I Hope this Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. It grew out of our friendship and delight in talking about art, where we, two freelance curators, openly discuss and question what we are doing, why we are doing it, and open up this conversation to our colleagues. 

In each episode we talk to our guests about their work, professional trajectory, motivation, and reasons to work as a curator or otherwise. The first season includes interviews with Lara Khaldi, Jo-Ey Tang, Clare Butcher, and Cédric Fauq.

Jingle by Difficult (Tracy Hanna, Kari Robertson & Eothen Stearn). Sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

~ Stay tuned ~

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oFYimuknUFPYvTbq2526RBOWZgd64dBh_h7R_81eL4w/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well – Trailer

I Hope this Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. It grew out of our friendship and delight in talking about art, where we, two freelance curators, openly discuss and question what we are doing, why we are doing it, and open up this conversation to our colleagues.

Recorded in July 2020, this episode is an excerpt from our conversation where we discuss why we, Eloise & Kris, became curators and freelancers in particular. We talk about what curating means for us, the expectations we have towards ourselves, and our relations to artists, audiences, and institutions.

We often talk about art and we will in future episodes, but this time we decided to focus on how we became curators, on how leaving our home countries influenced our professional trajectory and our approach to curating. We also discover that we both try to make sense of the world through and with art and artists.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our jingle was by the band Difficult and sound engineering was done by Nick Thomas.

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art/ Kunstinstituut Melly 

People mentioned in this episode:
Charlotte Posenenske
Hannah Arendt

Episode transcript:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1klMeKgC9z8tmCda69z1f7QEfYonwX5gwPE-TKu02oLU/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Kris Dittel & Eloise Sweetman

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. 

In this episode, we talk to Lara Khaldi about her professional trajectory, from being trained as an archeologist to becoming a curator, or cultural worker, as she prefers to call herself. We also talk about power relations between artist and curator, learning from artists, being a parent or caretaker while maintaining a career in the arts, and collective ways of working. And possibly, we happen to coin some hot new terminology: OOC (“object oriented curating”) and AOC (“artist oriented curating”).

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes:

“We’re still alive, so remove us from memory. Asynchronicity and the Museum in Resistance”, Errant Journal, Issue 1, Autumn/Winter 2020 https://errantjournal.org/contents-1/

Why Call it Labour: Motherhood and Art Work, Mai Abu ElDahab (ed.), 2021 https://www.archivebooks.org/why-call-it-labor/ 

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
De Appel Curatorial Programme, Amsterdam
Al Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem
Sharjah Biennial 
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah
Documenta 15

People mentioned in this episode:
Jumana Emil Abboud
Jack Persekian
ruangrupa

Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1akANXO7v3GzocqJ-Vcr83Y1wGG1s2IDCyqiJQXTkGbg/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Lara Khaldi

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman.

In this episode we talk to Jo-ey Tang about his approach to being an artist as well as a curator and how these two roles are intertwined in his practice. Our discussion revolves around the question of time, beginnings and endings in curatorial practice, but also as parameters of living a life. How to work with institutional constraints and establish the practice of Slow Programming with the inherent contradictions of slowness and the labour of slowness?

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes:

https://www.jo-eytang.com/  
Heide Hinrichs, Jo-ey Tang and Elizabeth Haines (eds.), Shelf Documents: Art Library as Practice https://ap-arts.be/en/publication/shelf-documents-art-library-practice-drawings-heide-hinrichs 

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
Galerie Joseph Tang
Beeler Gallery at Columbus College of Art & Design
The Notary Public

People mentioned in this episode:
Fierce Pussy (​​Nancy Brooks Brody, Joy Episalla, Zoe Leonard, Carrie Yamaoka)
Heide Hinrichs
Carol Bove
Wayne Koestenbaum 

Cultural references mentioned in this episode:
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Blissfully Yours (2002)
Wayne Koestenbaum: Jackie Under My Skin (1995)
Claire Denis: Beau Travail (1999)

Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/164FukwvVZJQT2Wx6dwKJAJAfhYRnUa4MESDx_lcv6j4/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Jo-ey Tang

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman.

