Laurie Ann Farrell

 

A discussion with Laurie Ann Farrell, curator and winner of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (ACAP) 2010 in collaboration with artist Kader Attia.

Born in 1970, Laurie Ann Farrell is Curator and Executive Director of Exhibitions for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which operates galleries in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and Lacoste, France. From 1999 to 2007 Farrell was Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum for African Art in New York. Highlight exhibitions there include Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art (2004), Looking Both Ways: Art of the Contemporary African Diaspora (2003) and Liberated Voices: Contemporary Art from South Africa (1999). Her research for the past four years has focused on artistic dialogues and contemporary art practices in the Maghreb and the Middle East, in particular the impact of colonialism, immigration and cultural tradition on contemporary art. In 2006 she organised the American participation at the inaugural Trienal de Luanda. Farrell has an MA in Art History and Theory from the University of Arizona. Recent exhibitions at SCAD include Afterglow (2007), Doug Aitken (2009), Cao Fei + Map Office (2009), Kader Attia (2008, 2009), Yinka Shonibare, MBE (2008), Carrie Mae Weems (2008), Wangechi Mutu (2007), and Yeondoo Jung (2007).


Laura Trelford: Despite having visited North Africa many times for research purposes, your visit to Dubai in September was the first time you have come to the Gulf. What impressions of Dubai did you take away with you?

Laurie Ann Farrell: Although my first trip was very brief, the visible growth and development made a strong and dynamic impression. Interactions with Abraaj Capital stakeholders, press and gallery owners all supported the reviews I had read of Dubai as a cultural center on the rise.

LT: With all its criticisms and hype, how do you think the region has developed in terms of the cultural and creative industries?

LAF: I guess in my case this remains to be seen since my initial visit was very brief. I am looking forward to spending more time on the ground in March during the Art Dubai fair. I hope to find time to visit more galleries and art spaces.

LT: Do you think there is an element of exoticism in this sudden boom of interest in Middle Eastern art?

LAF: I’m not sure we can characterise the current global interest in Middle Eastern art as a sudden boom. There have been many successful artists coming out of the region who have developed successful international careers and have exhibited broadly to great acclaim (Kutluğ Ataman, Hussein Chalayan, Shirin Neshat and Walid Raad are a few names that come to mind). Biennials in Cairo, Istanbul and Sharjah along with the presence of commercial entities such as Christie’s has also raised awareness about art activities and the commercial art markets in the region. The Internet and Social Networking sites have also helped close some of the information gaps and helped educate viewers about the context, aesthetics and cultural conventions existing across the diverse populations of the Middle East. All of this visibility has surely elicited a range of responses that are conditioned by a variety of factors including an individual’s level of education and ability to understand cultural sensitivity. Unfortunately, we may always encounter “us”/ “them” dichotomies when it comes to outsiders looking into another region (be it the Occident, or the Orient), we can only hope that the resultant statements are informed and carefully considered.

LT: How does winning the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (ACAP) as a curator fit into your overall career objectives? What are you hoping to gain from the experience?

LAF: Winning the Abraaj Capital Art Prize allows me to extend my curatorial practice into a new context. Kader and I are extremely inspired by the generous support of Abraaj Capital allowing us to work toward the realisation of an ambitious new work. We endeavor to produce an exhibition honouring the vision and spirit of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize that will stimulate dialogue in both local and global art communities. We hope to have a reciprocal educational experience with the artists, art professionals and commercial art entities involved with Art Dubai.

LT: What do you feel the ACAP does for the advancement of both curatorial and artistic practice / awareness in the region?

LAF: ACAP brings an international mix of curators and artists together for a very consolidated period of time. I imagine all of the awardees will forge new relationships in the region, learn more about the local art scene and bring new works to Dubai that will leave a lasting impression.

LT: You have already worked with Kader Attia on a number of exhibitions in the US. What is unique about the commission for ACAP?

LAF: Attia’s commission for ACAP is one that draws heavily upon his personal history while simultaneously providing a poetic space for reflection. The work is simultaneously strong and ethereal. We believe the work will resonate with local and global audiences.

Yeondoo Jung Location #1, 2005
C-print
Courtesy of the artist and the Tina Kim Gallery, New York.

LT: What first drew you to work with North African artists?

LAF: From 1999 to early 2007 I was a Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of African Art in New York City. In 2004 I began researching and working on a large-scale North African and Middle Eastern art exhibition with Marilu Knode (who was then the Senior Curator at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art). Knode and I discovered through professional exchanges our shared interest in investigating new creative geographies and exchanges taking place between North African and Middle Eastern artists. Our goal was to present new and recent works by a range of artists from the region’s cultural capitals as well as artists of various diasporas still connected to their cultural and political homes—to elucidate how the ancient and the new co-exist in contemporary artistic practice from the region. We planned to choose 15 visual artists, plus a film program and coordinate partner exhibitions held in the MENA region, in an effort to showcase artists linked—and equally separated by—rich cultural and religious traditions. These great social and visual traditions continue to manifest themselves, mixed as they are, in the sculpture, painting, video, film and installations of these contemporary artists. Just as our project seemed to be getting off the ground we both made professional transitions and have had to postpone the realization of what promises to be a groundbreaking exhibition. In the interim I began doing solo exhibitions at SCAD with some of the artists on our shortlist. Marilu Knode contributed an interview to the Karim Rashid catalogue and the Kader Attia catalogue is currently in production.

LT: Tell us a bit about your work at SCAD.

LAF: As Executive Director of Exhibitions at the Savannah College of Art and Design, I provide artistic direction and oversee the exhibition program for SCAD’s thirteen galleries in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia and Lacoste, France. (SCAD will be opening a fourth location in Hong Kong in fall 2010.) Exhibitions of note include Afterglow (2007) a group exhibition in Lacoste (which featured work by Ghada Amer, Alfredo Jaar and Bill Viola) and solo exhibitions with Wangechi Mutu (2007), Dennis Oppenheim (2007), Yeondoo Jung (2007), Karim Rashid (2008), Carrie Mae Weems (2008), Yinka Shonibare, MBE (2008), Cao Fei + Map Office (2009), Doug Aitken (2009) and Nick Cave (2009). Many of these exhibitions received critical acclaim in major industry and mainstream publications.

The exhibitions department at SCAD is designated as an academic and educational entity. As a student-centered department, we host multiple artists throughout the year that stage exhibitions, give lectures, and make class and studio visits as a means of enriching the SCAD educational experience and preparing students for creative careers in the arts. The exhibitions department has also been able to negotiate internships and professional opportunities for students with previous exhibiting artists.

Kader Attia
Installation views of Untitled (Skyline), 2007 at the ACA Gallery of SCAD
Images courtesy of the artist and SCAD.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Website Design Agency - Webheads Interactive