Experimenter Curators’ Hub 2022

Experimenter Curators’ Hub is a platform for developing and sustaining discourse on curatorial practice and exhibition-making through critical discussion and debate. Structured as a deeply intensive program, every year the hub invites some of the foremost curators of the world to present their practice with reference to recent exhibitions curated by them. The audience at Experimenter Curators' Hub plays an active role in this exchange and contributes significantly to the conversations. The final day ends with a moderated panel discussion with all the participating curators and collaborators reflecting on the key aspects that emerged over the course of the hub. 

“As we return to the 12th edition of the Experimenter Curators’ Hub 2022, the first in-person iteration of the Hub after two years, we are increasingly aware of the importance of creating a physical space that allows for critical yet constructive conversation between curators, thinkers, writers, artists and the audience. 

All around us, we see a rapidly shrinking space for free debate and the emergence of hostile responses to ideas of plurality. The Experimenter Curators’ Hub attempts to build an environment for fearless and intimate discussions between some of the most forward thinking and influential curators, thinkers and practitioners of contemporary visual arts of our time, to build crucial interpersonal interactions and a space for discussion and sharing ensconced in nurture and care.” – Prateek & Priyanka Raja, Directors, Experimenter.

The participating curators at ECH 2022 are:
Ade Darmawan, Artist, curator and director of ruangrupa, co-artistic director of documenta 15.
aqui Thami, Artist & founder of Sister Library.
Ashok Sukumaran, Artist and co-founder of the group and studio CAMP.
Brook Garru Andrew, Director of Reimagining Museums and Collections, University of Melbourne & artistic director of NIRIN, the 22nd Biennale of Sydney.
Hit Man Gurung & Sheelasha Rajbhandari, Co-curators of the Kathmandu Triennale 2077 & Nepal Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2022.
Kabelo Malatsie, Director of Kunsthalle Bern.
Tanzim Wahab, Festival Director of Chobi Mela International Festival of Photography.
The hub will be moderated by Natasha Ginwala, Associate Curator at Large at Gropius Bau, Berlin; Artistic Director of Colomboscope, Berlin / Colombo.
Guest speaker Karuna Nundy, Advocate at The Supreme Court of India, and international human rights lawyer.
Guest performer Sabika Abbas Naqvi, Performance poet and Founder of Sar-e-rahguzar: Poetry on the streets & Co-editor of the Bystander Anthology and Senior Editor of the SAAG Anthology.

Experimenter Curators' Hub 2022 is organised by Experimenter Learning Program Foundation and is supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Australian Consulate-General, Kolkata, Pro Helvetia, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata, ArtReview (Strategic Partner) and TAKE on Art (media partner). 

The Hub will be held at Experimenter - Hindustan Road, Kolkata on November 4 and 5, 2022, and live streamed on Experimenter and ArtReview’s websites, breaking down traditional constraints of location and opening up the debate to people around the world. The online audience has the opportunity to question and interact with the curators in real time. Since its inception in 2011, the Hub has hosted 100 leading curators. All presentations are archived online and are offered as a free resource to enable audiences to use as part of research and also experience the event. Presentations from the previous editions may be viewed here: https://experimenter.in/curators-hub/video-archive/