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About educational program Introduction of program 2018-2022 About Participants Alumni Mentors Events How to Apply Programs WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO?—WCSCD was initiated in 2018 in Belgrade as an educational platform focused around notions of the curatorial and is a registered civic association. ​ WCSCD’s education program has been run on an annual basis every year since 2018. Till 2022 it was organized as a three-month program for practitioners situated in Belgrade. From 2023 program is organized as biennial working with program participants over longer period of time. ​ Our participants were young practitioners from different parts of the world including the Balkans, EU, Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Latin America making it a unique program in Europe. ​ WCSCD educational program has been learning through recent years to think what kind of citation could actively produce.Through carefully created mentorship program we are committed to think and practice what kind of knowledge we consider worth and how it gets prioritized creating new citations from the margins. [1] ​ [1] Sara Ahmed, “White Men,” Feminist Killjoys Blog, November 4 2014, www.feministkilljoys.com/2014/11/04/white-men

Our Team Founding Director Biljana Ciric what.could.curating.do@gmail.com Coordinator Ana Dragic ana.wcscd@gmail.com Design Toby Tam tobytam06@163.com WCSCD previous team members: Sasa Tkacenko, Katarina Kostandinovic, Ana Anakijev, Aigierim Kapar.

Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Series of texts developed by participants of WCSCD 2020/2021 program as a response to Bruno Latour text What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model? The series of texts have been developed by participants of WCSCD2020/2021 program as a response to Bruno Latour text What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model? http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/downloads/P-202-AOC-ENGLISH_1.pdf This was volunteer response during the lock down as a way of solidarity and vocalizing our hopes and fears. I would like to thank to all authors who contributed as well as Katelynn Dunn and Róisín McQueirns for editorial work on published texts Program has been postponed for March 2021. C OVER IMAGE photo by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand Silver of the Blue Sky NYC April 2020 LIST OF CONTRIBUTION 22 June 2020 Which Side Have You Chosen? A Response to Bruno Latour [1] Anna Mikaela Ekstrand Read More 4 May 2020 Response to Latour I, Crisis, Production and Closed Communication Katelynn Dunn Read More 2 May 2020 After The Covid-19: Speculations Over The Verb ‘To Re-Start Giulia Menegale Read More 23 Apr 2020 Present Perfect Continuous Tīna Pētersone Read More 17 Apr 2020 Immovable Object /Unstoppable Force Devashish Sharma Read More 10 Apr 2020 Care in Crisis – A Response to Bruno Latour’s protective measures post-crisis Beatrice Rubio-Gabriel Read More 10 Apr 2020 A response to Bruno Latour’s Protective Measures Nathalie Encarnacion Read More 10 Apr 2020 Art in Central Asia during the quarantine Nellya Dzhamanbaeva Read More 7 Apr 2020 Activities to stop or to reappear and to be born after (or as a result of) the health crisis Yana Gaponenko Read More 6 Apr 2020 Untitled Madina Gasimi Read More 5 Apr 2020 The Landscape of Unknown Idil Bozkurt Read More 5 Apr 2020 Art as barrier gestures Anne Bourrassé Read More

Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Series of texts developed by participants of WCSCD 2020/2021 program as a response to Bruno Latour text What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model? The series of texts have been developed by participants of WCSCD2020/2021 program as a response to Bruno Latour text What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model? http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/downloads/P-202-AOC-ENGLISH_1.pdf This was volunteer response during the lock down as a way of solidarity and vocalizing our hopes and fears. I would like to thank to all authors who contributed as well as Katelynn Dunn and Róisín McQueirns for editorial work on published texts Program has been postponed for March 2021. C OVER IMAGE photo by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand Silver of the Blue Sky NYC April 2020 LIST OF CONTRIBUTION Response to Latour I, Crisis, Production and Closed Communication by Katelynn Dunn Read More This is a Title 01 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Read More