In this episode we talk to curator and educator Clare Butcher. With Clare’s enthusiasm to discuss curatorial methodologies, we kick off our conversation by talking about her professional trajectory and early interest in a critical exploration of archival practices. We talk about institutional hierarchies, learning curves and the importance of collectivity and context-sensitivity. Clare also shared with us why she stopped making exhibitions and found her interest in the field of education and mediation, and the tension that can arise between exhibition making and educational practices in an institutional setting.

The episode was recorded in May 2021.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes:

Since this conversation was recorded Clare is no longer with the Toronto Biennial of Art and has moved on to independent projects. Here are some links for further reference to the work of her colleagues, practitioners and projects mentioned during the episode which continue to nourish Clare's methods and thinking.

This is Not An Archive (2021), Toronto Biennial of Art with Art Metropole, edited by Clare Butcher and Myung-Sun Kim https://thisisnotanarchive.ca/ 
aneducation–documenta 14 (2018), Archive Books, edited by Sepake Angiama, Clare Butcher, Alkisti Efthymiou, Anton Kats, and Arnisa Zeqo https://www.archivebooks.org/aneducation-%E2%80%A2-documenta-14/ 
Nourishing Knowledge (2017), part of aneducation program, documenta 14, with Ella Froemmel, Ayşe Güleç, Wanda Heimbs, Karl Leonard Heinemann, Carmen José, Lose Fäden, Ann-Kathrin Mogge, Otobong Nkanga, Emeka Ogboh, Nathan Pohio, Beat Sandkühler, Ahlam Shibli, Katerina Stefanidaki, Maya Tounta, Ida Westermann, Zafos Xagoraris, and more https://www.documenta14.de/en/public-education/25659/nourishing-knowledge  
unsettling rietveld sandberg, led by consultant Judith Leysner and coordinator Tracian Meikle https://unsettling-rietveldsandberg.net/about 
The Works of Art Collection at the University of Cape Town http://www.artcollection.uct.ac.za/art/purpose 
Linda Stupart, artist and previously curator Centre for African Studies Gallery, University of Cape Town http://lindastupart.net/ 

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
The School of Missing Studies, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam

People mentioned in this episode:
Gabi Ngcobo
Renata Cervetto
Sepake Angiama

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Clare Butcher

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk to Cédric Fauq, recently appointed chief curator at Capc – Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux.

In this joyful conversation full of laughter, we also discuss important issues, such as why and if the exhibition as a format should be abolished, and the internal double bind we share when working with this format. Cédric also talks about the issues of class and Blackness and how he works with them via exhibitions and mediation. Further, we discuss the curator as a figure of power and how can we dismantle this figuration; and how to “occupy” or “take space” as curators, artists and institutions in the public realm.

The episode was recorded in May 2021.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes

Transactional Objects Full of Contexts in Voided Sites, an essay in Mousse 71: http://moussemagazine.it/transactional-objects-full-of-contexts-in-voided-sites-cedric-fauq-2020/ 
Governmental Fires, FUTURA, Prague, Czech Republic:
https://artviewer.org/governmental-fires-at-futura/

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
Palais de Tokyo, Paris
clearview, London
CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux
nGbK, Berlin

People mentioned in this episode:
Ghita Skali
Cameron Rowland 
Carolyn Lazard 
Ima-Abasi Okon
Abbas Zahedi
Michael E. Smith
Okwui Enwezor 
Jo-ey Tang

Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1on9UFmoqOsUxwH5tux-sHrwMYjZ3NVeYupF1Az14qr4/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope this Message Finds You Well,  Cédric Fauq

In this bonus episode of I Hope This Message Finds You Well we share fragments of conversations with our guests that did not make it into the final edit. 

