Art Exchange
Art Exchange UK Trip
In the last week of October, Art South Asia Project (ASAP) was delighted to co-host five curators from South Asia for the “Art Exchange: Moving Image” programme, in collaboration with LUX and the British Council, for a research intensive residency in London. This professional development programme is a cross-cultural curatorial and exhibition intensive, designed for early- to mid-career curators from South Asia, who specialise in artists’ moving image. The programme includes online peer-to-peer workshops and an in-person residency week, culminating in exhibitions hosted in each of the participants’ home country, featuring moving image works from the British Council collection. The selected participants for this year’s edition are Anuj Malhotra (India), Bunu Dhungana (Nepal), Kehkasha Sabah (Bangladesh), Sandev Handy (Sri Lanka), and Sarah Rajper (Pakistan).
The Art Exchange: Moving Image cohort in Birmingham visiting artist-led spaces Prayer Room and Freehouse Studios with Dinosaur Kilby (Curator & Founder of Freehouse), Ishmail de Niro (Curator & Founder of Prayer Room), and Roo Dhissou (Artist) and programme partners. From L-R: Dinosaur Kilby (Freehouse), Anuj Malhotra (Programme Curator, India), Nour Aslam (Founder & Executive Director, ASAP), Roo Dhissou (Artist), Leah McGurk (British Council Relationship Manager), Benjamin Cook (Director of LUX), Sarah Rajper (Programme Curator, Pakistan), Chloe Austin (British Council Relationship Manager), Amel Moyersoen (Administrator, LUX), Bunu Dhungana (Programme Curator, Nepal), Kehkasha Sabah (Programme Curator, Bangladesh), Sandev Handy (Programme Curator, Sri Lanka), Mala Yamey (Head of Programmes, ASAP), and Ishmail de Niro (Prayer Room).
The week-long residency offered curators a chance to connect in person and to deepen their understanding of moving image collecting and exhibition practices in the UK. The group met with artists and specialist curators, learning about a range of institutions and artist-led spaces across London and Birmingham.
The Art Exchange Curators and programme partners at the British Council Collection with Moira Lindsay (Head of Visual Arts Collection, British Council), Laura Peterle (Collection Manager, British Council), Jasmine Lau (Collection Content Coordinator, British Council)
Programme Curators at the British Council Collection.
We spent the first day of the week visiting the British Council collection in East Acton. The British Council has been collecting visual art, craft and design since 1938; the aim of the collection is to promote abroad the achievements of British artists, craft practitioners and designers. The curators were introduced to Moira Lindsay (Head of Collection), Laura Peterle (Collection Manager), and Jasmine Lau (Collection Content Coordinator). The team guided the curators through the stores to see collection highlights, including works by Lubaina Himid, Sarah Lucas, Hew Locke, Hardeep Pandhal, Delaine Le Bas, and others. The curators learned more about the collecting and exhibition mission of the British Council for their proposed projects.
Programme Curators taking part in an evaluation workshop with Art of Regeneration with Alison Rooke and Imogen Rooke at Somerset House.
On Tuesday, Art of Regeneration hosted an insightful workshop at the Somerset House, focusing on evaluation and fostering partnerships. Afterwards, the group enjoyed a lunch with Kinnari Saraiya, Curator at Somerset House. The day concluded with visits to two exhibitions at Somerset House: “Ruckus!” curated by Topher Campbell, and “Imran Perretta: A Riot in Two Acts” curated by Rahila Haque.
Visiting the Barbican Centre with Lotte Johnson (Curator, Visual Arts) and Matthew Barrington (Cinema Curator).
Programme Curators at the Tate Modern with Jenny Holzer’s Inflammatory Essays, 2019, in the Blavatnik Building.
The following day was a visit to the Barbican, where the group first met with Lotte Johnson, Visual Arts Curator, and Matthew Barrington, Film Curator. The curators then visited the “Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998”, curated by Shanay Jhaveri, Head of Visual Arts. After lunch, the group went to the Tate Modern for a meeting with Valentine Umansky, Curator of International Art/Moving Image, and Filipa Ramos, independent writer and curator, before ending the day with a visit to “Anthony McCall: Solid Light”. At both Barbican and Tate, the curators spoke about the structures and methodologies of curating within an institution with moving image practices.
On the penultimate day, we brought the curators to Birmingham, the UK’s second-largest city. Led by multidisciplinary artist Roo Dhissou, the day began with a visit to Grand Union Gallery and Studios, followed by a brief tour of newly opened artist-led spaces, Prayer Room and Free House. Before lunch, Roo took us to see East Side Projects and meet Ruth Claxton, Artist Maker, and Gavin Wade, Artist Curator. Having spent most of the week engaging with more established institutions, the group found it refreshing to explore innovative artist-led spaces that offer hopeful alternatives to the increasingly rigid structures of galleries and museums. The day ended with a visit to IKON Gallery, where the participants met Amrit Sanghera, Frieze Curatorial Fellow at IKON. Amrit guided the cohort on a tour around “Friends in Love and War”, which featured works from the British Council Collection and macLyon. Viewing moving image works by Hetain Patel and Rachel Maclean in an exhibition context was especially valuable for the curators.
Programme Curators with the artist Hetain Patel at Copperfield Gallery.
As the residency programme drew to a close, the group visited the BFI, where they met with William Fowler, Curator of Artists’ Moving Image. Following the busy day in Birmingham, this session provided a more reflective moment for the group to learn about programming and archiving artists’ moving image. We were fortunate to view highlights from William's programming and the film “Europa” by Stefan and Franciszka Themerson (1932), which LUX and the BFI had worked collaboratively to conserve. In the afternoon, the curators met with Hetain Patel at Copperfield Gallery in South London, giving them a valuable opportunity to engage directly with an artist in the British Council collection and consider how his moving image works might align with their upcoming exhibition proposals.
Final Networking Event of the week at Grosvenor Gallery - From L-R: Anuj Malhotra (Programme Curator, India), Kehkasha Sabah (Programme Curator, Bangladesh), Sarah Rajper (Programme Curator, Pakistan), Bunu Dhungana (Programme Curator, Nepal), and Sandev Handy (Programme Curator, Sri Lanka).
The week ended with a networking evening at the Grosvenor Gallery. This informal gathering with drinks and Indian street food brought together curators, cultural stakeholders, friends and partners of LUX and ASAP, and artists and programmers who are significant contributors to the UK’s moving image landscape. This final event was a wonderful way to celebrate the week, highlighting the meaningful connections and enriching dialogues the curators enjoyed through their research and visits.
The “Art Exchange: Moving Image” programme is supported by the British Council and organised by LUX, the UK agency for the support and promotion of artists working with moving image, and Art South Asia Project (ASAP), London. During 2024 - 2025, LUX and Art South Asia Project will work with curators in South Asia to develop a series of exhibition projects responding to moving image works in the British Council Collection.
LUX
“Art Exchange: Moving Image” a cross-cultural curatorial professional development and exhibition initiative designed for early to mid-career visual arts curators from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