As you go … Online Journal Editorial Statement As you go... roads under your feet, towards the new future is transitioning from a long-term research curatorial inquiry into a sustainable, autonomous, transnational, and multiplatform organization. Biljana Ciric conceived and initiated this project in 2019, and it has since developed into a network of organic research cells comprising independent art practitioners, small-scale organizations, state/private museums, and researchers from various fields. As you go… aims to generate alternative modes of working together that debunk the hierarchy of the artistic institution, encouraging creative interplays amidst the vast scope of cultural production and interdisciplinary research. The initiative has organized two encounters, the first in Addis Ababa and the other in Bor, a symposium, and provided support to numerous artists, collectives, and researchers. The transition to a sustainable, autonomous, transnational, and multiplatform organization is a significant step forward for As you go… and its partners. The organization will continue to connect and relate with localities on the margins and expand its network to like-minded individuals, communities, and institutions in various regions. As you go… will nurture art and research as political and solidarity practice within its organization members and beyond, using opacity and visibility as active choices. As you go… transnational organization funding partner cells include: Biljana Ciric , What Could Should Curating Do, Belgrade Larys Frogier , OW Ocean & Wavz, Paris Aigerim Kapar , Artcom Platform, Almaty/Astana Jelica Jovanovic , Belgrade/Vienna Sinkneh Eshetu , Fruitycity Children’s World, Addis Ababa Among our other activities and platforms that we use to connect to and engage with artists, art institutions, and the public, we will continue our online journal. As a journal, we are committed to supporting initiatives that challenge the usual definition of curatorial practice and academic research and aim to generate alternative modes of working together. We believe that As you go… has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary arts and humanities by fostering collective and critical learning, building a sense of intimacy, and amplifying unheard voices of shared struggles within different contexts. As you go… member cells in different parts of the globe commit to continuing to contribute to our journal, sharing their personal as well as institutional experiences and learning, as they act within their local contexts with a shared vision as an organic unit. We also encourage and welcome contributions from individual and institutional partners of As you go… to lend impetus to our shared goal of playing constructive roles in contemporary arts and humanities through channeling unheard voices and ‘quoting from the margins’. As you go… funding partner cells will also serve as members of the online journal editorial board. Written by Sinkneh Eshetu April 2023 Addis Ababa 21 Feb 2022 Stories from the room - Conversation Jasphy Zheng Read More 18 Feb 2022 A disturbing Chinese dream: scattered thoughts on the cultures of involution and art institution in China Zian Chen Read More 15 Dec 2021 Shore Seeing Stillness Ash Moniz Read More 10 Nov 2021 Non-Alignment Summit Anniversary a difficulty to re-member Dunja Karanović & Jovan Mladenović Read More 5 Nov 2021 SEEING THE INVISIBLE Alexey Ulko Read More 3 Nov 2021 THE CULTURAL INTERWEAVING OF CHINA AND THE BALKANS: A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF ARTISTIC EXCHANGES UNDER THE BRI Marija Glavaš Read More 15 Oct 2021 NETWORKING THE PERIPHERIES: LOOKING EAST FROM THE EAST Jelica Jovanović Read More 10 Sept 2021 Virtually Driving Back in Time? Sinkneh Eshetu Read More 15 July 2021 Notes on respiration Teodora Jeremić Read More 10 July 2021 Untitled Naol Befkadu Read More 20 June 2021 The Election Conundrum: Ethiopia’s Determination to hold the 6th National Election and its Ramifications Naol Befkadu Read More 15 June 2021 Life ‘After’ the Pandemic: Ethiopia’s Response to COVID-19’s Paradoxical Effect Naol Befkadu Read More 25 May 2021 Astrobus Ethiopia 2021 Astrobus Read More 10 Apr 2021 As you go... Journal Special Issue April 2021 Biljana Ciric Read More 15 Feb 2021 THE CULTURAL INTERWEAVING OF CHINA AND THE BALKANS Marija Glavaš Read More 15 Jan 2021 History and stories from Lake Balkhash Aigerim Kapar Read More 30 Dec 2020 THE DANGER OF AMBITION AND NEGLECT The Case of Beautifying Sheger Sinkneh Eshetu, Aziza Abdulfetah Busser & Berhanu Read More 25 Dec 2020 Behind Ethiopia’s Civil War: From Guerrilla to Secessionist Berhanu Read More 20 Dec 2020 “Bor is burning” [1]: the political economy of IT in the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia Robert Bobnič and Kaja Kraner Read More 26 Nov 2020 Infrastructuring the Region: Fieldnotes of an Ongoing Research Jelica Jovanović Read More 22 Nov 2020 Seeing the Invisible: Documenting and Interpreting China’s Cultural Presence in Uzbekistan (Part 2) Alexey Ulko Read More 15 Nov 2020 Partner Cells in Co-Immunity ​ Read More 28 Aug 2020 On Bor’s Industrial Heritage Dragan Stojmenovic Read More 25 Aug 2020 Seeing the Invisible: Documenting and Interpreting China’s Cultural Presence in Uzbekistan (Part 1) Alexey Ulko Read More 20 Aug 2020 On Not Hearing the Gunfire Su Wei Read More 15 Aug 2020 Treading a line Sarah Bushra Read More 28 July 2020 The stories behind the lockdown: Kazakhstan against Corona Anvar Musrepov Read More 20 July 2020 Bicycle Uprising Against Authoritarianism Tjaša Pureber Read More 15 July 2020 Belgrade Calling 2 Katarina Kostandinović Read More 28 June 2020 BOR Hu Yun Read More 20 June 2020 Beating Around the Bush: Some Reflections on the Crisis of “Imported Cases” of Africans in Guangzhou Berhanu Read More 28 May 2020 Bishkek – Addis Ababa, notes from the journey through space and time Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev Read More 18 May 2020 Mask making and coffee drinking in Addis Sarah Bushra Read More 25 Apr 2020 Belgrade Calling Katarina Kostandinović Read More 20 Apr 2020 Boarding & Europe Siniša Ilić Read More 18 Apr 2020 School-In-Isolation Bermet Borubaeva Read More 16 Apr 2020 Artists as Gardeners Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev Read More 15 Apr 2020 Corena* Musings Sarah Bushra Read More 14 Apr 2020 What happens after the contactless art world? Nikita Yingqian Cai Read More 12 Apr 2020 The Sustainable Museum Zdenka Badovinac Read More