With Cédric Fauq we discuss our “professional crushes”, curators we hold in high regard. We also talk about what it means to involve the audience into the thinking and making process. With Jo-ey Tang we consider email protocols in pandemic times and beyond. Last but not least, with Clare Butcher we talk about office life vs. freelance time management, and the way the pandemic shaped our comfort to meet others in person. 

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fou5zuBfUeUbTtRvxGsZBY0wFFuV5O4ElwzSti654C4/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Sound Bites

I hope this message finds you well, heading into 2022!

What a year it’s been! We are thankful for the genuine and joyful conversations to all our guests. As we are wrapping up our first season, we’d like to share with you some cheerful moments full of laughter. 

We will be back soon with Season 2. 
~ Stay tuned ~

As always, if you have feedback, we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mzt5SOk6LOCxCc_Ta2KoBH5rGVkOMQ3fr-GR7NHJU7Q/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well – Season 1 Wrap Up

Welcome to the second season of I Hope This Message Finds You Well, a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. 

This episode is with us. We return to our initial conversation in 2020 and discuss what we have learned from our guest in season 1, and what has changed in our personal and professional lives since then. 

The episode was recorded in April 2022. 

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes:

Lara Khaldi’s episode https://soundcloud.com/ihopethismessage/i-hope-this-message-finds-you-well-lara-khaldi
Jo-ey Tang’s episode https://soundcloud.com/ihopethismessage/i-hope-this-message-finds-you-well-jo-ey-tang 
Fierce Pussy https://fiercepussy.org/ 
Paul O´Neill - Exhibitions as Readymades, Attentiveness and Escape https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8sw0KcVvZw
Shanta Rao http://shantarao.net/ 
Aneta Rostkowska and their collaborative project with Kris https://www.medienwerk.nrw/en/projects/3955/ 
Clementine Edwards, The Material Kinship Reader https://www.onomatopee.net/exhibition/the-material-kinship-reader/#publication_19309 
Katie West https://katiewularniwest.com/home.html
Joseph Grigely https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG_cZjUP088

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Kris Dittel & Eloise Sweetman (S2/Ep1)

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk to Sara Giannini, curator, writer and educator currently affiliated with the Amsterdam based organisation If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part of Your Revolution.

We discussed Sara’s approach to curating, which usually includes experimental situations and platforms that continue over time; how the loneliness of freelancing led her to take an institutional position; and the thin line between friendships and professional responsibilities. 

The episode was recorded in October 2021.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes:

Maquillage as Meditation: Carmelo Bene and the Undead
https://ificantdance.org/maquillage-as-meditation-carmelo-bene-and-the-undead/
Heterotropics, an independent research and curatorial platform http://heterotropics.com/about 

Institutions mentioned in this episode
If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, Amsterdam
Dutch Art Institute

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Sara Giannini (S2/Ep2)

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk to the three core members of Sarmad: Alireza Abbasy, Golnar Abbasi, and Arvand Pourabbasi. 

Sarmad is an independent, non-profit interdisciplinary platform for research, publishing, collective thinking, and education in the fields of art, architecture and design. In this episode we discuss editorial practices and their possible links to curating, how curating can be understood as a way of redistributing resources; navigating relationships towards audiences and funding bodies; and the work of making space for others. 

The episode was recorded in October 2021.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes:
https://sarmadmagazine.com/ 
https://worknot.info/
Golnar Abbasi https://golnarabbasi.com/ 
Alireza Abassy https://eyneyneyn.com/ 
Sarmad Fiction Writing Club https://sarmadmagazine.com/about-fiction-writing-club-2 
Fiction Writing Club 2021 Collection https://sarmadmagazine.com/Fiction-club-2021 
Fictioning Comfort project at Showroom Mama https://thisismama.nl/en/events/home-en/fictioning-comfort/
Fictioning Comfort, online platform http://www.fictioningcomfort.space/ 

People mentioned in this episode:
Tomi Hilsee
Bik van der Pol

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
Showroom MAMA

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Sarmad (S2/Ep3)

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk with Sofia Lemos who shares with us her curatorial trajectory, how she relates to art institutions and her interest in bringing together the discursive, the spiritual and the artistic. We also discuss the meaning of utopia and how art can help us to envision new worlds, alongside the question of intimacy as a possibility and the limits of institutional care. 

