Bob Gelsthorpe (he/him) is a curator and artist from Blackpool, based in Cardiff. He currently works in communications at Arnolfini and is a Non-executive Director of OSR Projects, an artist-led, collaborative and situated organisation in rural Somerset.
He previously has produced exhibitions interdependently with Spit & Sawdust, Cardiff Contemporary and Fringe Arts Bath. He recently contributed an essay addressing curatorial practice in a bilingual context to mwnwgl, and is currently working towards a climate-focussed project with Turner House Gallery, Penarth in 2023. Bob is currently studying MA Curating at UWE, Bristol, and is researching decentralisation, climate crisis, and the impact of Covid-19 on digital practice from a Wales-based perspective.
Advocating for Welsh and Wales-based artist practice is a constant driver in his interest in curating British Art as well as looking at what histories and trajectories can be developed. Bob is interested in questioning what decentralised curatorial practice might look like in the context of digital, climate and nationhood, and brings this interest to the Emerging Curators Group in 2021-22.
