Decolonizing Curatorial and Artistic Practices

with Kathy-Ann Tan

Duration: Aug 10 – Sep 7, 2021

Fee: 172€

Max seats: 32

Enroll before: Aug 6, 2021

Dedication: 3 hrs/week

Decolonial theory has gained much traction in the fields of art theory and curatorship in recent years. As key figures who partake in cultural production and circulation, artists and curators influence which narratives and histories are told, and how.

In this course, we will engage with the question of what a decolonial artistic and curatorial practice entails. We will begin by outlining the contexts and parameters of decolonization as an ongoing epistemic project that seeks to delink from what Walter Mignolo terms “the colonial matrix of power”. This will be followed by a closer look at contemporary artistic and curatorial strategies of reframing Western and Orientalist epistemologies, unsettling Eurocentric frames of reference, and imagining alternative aesthetic perspectives.

What role(s) can artists and curators play in questioning the neutrality of the archive/canon? How can they embrace alternative epistemologies to challenge neo-colonial forms of racism, privilege and oppression, while re-articulating marginalized experiences and silenced histories? How can they close the gap between policy and practice in Western art institutions, galleries and museum spaces, and how are non-Western art spaces and initiatives challenging normative artistic and curatorial practices? We will engage with these questions over the course of four sessions. Reading material and links to online resources will be provided.

Week 1. Introduction

• Introduction to the program and course overview.

This is a one-hour-only welcome session. The lecturer will introduce the program and participants will introduce themselves. No prior preparation is necessary.

Week 2. The Decolonial Turn in Art and Performance

This week will present an overview of Decolonial Aesthetics – theory, methods, examples of visual art and performance. Further reading and links to resources will be distributed.

Week 3. Manifesting Decolonial Artistic and Curatorial Strategies

How are decolonial strategies and methodologies in artistic production and curatorial practice made manifest? How are they received by the exhibition viewer/visitor? We will address these questions through three different case studies that include exhibitions on Afrofuturism and the legacies of colonial histories.

Week 4. The Archive and Decolonial Aesthetics

This week will explore the notion of the archive and the practice of archiving in contemporary art and curatorial practice. We will consider the archive as cultural mode of documentation and knowledge transmission, but also as a potential site for artistic forms of decolonial intervention and disruption.

Week 5. Policy and Practice in Western Art Spaces and Beyond

For the final week, we will discuss ways of closing the gap between policy and practice in Western art spaces, taking a look at how non-Western art spaces and initiatives are challenging normative artistic and curatorial practices and unsettling Eurocentric frames of reference.

Kathy-Ann Tan is a Berlin-based curator, writer and independent scholar of visual art and performance, postcolonial and decolonial theory, and gender/queer studies. She is interested in alternative models of art dissemination, exhibition-making and institution-building that are attuned to issues of social justice in the contemporary moment. Her ongoing project on decolonial aesthetics aims to collaboratively build a forum for artists and curators to develop ways of interrogating colonial narratives. As a former academic, she has experience in teaching, research, publishing and public speaking. Kathy-Ann is currently pursuing an MA Curatorial Practice at University of Bergen, Norway (2019–2021).