Sofia Lemos is a curator and writer. She is curator at TBA21– Academy where she leads Meandering, a new live research program centring contemplative and creative practices for social and environmental justice. From 2018–2021 she was curator of public programmes and research at Nottingham Contemporary and was associate editor at The Contemporary Journal. Recently Lemos was Associate Curator Public Programmes to the 2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art – RIBOCA (2020), with previous curatorial and research roles at HKW, Berlin, PRAXES, Berlin, DRAF, London, and MACBA, Barcelona. Her writing has been featured in various contemporary art and culture publications as well as exhibition catalogues and artist monographs.

The episode was recorded in November 2021.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes:

People mentioned in this episode:
Paul B. Preciado https://monoskop.org/Paul_B._Preciado 
Sophie Lewis https://www.versobooks.com/books/3756-full-surrogacy-now 
Avery Gordon https://www.soc.ucsb.edu/people/avery-gordon
Hazel Carby https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-news-from-LSE/2021/j-October-21/Hazel-Carby-joins-LSE-as-Centennial-Professor 
Pilvi Takala https://pilvitakala.com/the-stroker 
Anselm Franke https://www.hkw.de/en/programm/beitragende_hkw/persons/personenseite_195251.php 
Federico Campagna https://www.federicocampagna.eu/blank-3 
Omar Kasmani https://omarkasmani.com/ 

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
tba 21 https://www.tba21.org/#item--february-september-2020--2054 
Nottingham Contemporary https://nottinghamcontemporary.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjwm8WZBhBUEiwA178UnHltUM8PpIFGuIpoRxaXqnQyhDnnc4aLOnGl890vSBsXgAkhZhospxoCLaUQAvD_BwE 
2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art https://www.rigabiennial.com/en/riboca-2

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Sofia Lemos (S2/Ep4)

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode, we talk with Paul O'Neill. We discuss Paul’s professional trajectory from being an artist to becoming a curator; the many different modes one can work as a curator; the notion of failure as a threshold of learning, and accumulative exhibition models. 

Dr. Paul O’Neill is an Irish curator, artist, writer and educator. He is the Artistic Director of PUBLICS, a position he took up in September 2017. PUBLICS is a curatorial agency and event space with a dedicated library, and reading room in Helsinki. Between 2013-17, he was Director of the Graduate Program at the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS), Bard College, New York. He is author of the critically acclaimed book The Culture of Curating and the Curating of Culture(s), (Cambridge, MASS., The MIT Press, 2012), which has been translated into many languages. His most recent coedited book is Curating After the Global: Roadmaps to the Present published with MIT Press, 2019.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

The episode was recorded in March 2022.

Show notes:

People mentioned in this episode:
Eduardo Padilha -  https://eduardopadilha.com/bard-college/
B+B
Sarah Pierce  https://themetropolitancomplex.com/ 
Kathrin Böhm https://kathrinbohm.info/

Institutions mentioned in this episode:
PUBLICS  https://www.publics.fi/ 
Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College https://ccs.bard.edu/ 
The Hessel Museum of Art https://ccs.bard.edu/museum 
SMART project space https://arcam.nl/architectuur-gids/smart-project-space/ 

Exhibitions mentioned in this episode
Coalesce: With All Due Intent https://www.pauloneill.org.uk/www.pauloneill.org.uk/curatorial/projects/index.html 
Coalesce-Happenstance https://www.pauloneill.org.uk/www.pauloneill.org.uk/curatorial/projects/coalesce-happenstance/index.html
We are the Center for Curatorial Studies https://www.pauloneill.org.uk/www.pauloneill.org.uk/curatorial/projects/center-curatorial-studies/index.html

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Paul O'Neill (S2/Ep5)

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode, we talk with Zippora Elders with whom we delve into the imaginative realm of curating, connecting the personal to profound questions, and her approach to navigating institutions.

