The second of the three CD:EK early career curators’ seminars took place on 26 November 2010.

Organised by Sian McMillan, Spaces of Mediation focussed upon the complexities of working with people from different specialisms, through partnerships and collaborations, in current curatorial practice and how these influence the role of the curator as mediator between artist, artwork and audience.  Sian says:

The more specific we are in our terms and definitions, the more insular or exclusive our language may become. When working across industries there is the need to not only find new ways of articulating ourselves but also perhaps a new frame work for negotiating these differences.

Spaces of Mediation took place at the forest office of CD:EK programming partner, Stour Valley Arts.  It included a walk in King’s Wood, retracing steps that Hamish Fulton took in creating his work for Stour Valley Arts ‘Walking Through’, 1999.

As a result of the discussions, Sian says that she has:

become preoccupied by the role of diplomacy within curatorial practice, the art of conducting negotiations and the value of sometimes, saying nothing….what to share and what to hold back, while still maintaining a very reflexive practice.

For a detailed written and audio account of the seminar click here

For details of all works commissioned by Stour Valley Arts click here

For more information about CD:EK click here

As we all know, in order for arts organisations to survive the next two to three years will require significant focus on planning, increased structural flexibility and a willingness to adapt quickly, an openess to collaborations, and a heightened responsiveness to the needs of stakeholders.

We are encouraging our clients to take time to look hard at their organisational missions and to make thoughtful and deliberate decisions about priorities. The evidence is that organisations that stay true to their missions in difficult times, ask hard questions about how well they are serving constituents, make contingency plans, and think carefully about how to be more competitive and effective, are the ones that not only survive but significantly benefit in the years of prosperity that inevitably follow.

Bad times do not last forever and good planning in bad times can inevitably lead to better decisions that will have positive ramifications in the longer term.

But longevity and high artistic standards alone are not enough to ensure sustainability. The challenge will be in recognising that uncertainty and an accelerating pace of change requires situational planning within longer-term aims. Staying the course, or retrenching to core programmes, will not be enough to weather a long recession. Visionary organisations will use the challenges of the recession as an opportunity to pursue creative, strategic alternatives.

Now is a good time to question fundamental assumptions about why your organisation exists and how it can be sustained for the long term. The case for funds is only as strong as the underlying core values, aspirations and operating plans of your company. People come together in times of crisis. If you can harness this energy and bring leadership together to re-evaluate mission, constituencies, programs, governance, and staffing, you will gain a deeper level of buy-in among your stakeholders and ultimately strengthen your position to emerge as a stronger and more relevant organisation.

Big dreams should not be abandoned, but now is probably the time to focus on meeting ongoing needs and budgets, lengthening time-frames for achieving expansion and capital goals, and for looking lean to your funders. You can still make the case for your long-term vision, whilst you negotiate your short-term cash needs.

Let us know your thoughts.

We are pleased to say that Elemental Fields, the new work by leading sound artist Lee Patterson, part of his ongoing Stour Valley Arts residency (which is a focus for the work of CD:EK early career curator Sian McMillan) is currently being exhibited at Tufton House, Tufton Street in Ashford, Kent (Weds 28 to Sat 31 July 12.00 to 5.00pm).  Elemental Fields uncovers unfamiliar hidden sounds within the landscape, made by flora and fauna and modern-day human presence. Through ingenious field recordings, Patterson explores the world around us, using it as an acoustic instrument to transform the sonic experience of those encountering his work.  Elemental Fields is a location specific sound installation in a disused urban building - a journey through discrete rooms containing soundscapes mapping the flood plains surrounding Ashford and nearby King’s Wood in Challock, Kent. 

The launch day was comprehensively covered by the press. The installation was enthusiastically discussed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in the morning and was featured every hour throughout the day by BBC Radio Kent. The Guardian Guide provided a detailed description within its Exhibition section.

The work is installed on the first to third floor of a disused 1960s office block in the centre of Ashford. The building resounds and echos to the hidden noises of the floodplain, captured from its ponds and marshes, alongside the nearby human imprint of road traffic and aerocraft noise.

Examples of soundscapes created by school children as part of the project's education programme can be experienced on the ground floor of the building.

Next summer Patterson will be presenting a second range of soundscapes at Stour Valley Arts, this time captured from the ancient forest at Kings Wood, Challock.

For more information about CD:EK click here

To find out more information about Stour Valley Arts, click here or call 01233 740040

The first of the three CD:EK seminar events took place this July.  The three-part event, entitled the 'Endless Seminar' was delivered by early career curator Kate Phillimore, who is working as part of the CD:EK programme with Sue Jones, Director of Whitstable Biennale.  Further seminar events, and a final Symposium are planned as part of CD:EK, with future seminars to be delivered by the other current mentees Sian McMillan (working with Stour Valley Arts) and Matthew de Pulford (working with the Herbert Reed Gallery at the UCA Campus in Canterbury) in 2010 and 2011.  Kate's own Endless Seminar blog can be found at: http://thewhitstablesatellite.com/seminar/