Curatorial Collaborations

A delegation of visiting international curators explored the Edinburgh Art Festival last month for the opening week of the Festival’s programme.

Curators were introduced to current practice in Scotland through gallery visits and a series of specially-planned events with Scottish and international artists and gallery contacts. Hailing from Vancouver to Warsaw, the curators took the time to form strong contacts with artists and curatorial professionals from all over Scotland.

Following this highly successful venture, Scottish curators had their own chance to share and explore practice, when 11 representatives attended the 11th International Istanbul Biennial earlier this month.

Over five days, the 11 curators had the opportunity to participate in discussions around international biennales as part of a symposium hosted by the International Curators Forum (ICF). This included networking with representatives from arts organisations nationally and internationally and looking at potential collaborations.

Representatives from a range of Scottish organisations such as Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh Printmakers, Common Guild and the Travelling Gallery made the most of the four days, visiting galleries and exhibitions, meeting leading curators and artists and participating in discussions and forums.

Stephen Palmer, Visual Arts Officer for the Scottish Arts Council said: “The Istanbul Biennial presents a fantastic opportunity to include Scottish curators in global curatorial discussions. We have been delighted to support a wide range of Scotland’s organisations this year as they explore their own working practice, network with colleagues from across the UK and internationally and look at future collaboration.

‘We look forward to hearing the feedback and seeing the benefits of this sort of exposure filter through the Visual Arts in Scotland.”

More information is available on the 11th International İstanbul Biennial website