored curatorial strategies in an ever-expanding global art world?

This debate brings a number of European biennials together to focus the spotlight behind the scene and looks at different approaches of biennials to connect curatorial models with the cultural infrastructure in their cities. An expert panel of invited international curators, artists, commissioners and writers will represent those responsible for the organisation of the biennials. Chaired by Paul O'Neill, Research Fellow Situations, University of the West of England; with Kerstin Bergendal, artist, and author of Kunstplan Trekoner; Paul Domela, Programme Director Liverpool Biennial; Annie Fletcher, curator van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; Bige rer, Director Istanbul Biennial; Jack Persekian, Artistic Director Sharjah Biennial; Renate Wagner, Berlin Biennale; Augustine Zenakos, founder and co-director Athens Biennial; and others.

14.00 - 15.30 Raising the Curtain: a conversation in two parts
We all experience artworks at different velocities and much has been said about the need for artworks to engage us in both the spectacular flash of first impact and the slow retinal aftershocks of perception. This vertiginous moment is perhaps most precarious within the context of the international biennial when as the curtain rises the accumulation of ideas is exposed and the work becomes a spectacle in an international melee of artworks.
Hosted by David A. Bailey, Director of ICF and Senior Curator at Autograph, with contributions from Lina Dzuverovic, Curator of Nordic Biennial 2009, co-founder and Director of Electra; Cedar Lewisohn, Curator of Tate Modern Street Art and Tate Triennial; JJ Charlesworth, Reviews Editor Art Review; Axel Lapp, publisher and curator; Liyoon Lee, Director of SUUM and Curator of Fantasy Studio Project; Artists Anonymous.

24 September - 09 November 2008

By invitation of Okwui Enwezor, the curator of the 2008 Gwangju Biennale, and in partnership with SUMM, the ICF will be introduce the forum and reflect on models of knowledge development between private and public visual arts organisations. A salon event will be hosted by Kukje gallery. Gwangju Biennale's importance can be seen in several ways. It is one of the key international cultural institutions to emerge from Korea's unique modern, national and historical experience and is linked to the dynamism of Asia in the 21st century. The significance of using the bienniale as a model for historical reflection is further underscored by Korea's postcolonial status. At the same time, the Gwangju Biennale has evolved into one of the few pioneering international exhibitions to engage in the task of analysing the impact of globalisation on the field of contemporary art, and to challenge the older system of international exhibitions based on the outmoded system of national pavilions. In so doing, Gwangju Biennale has provided the space in which to explore the changing nature of international artistic networks, and to examine new modes of artistic subjectivity and conditions of contemporary cultural production that extend beyond national borders or focus on regional modes of identification.

03 October - 16 November 2008

Entitled Memory of Fire: the War of Images and Images of War, Brighton Photo Biennial 2008 will explore photographic images of war, their making, use and circulation, and their currency in contemporary society. The writer and critic Julian Stallabrass will curate ten exhibitions presenting photography, film and online material produced and circulated in time of war, and analyse how images have been shaped by the changing social and political conditions from the Vietnam era to the present. The exhibitions will include images produced by photojournalists, artists and non-professionals.

Salon with Jason Evans

Saturday, 4 October 2008, 14.00 - 15.30
Permanent Gallery
20 Bedford Place, Brighton BN1 2PT

Telephone +44 791 918 4417

Following the precedent set in Berlin, the ICF is engaging with an exciting independent gallery showing work during the biennial that explores the impact of a biennial on the development of programmes at a grass roots level. The ICF will lead a curatorial research trip to the Biennial and host a salon event featuring a conversation with Jason Evans, whose work on the urban dandy was featured in the first Brighton Photo Biennial. He will talk about the different experiences of a contributing artist and the notion of a curatorial framework, the role of the photograph as an index of the incidental and the use of archival images in contemporary exhibitions.

Brighton Photo Biennial 2008 Conference
MEMORY OF FIRE: the War of Images and Images of War

Saturday, 15 November 2008, 9.30-
Sallis Benney Theatre
University of Brighton
Grand Parade, Brighton BN2 0JY

further details: www.bpb.org.uk

Among the major themes are: what changes are brought about in the use and memory of images by their new ease of making and circulation. How do these images change when seen in so many rapidly changing and antithetical contexts? How are the same images used in different ways by, for example, pro- and anti-war activists? What are the new conventions of online image display, and how do these differ from the print media? Does the plethora of conflict images in the new media realm work against the emergence of highly memorable key images that seem to summarise an event (as famously pictures by Nick Ut, Eddie Adams and Philip Jones Griffiths did for Vietnam)? How have artists responded to the changed media landscape, particularly in placing large-format images of conflict on museum walls? Speakers include: Julian Stallabrass, Courtauld Institute of Art and BPB 2008 Guest Curator; Hilary Roberts, Head of Collections Management, Imperial War Museum, London; Eyal Weizman, architect, writer and curator; Simon Norfolk, artist; Broomberg and Chanarin, artists; Harriet Logan, artist; Sarah James, Humboldt Fellow, Berlin; Stefaan Decostere, multi-media and online producer CARGO, curator and artist; Tom Hickey, Course Leader for the Cultural and Critical Theory MA at University of Brighton; Mark Waugh, Executive Director A Foundation and Co-Founder ICF

Friday, 31 October 2008, 14.00 - 16.00
New Art Exchange
39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham NG7 6BE

Telephone +44 115 924 8630

This is a collaboration between the British Art Show (BAS) and The New Art Exchange Gallery in Nottingham. The BAS is a major survey exhibition organised every five years to showcase contemporary British art. Each time it is organised the show tours to three UK cities. The last exhibition in the series, referred to as BAS6, was touring a number of major cities in the UK in 2005 and 2006. BAS has become so large that it usually requires a number of venues to accommodate it. As a snapshot of contemporary British art the exhibition has some equivalence to the biennial exhibitions of the Whitney Museum of American Art. The exhibition is normally selected by three people who are appointed for their knowledge of contemporary art. Previously these have been artists and critics, but more recently they have been selected from curators.

The New Art Exchange in Hyson Green, Nottingham, is the UK's only gallery outside London dedicated to black and Asian artists. Housing public galleries, workshop spaces, rehearsal rooms and offices, as well as a café and shop, it is hoped the centre will become the UK's 'very best' for multicultural arts. The ICF has been invited to curate a discussion on the issues underpinning the evolution of the BAS. Like Documenta this will evolve over a five-year period, allowing for new configurations and diverse approaches to the challenge of presenting a national survey. What is strategically significant is that the exhibition tours to partner cities that raise the resources to host the exhibition. For BAS7 one of the host cities is Plymouth, which has not previously benefited from an exhibition of this scale, raising the question of how infrastructural challenges impact on the curatorial choices. These and an array of questions will aim to navigate a path through issues that have, perhaps, been left unanswered since the last exhibition.

Speakers include:
David A. Bailey, Jason Bowman, Claire Doherty, Alex Farquharson, Hew Locke (tbc), Roger Malbert, Sandy Nairne, Mark Nash (tbc), Andrea Schlieker