Zippora Elders is the chief curator (head curatorial department & outreach) of the Gropius Bau in Berlin. Previously she was director of Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen in the Netherlands, where she has since 2016 increased the visibility of this UNESCO heritage site as a thriving retreat for contemporary art and ecological exchange under the themes of Science Fiction and Enchantment, Healing, Fertility. In 2019 she also became co-curator of Sonsbeek 20-24: On Labour and its Sonic Ecologies. Formerly she was curator at Foam, museum for photography in Amsterdam. She studied Art History, Curatorial Practice and Museum Curatorship, with extracurricularly Public Administration and Philosophy. 

The episode was recorded in May 2022.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

Show notes

Institutions and exhibitions mentioned in this episode:
Foam Museum Amsterdam https://www.foam.org/nl 
Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen https://www.kunstfort.nl/ 
‘En­chant em­brace them you odd penin­sula, A gathering with love, for Kunstfort’ https://www.kunstfort.nl/en/exhibitions/enchant-embrace-them-you-odd-peninsula/ 
Gropius Bau https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/gropiusbau/start.html  
Sonsbeek 20-24 https://www.sonsbeek20-24.org/en/

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Zippora Elders (S2/Ep6)

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is back! With this trailer we are launching the third season of the podcast on curating, hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman.

In each episode we talk to our guests about their work, professional trajectory, motivation, and reasons to work as a curator or otherwise. In this season we focus on the topic of the exhibition – as format, medium, and device. We've talked to Eszter Szakács, Sharmyn Cruz Rivera, Hendrik Folkerts, Clémentine Deliss and others about the meaning, possibilities and limits of the exhibition. 

Our jingle is by Natalia Sorzano, an artist based between Bogotá (Colombia) and Rotterdam. She's working primarily with mixed media installations, music, and performances to video. In her work she inquires how relations between human and more-than-human species, objects and spaces unfold and how they affect our subjectivity. Find out more about her work at  https://nataliasorzano.wordpress.com/

Our sound engineer is Nick Thomas. https://www.studiowolphi.net/
The third season of the podcast also got a makeover, courtesy of Christophe Clarijs. http://christopheclarijs.be/

We have launched our I Hope This Message Finds You Well t-shirts, get them via our Everpress campaign: https://everpress.com/i-hope-this-message

I Hope This Message Finds You Well – Trailer Season 3 – The Exhibition

Welcome to the third season of I Hope This Message Finds You Well, a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman.

In this season we’ll be focusing our conversations around “the exhibition”. With our guests we discuss its status for curating, and whether we take the exhibition format for granted. We want to dig deeper into the exhibition as a location for the display and reception of artworks, a space of representation and liberation, and its limitations. 

Today's episode is with us getting back into the swing of things, and we discuss a lot. From comments from listeners to the job of curating, vulnerability, power dynamics, what kind of feelings are allowed in the exhibition space and the space of work. We also share perspectives on the exhibition and what we think it can and cannot do.

