Faced with the challenges of closed venues, MLitt in Curatorial Practice (a programme co-delivered by the GSA and the University of Glasgow) students explored different ways to curate work, supporting artists as they find new ways to develop their practice against the backdrop of Covid-19 and engaging with contemporary issues such as the isolation and black identity.
“The projects and research the students are presenting speak not only of resilience and a deep commitment to contributing meaningful conversations and connections at a time of isolation, but also their ability to rethink what creative practice means and how it can retain a vitality and relevance in today’s uncertain world.”
Monica Laiseca and Dr Alexandra Ross
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| Carol Dunn NOWYOUSEEUS |
“I hope [through the project] to educate wider publics on the historical facts of Afro-Caribbean textured hair while introducing them to new artists inspired by, and using this texture of hair as a muse. By doing so, it aims to break down stereotypical barriers, showing and celebrating the beauty and diversity of Afro-Caribbean hair through art, language and memories.”
Carol Dunn
As activist and curator Carol Dunn seeks to engage and create dialogue through engaging with subjects as diverse as the civil rights movement, slavery, racism, and feminism, often investigating those aspects that are all too frequently hidden or misrepresented. The overall basis of her practice is grounded on creating or adding to Black Space where inclusivity and diversity are key. In NOWYOUSEEUS she explored identity through the lived experiences of womxn of colour with Afro-Caribbean hair creating an on-line exhibition of newly commissioned artworks, a group audio talk and interviews. http://nowyouseeus.org
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| Hannah Benassi – Expanded Attitudes, |
Hannah Benassi developed a publication collaboratively with the artists Sean Ellcombe, Naomi McClure and Masaki Ishikawa Reflecting on the isolation of lockdown and the restrictions caused by Covid-19, this publication provides a space for three contemporary painters to reflect on previous completed projects and share new experimental developments of their practices. Focusing on the expanded field of painting and its different working processes, Expanded Attitudes presents a variety of work from linear drawings to three-dimensional models. This publication chronicles the artists’ creative processes during the pandemic while considering changing identities in contemporary painting. https://www.hannahjbenassi.com/publications
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| Hannah Braithwaite having been touched on the surface |
Toronto-based curator and writer, Hannah Braithwaite, has created an A zine and online appendix for queer women to reflect on the spaces they inhabit and create. Initiated by Hannah in collaboration with and featuring new writing from Hannah Karpinski and Isabelle Joy-Stephen, having been touched on the surface explores queer friendships, ephemera, and domestic space. The zine will be published in a limited run autumn of 2020. The online appendix is now accessible to everyone at https://surfacezine.tumblr.com
Other Curatorial Practice projects – by Alison O’Shea, Beatriz Lobo, Cecelia Graham, Grace Jackson, Grace Thomson, Jiaying Cao, Joseph Henry, Kat Zavada Kathryn Holford, Kehan Liu, Marianne Vosloo, Pui Ying Claudia Chan, Shalmali Shetty and Yihang Hu – can be found at: https://gsapostgradshowcase.net/school-of-fine-art/mlitt-in-curatorial-practice-contemporary-art/
The Glasgow School of Art launched Postgraduate Showcase 2020 with a digital platform yesterday, 19 August 2020. Featuring work by over 250 students graduating from 21 1-year taught Masters programmes, the showcase demonstrates the creativity and innovation for which GSA students are famed not only in their practice, but in the way that they have responded to the challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic.