This session was led by Susan Gibb, a curator at If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, a curatorial production house for performance related art and research based in Amsterdam. We examined approaches to curating performance in a variety of spaces and over various periods of time.
The second day of the session we were joined by Vanessa Boni, and independent curator who has worked extensively on public art projects and performances. She presented her research and previous projects working with artists. We were also joined by Aaron Wright, director of Fierce Festival, presenting his research on live art and his projects previously with Live Art Development Agency.
Biographies
Susan Gibb is curator at If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, a curatorial production house for performance related art and research based in Amsterdam. Originally from Sydney, Australia, there she ran the twelve-month independent curatorial initiative Society (2011—2012), and has held curatorial positions at the interdisciplinary art centers Carriageworks (2011—2012) and Campbelltown Arts Centre (2009—2011).
Recent independent projects include Sriwhana Spong and Maria Taniguchi: Oceanic Feeling, at the Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore (2016); the development of live improvisational and email performances with Brian Fuata for Performa15, New York, (2015); A Planet With Two Suns with Agatha Gothe-Snape at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2013) and Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam (2012); and What I Think About When I Think About Dancing, at Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney (2009).
Susan also teaches with If I Can’t Dance at the School for New Dance Development (SNDO), Amsterdam and the Dutch Art Institute (DAI), Arnhem.
Aaron Wright took up the role of Artistic Director of Fierce in April 2016. He is a curator and producer of Live Art and formerly worked as Programmes Manager at the Live Art Development Agency (London), following an initial traineeship funded by the DCMS Jerwood Creative Bursaries scheme in 2010. At LADA he co-curated international programmes of Live Art and spoke regularly on the subject. Aaron has also worked as a guest curator and consultant programmer for the National Theatre, The Arches and Cambridge Junction, as well as co-producing club night Knickerbocker at The Yard Theatre. Aaron also worked with performance artist The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein and is a member of the Steakhouse Live collective. He is a trustee of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Vanessa Boni is a freelance curator interested in formats for presenting contemporary art beyond conventional exhibition spaces. She has an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art, London, and studied History of Art as an undergraduate with a focus on performance practices and interdisciplinary art forms. She has applied these interests to a range of international institutional contexts, holding curatorial positions at: Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig; Serpentine Gallery, London; Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool and her present role as Offsite Curator at Eastside Projects, Birmingham. As guest curator at Grand Union she curated the exhibition Hand and Mind in February 2017.
Boni has commissioned and produced work by artists such as Isabel Lewis, Meredith Monk, Liz Magic Laser, Alex Cecchetti, Hanne Lippard, Hagar Tenenbaum, Cally Spooner, Mariana Castillo Deball, Imogen Stidworthy, Chris Evans, Angie Keefer, Adam Chodzko and Jeanne van Heeswijk.
Please note this event was part of our Curatorial Curriculum.