The episode was recorded somewhere in August 2023.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist Natalia Solzano and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

We have launched our I Hope This Message Finds You Well t-shirts, get them via our Everpress campaign: https://everpress.com/i-hope-this-message 

Show notes:
Jindřich Chalupecký Society https://www.sjch.cz/en/ 
Happier in Hollywood https://happierinhollywood.com/ 
Joseph Grigely’s Conversation with the Hearing http://www.airdeparis.com/artists/joseph-grigely/oeuvres/conversations/conversations-grigely.html 
Shimmer, https://shimmershimmer.org/ 
Byung Chul Han's The Scent of Time https://www.google.nl/books/edition/The_Scent_of_Time/FGw3DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover 
Temporary Gallery CCA https://www.temporarygallery.org/en/homepage-2/  
Unruly Kinships exhibition https://www.temporarygallery.org/en/unruly-kinships-2/

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Kris Dittel & Eloise Sweetman (S3/Ep1)

Welcome to the second episode of the third season of I Hope This Message Finds You Well, a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this season we are focusing our conversations around “the exhibition”. With our guests we discuss its status for curating, and whether we take it for granted. We want to dig deeper into the exhibition as a location for the display and reception of artworks, a space of representation and liberation, and its limitations.

In this episode, we are in conversation with curator, organizer, and researcher Eszter Szakács. We discussed her curatorial beginnings as a curator’s assistant to making the Curatorial Dictionary and her recent exhibition Dóra Maurer – SUMUS – We Are Together at De Appel in Amsterdam. For Szakács, the exhibition is a place of learning, as she says “When the exhibition is open, the work begins”. That work is learning from her mistakes to use as the launching pad for a new research and exhibition. The organizing work of making exhibitions and events political, which she discusses in her work with OFF Biennale. 

The episode was recorded in August 2023.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist Natalia Solzano and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

We have launched our I Hope This Message Finds You Well t-shirts, get them via our Everpress campaign: everpress.com/i-hope-this-message

Show notes:

In this interview, we discussed & mentioned:
De Appel https://www.deappel.nl/en/ 
OFF-Biennale Budapest https://offbiennale.hu/en/off-biennale-budapest/ 
Hajnalka Somogyi https://ccs.bard.edu/people/195-hajnalka-somogyi 
CCS Bard  https://ccs.bard.edu/school 
Lívia Páldi, https://hvg.hu/360/20230728_nacionalizmus_idegengyulolet_eroszak_Paldi_Livia_kurator_A_Mu_interju 
Curatorial dictionary https://tranzit.org/curatorialdictionary/index.php/dictionary/ 
Lara Khaldi, https://soundcloud.com/ihopethismessage/i-hope-this-message-finds-you-well-lara-khaldi
Paul O'Neill https://soundcloud.com/ihopethismessage/i-hope-this-message-finds-you-well-paul-oneill-s2-ep5 
Maria Lind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Lind 
Documenta fifteen https://documenta-fifteen.de/en/ 
lumbung https://documenta-fifteen.de/en/lumbung/
Dóra Maurer, SUMUS – We Are Together at De Appel https://www.deappel.nl/en/archive/events/1196-dra-maurer-sumus-we-are-together
Works and Words, De Appel, Amsterdam, 1979: https://www.deappel.nl/en/archive/events/143-works-and-words
Eszter Szakács, "State-Independent Art Institutions in Unsteady States: Con/Divergences of Postsocialist and Postcolonial Contexts", Artha – Journal of Social Sciences, 2021, Vol. 20 https://journals.christuniversity.in/index.php/artha/article/view/2980/2086

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Eszter Szakács (S3/Ep2)

In the third episode of the season we talked to Puerto Rican curator and writer Sharmyn Cruz Rivera. As with all our guests this season, we discuss her views on the exhibition and the ways her practice aims to expand the boundaries of exhibition-making, with an emphasis on collaborations and dialogue. Sharmyn also explains to us how she listens to the exhibition, and we discuss how sound and listening resist the traditional exhibition structure of containment. We also talk about the ways communities are often taken for granted within an exhibition framework and how listening helps us tap into the world around us in different ways.

In our introductory short conversation with Eloise we talk about enchantment and exhibitions where we had that experience lately.

