Curator's Column: Karen MacKinnon on Artes Mundi
Artes Mundi is an international contemporary art exhibtion and prize that focuses on artists whose work reveal and connects with the human condition and social realities. Since the first exhibition in 2004, hundreds of thousands of visitors have viewed and engaged with the work of leading contemporary artists from dozens of countries from around the world.
Over the years Artes Mundi’s core have begun to seep out of their original parameters. In addition to delivering the Artes Mundi 7 exhibition, we are working on a project exploring art and regeneration in the post-industrial South Wales valleys. Whilst the exhibition inspires, reveals and connects with pertinent ideas and issues across the globe, working directly with people in the community enables us collectively to put these ideas into practice which can begin to empower and connect those who feel disempowered and disconnected.
Running through my work over the past 25 years is the question - how art can create an alternative space to consider complex issues and the world in which we live? People often talk about art changing lives - for me growing up this was so true; as someone from a working class background who left school at 16 in the late seventies, somewhat disillusioned, it was the discovery of art whilst travelling across Europe in a camper van; the combination of freedom of expression and movement expanded my horizons and this is really at the heart of my curatorial philosophy or whatever we want to call it.
I find the term Curator problematic, it is overused these days - for me curating means working closely with artists, sometimes over a long period, in order to understand their practice. It's about enabling them to show their work in the best possible way with the care it deserves; it's all about the artists’ work and how I can enable them to make their exhibition amazing or their work with a community as mutually creative as it possibly can be.
In this post Brexit era the work of Artes Mundi and many other arts organisations who work with artists across the globe is even more vital to keep their lines of communication open.”
KAREN MACKINNON
Artist Mundi 7 is the UK’s leading international contemporary art prize and an important arbiter of cultural exchange between the UK and the international community. Bringing together a major biennial exhibition of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Artes Mundi 7 promises to be the foremost opportunity to see ground-breaking, international contemporary art in the UK. The shortlist of seven artists has been selected from over 700 nominations submitted from 90 countries.
IMAGE: Bedwyr Williams, Alptraum, 2014, Installation view, Salzburg Kunstverein, Austria.
