Curator's Eye

Contemporary fine-art curation is premised on critical and contemplative thinking about objects and ideas in context. Three South African curators provide insight into the practice of creating compelling exhibitions.

- Layla Leiman

Often the work of the curator is invisible, hidden within the overall assimilation of objects and artworks in an exhibition. But this role forms an important part of the art ecosystem, framing the exhibition’s context, theory or focus. While curators approach their work in a variety of ways, generally it can be understood as the framework upon which an exhibition is built. This has the effect of creating the context for the objects on display and facilitating or suggesting how this should be understood by viewers.

Curators work in different ways and, depending on the institution, space or platform, to different ends. In a commercial gallery, the curatorial objectives will differ from a group show conceptualised for a public institution; similarly, a presentation at an art fair will differ from an independent project space. Three local contemporary curators, each working in their own niche within the industry, spoke to us about their role.

GABI NGCOBO

Prolific artist, educator and curator Gabi Ngcobo has been involved in the local and international art space for almost 20 years. Ngcobo has been appointed curator of the 10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, set to take place at various venues in the German capital from June to September 2018. This follows her co-curation of the 32nd São Paulo Biennale in 2016, which is the second-oldest art biennale in the world. In 2017, Ngcobo co-curated the much-lauded A Labour of Love exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery after its presentation in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2015-2016. The exhibition reflected on more than 150 works from the Weltkulturen Museum’s collection of South African artworks.