BAN Annual Conference 2024
Day one: Thursday 28 November, optional visits 14:00-16:00, early-evening gathering 17:00-18:30
Venues across Birmingham
Day two: Friday 29 November, 09:15-17:00
Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham
Explore the outer limits, altered images and possible futures of curating
At least two decades into the ‘curatorial turn’, and after successive declarations about the ‘post-curatorial’, the ‘para-curatorial’ and the curator’s mutation into artist (or vice versa), the field we share as curators, researchers, activists and artists of different generations and different experiences continues to transform. While decolonial initiatives, eco-critical awareness and social justice claims may be foregrounded as never before, these sit alongside public sector cuts, unprecedented professional precarity and exhausting ‘culture wars’.
This conference was an opportunity to share experiences, reflect and connect in a convivial atmosphere. Following optional afternoon visits on Thursday 28 November with Grand Union/Centrala and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, an early evening gathering at The Hive in the Jewellery Quarter featured a poetic keynote from Candice Nembhard and curated catering from Kaye Winwood. On Friday 29 November, the opening session at Midlands Arts Centre included recitations from Jade Foster (DASH) and Salma Tuqan (Nottingham Contemporary) exploring the curatorial as a non-typical way of making sense of the world. Optional workshops, visits and panels explored how festivals can deliver for the moment and sustain for the future, advocacy and activism in curating, the language of ecology-focused initiatives and much else. A hub space was available throughout the day at MAC for relaxing and networking. The conference closed with a roundtable chaired by Sarah Victoria Turner (Paul Mellon Centre) featuring Melanie Pocock (Ikon Gallery), Marta Marsicka & Jazz Swali (Backlit Gallery) and Leanne Green (Tate Liverpool), and considered the possibilities for the future of the field.
Read the full programme: Curatorial Reimaginings Programme
This year’s conference was programmed with support from a convening committee of past and present members of BAN’s Steering Group who have also been part of the Emerging Curators Group, in response to proposals received via open call.
Committee members were:
Cicely Robinson (ECG 2015-18)
Lauren Craig (ECG 2020-21)
Basil Olton (ECG 2022)
Rhona Sword (ECG 2023)
Jessica Wan Ka Po (ECG 2024)
