This morning I am chairing a discussion about festivals in the visual arts sector.
The leading question is: if festivals are the new platform and sites the new venues, what can they offer, and what can’t they offer – for artists, curators and audiences?
It’s a very good and timely question to ask, when studio practice and research led practice are at risk of being put aside in favour of large public events. Maybe there a way of holding onto those more private, inward practices? Does our understanding of festival have to equate with spectacle, large audiences, outcomes not processes?
Is the word itself problematised?
These are some of the questions we’ll be discussing today in a conversation led by people who have extensive experience of reflecting upon art in the public realm. Katie Etheridge, Grace Davies, Dany Louise and Alex Murdin start the day with presentations, then the delegates all join in as participants to examine the question above.
Really excited about doing this, it’s a good way to spend a wet weekend!
Carolyn Black 