About our guest: Sharmyn Cruz Rivera is a Puerto Rican curator and writer based in Rotterdam. Her curatorial practice seeks to expand the boundaries of exhibition-making to make way for emerging formats of interdisciplinary collaboration, presentation, and dialogue. Her work explores the politics of identity under the conditions of modernity, colonialism, and capitalism and how subversion manifests in creative acts of refusal. She often tackles the legacy of colonisation within the Caribbean context through the lens of contemporary artistic production and strategies of redress. 

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist Natalia Solzano and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

We have launched our I Hope This Message Finds You Well t-shirts, get them via our Everpress campaign: everpress.com/i-hope-this-message

The episode was recorded in January 2024.

Show notes:

Sharmyn Cruz Rivera https://www.sharmyncruzrivera.com/
Nibia Pastrana Santiago https://www.nibiapastrana.com/ 
Daniel Giles https://www.pzwart.nl/blog/2020/04/01/danny-giles/ 
The Josephine Baker house by Adolf Loos https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/loos-and-baker-a-house-for-josephine
Fluister de Wind Waarop at De Appel https://www.deappel.nl/en/archive/events/1139-fluister-de-wind-waarop
Lampo, Chicago https://lampo.org/  
The Art Ensemble of Chicago https://www.artensembleofchicago.com/ 
Sun Ra 
Pauline Oliveros
Max Neuhaus 
Connie Fredericks-Malone https://conniefredericksmalone.com/
Fuga, curated by Sharmyn at Shimmer https://shimmershimmer.org/ 
Félix González-Torres https://www.felixgonzalez-torresfoundation.org/

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Sharmyn Cruz Rivera (S3/Ep3)

In the fourth episode of the season we talked to Hendrik Folkerts, Curator of International Contemporary Art and Head of Exhibitions at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. With Hendrik we talked about the ways his former experience in curating performance and public programmes influenced his current curatorial practice and approach to exhibition-making. He sees the exhibition as a relational mechanism, manifested by his interest in scenography, staging artworks and the way bodies move through space. We also talked about Hendrik’s approach to curating and his recent projects: Seven Rooms and a Garden: Rashid Johnson and the Moderna Museet collection, and a large-scale solo exhibition Vaginal Davis: Magnificent Product. 

Hendrik Folkerts is Curator of International Contemporary Art and Head of Exhibitions at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Previously he served as the Dittmer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago between 2017–2021. He was also a member of the curatorial team of documenta 14 and served in Amsterdam as curator of performance, film, and discursive programs at the Stedelijk Museum.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist Natalia Solzano and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

We have launched our I Hope This Message Finds You Well t-shirts, get them via our Everpress campaign: everpress.com/i-hope-this-message

The episode was recorded in January 2024.


Show notes:

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam https://www.stedelijk.nl/en 
Curatorial Programme at De Appel Arts Centre https://www.deappel.nl/en/curatorial-programme/518-intro 
Seven Rooms and a Garden: Rashid Johnson and the Moderna Museet collection
https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/rashid-johnson-seven-rooms-and-a-garden/ 
University of Amsterdam https://www.uva.nl/en 
Rachel Esner
Marga van Mechelen
Miriam van Rijsingen
Sophie Berrebi
If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want to be Part of Your Revolution https://ificantdance.org/ 
Tino Seghal
Maria Hassabi
Alexandra Bachzetsis
Stuart Comer Catherine Wood
Sharon Hayes
Wu Tsang
Every Ocean Hughes
Rashid Johnson
Ann Goldstein 
The Sovereignty of Quiet by Kevin Quashie https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-sovereignty-of-quiet/9780813553108/ 
Vaginal Davis 
Nationalmuseum Stockholm https://www.nationalmuseum.se/en/ 
Index Stockholm https://indexfoundation.se/ 
Accelerator Stockholm https://acceleratorsu.art/en/frontpage/ 
Tensta konsthall ​​https://www.tenstakonsthall.se/en 
documenta 14 https://www.documenta14.de/en/ 
Adam Szymczyk
The Art Institute of Chicago https://www.artic.edu/

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Hendrik Folkerts (S3/Ep4)

In the fifth episode of the season we talked to Dr. Clémentine Deliss who works across the borders of contemporary art, critical anthropology, curatorial practice, and publishing. We talked about her curatorial beginnings and significant projects in her professional trajectory as an “artist to artist” curator. We also discussed her take on the exhibition that foregrounds and reflects a “conceptual intimacy”, where non-didactic learning, visual thinking and juxtapositions take center stage. 

