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Curatorial turn-taking
Shared by Juliana Irene Smith Date shared 6 October 2023 Projects Source Conversation

"The person responsible for conceptualising the shows varied. Sometimes it came from me and then other times… Conjugal Visit was probably the best example of asking a curator to just go for it. I would still design the flyers to keep them ‘in our look’ but other than that, Khanyisile Mbongwe said, 'This is the theme, these are the artists.' With the first two shows, we tried to keep it quite light, like Pool Party and the jumping castle. I didn't want salon shows because I know South African artists have to make their bread and butter by selling work, and I didn't have access to people that were going to buy. What I had access to was: 'I can work hard for you and give you a space to do whatever you want, make you flyers and give you a tote bag and drinks as thank you.'"
– Juliana Irene Smith

As part of her ongoing project Social, curator Khanya Mashabela collects oral histories of artist-led project spaces in South Africa to complement a growing archive of associated printed matter, photographs, and digital assets collated through an open call to local arts practitioners.

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