Curating the curators: A gathering for professionals

According to Merriam-Webster, a curator’s responsibilities include “acquiring new artworks, caring for and repairing objects already owned, discovering frauds and counterfeits, lending artwork to other museums, and mounting exhibitions of everything from Greek sculpture to 20th-century clothing”.

Curatorship, like most things in Thailand, is still in its infancy — a crime almost, as the country is a treasure trove of art and culture. The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), however, has been addressing the issue. As part of the Condition Report, a two-part collaborative art project with curators from Japan and Southeast Asian Countries, the BACC’s latest exhibition, “Modes of Liaisons”, open today until July 2, is part of the project of incubating young curators by pairing them with senior curators in the Asian region.

For the first part of Condition Report, four exhibitions prepared by senior curators will be displayed in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Bangkok, as an opportunity to train young curators in addition to demonstrating the concepts and content of contemporary art. The second part, then, will feature 14 exhibitions curated by these trained independent curators.

“Modes of Liasions”, held on BACC’s eighth floor, fits into the first part of the project with senior curator Pichaya Aime Suphavanij and co-curators Aung Myat Htay, Bayu Genia Krishbie, Nakamura Fumiko and Vittavin Leelavanacha bringing in almost 20 artists, in addition to hosting lectures, performances and highlight events such as a Curator’s Forum, on April 1.