Dr. Clémentine Deliss is Global Humanities Professor in History of Art, University of Cambridge, and Associate Curator at KANAL-Centre Pompidou in Brussels, where she runs the “Metabolic Museum-University”. Between 2020-23, she was Associate Curator at KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin. Her exhibition at KW “Skin in the Game” included seminal prototypes by Ruth Buchanan, Otobong Nkanga, Collier Schorr, Rosemarie Trockel, Joëlle Tuerlinckx and Andrea Zittel. Since 1996, she has published the artists and writers’ organ “Metronome”.

In the introductory mini conversation we, Eloise and Kris, talk about our relationship to food, nourishment, AI friends and online communities.  

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist Natalia Solzano and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

The episode was recorded in February 2024.

SHOW NOTES:

“Metabolic Museum-University” www.mm-u.online 
University of applied Arts Vienna, Ulay, Vito Acconci, Marina Abramović, Joseph Kosuth, Susan Hiller, Michael Oppitz, Valie Export, Rudi Fuchs, Kasper König, Harald Szeeman
Hayward Gallery London
DUACH, Mike Kelley, Rosemarie Trockel, Lubaina Himid, Jay Gorney, Jeff Koons
“Lotte or the Transformation of the Object” https://formerwest.org/ResearchLibrary/LotteortheTransformationoftheObjectLotteoderderTransformationdesObjekts 
Haim Steinbach, Mr. Salt 
“Manifesto on Neighborly Dislike as Curatorial Critique” https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/manifesto-on-neighborly-dislike-as-curatorial-critique-clementine-deliss-2023/ 
“Skin in the Game” at KW Berlin https://www.kw-berlin.de/en/skin-in-the-game/ 
“Metronome, an artists’ and writers’ organ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metronome_(artists%27_and_writers%27_organ) 
Paul Virilio, Issa Samb, Yinka Shonibare, Robert Loder, Gasworks London, Stuart Morgan, Artscribe magazine, John Akomfrah, June Givanni, Mark Sealy 
Africa95 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa95
“Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa” https://contemporaryand.com/magazines/seven-stories-about-modern-art-in-africa/ 
El Hadji Sy, Chika Okeke, Wanjiku Nyachae
Cédric Fauq
Okwui Enwezor
Frieze
Mathis Esterhazy 
Dilijan Arts Observatory https://mm-u.online/project/arts-observatory/ 
Theaster Gates
Ruth Buchanan, Otobong Nkanga, Collier Schorr, Joëlle Tuerlinckx, Andrea Zittel

I Hope This Message Finds You Well, Clémentine Deliss (S3/Ep5)

As we are wrapping up the third season of the podcast, we’d like to share with you a short bonus episode, recorded at the gym. 

We talked about our relationship to exercise and understanding of our limits. We also discussed failure, body-work and writing via Kathy Acker, and writing as a physical experience.

If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at ihopethismessagefindsyouwell@gmail.com; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist Natalia Solzano and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs.

The episode was recorded in March 2024.

I Hope This Message Finds You Well – Bonus episode

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. 

It grew out of our friendship and delight in talking about art, where we, two freelance curators, openly discuss and question what we are doing, why we are doing it, and open up this conversation to our colleagues. 

In each episode we talk to our guests about their work, professional trajectory, motivation, and reasons to work as a curator or otherwise.

I Hope This Message

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