< Back The Landscape of Unknown Idil Bozkurt I closed my eyes and saw the vision field. I listened to my breath. again and again, nothing but this very moment. I was here. Now, I open my eyes and see my vision field. Light and Shadow, almost seeing the particles in the air. here I go again. İdil Bozkurt, The Landscape of an Unknown, 2020 “Disturbance realigns possibilities for transformative encounters.” Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World I woke up this morning and remembered the dream I had, which, unlike others that slip away moments after waking, came back to me suddenly: I was walking around the city. There was no one outside but me. I ambled through the streets secretly enjoying the quietness. Empty streets, bare gardens and barren shops. While I was wandering in the streets of this ghost town, I suddenly spotted a huge billboard on the side of the building. There, I realized that the words on the sign gave a proclamation of good news:‘From the 20th of April, we will be elevating the recent restrictions about your social life. You will be able to go out and socialise as normal. We are working very hard on it. Everything will get back to normal.’ When I awoke, I had a strong sense of the emotion that was left with me after having read the sign within my dream. The initial feeling I had was disappointment, which was followed by a state of panic and anxiety. ‘Is that it? We haven’t changed anything yet!’, I thought to myself. And, here I am writing this piece with all those feelings in my mind vividly, distinctively. Is there something wrong with me that deep down I secretly wish this crisis to continue until it reaches its meaningful end? Meaningful end? What does ‘meaningful end’ even mean? What do I expect this crisis to turn into? I wonder if I’m thinking like Winston Churchill who believes the rule- ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’? True or not, this expression is now commonly applied to economic or diplomatic crises that can be exploited to advance political agendas. To support this argument, frighteningly, there seems to be many recent examples of it- an opportunity for authoritarian power grabs in Hungary, Israel, China, the Philippines and the US, with more to follow undoubtedly. This advice, of course, can be read as each crisis brings its own opportunity for a creative response. The matter of letting crises be wasted or not fills me with a sense of urgency. This urgency is followed by the fog of the unknown lingering in the air and it is hard to see what’s on the horizon, or even what’s in front of us. Although, staying put is hard especially while viewing digital totalitarian regimes rapidly take place, while healthcare professionals work in precarious conditions and society at large coping with social distancing during the COVID-19 outbreak. Millions of people have lost their jobs during this turbulence. In addition to this, I am also worried about the state of arts and culture, and especially art professionals who work independently with freelance or zero-hours contracts. For instance, in the city of Brighton, where I live, 40% of its revenue comes from festivals and cultural events across the year. The month of May is one of the best times to be in Brighton. There are four different festivals that are run throughout May. Of course, with the recent events, many of them are cancelled or postponed. Some festivals fund themselves through their ticket sales, and the cancellation of these festivals are not only affecting their ability for future participation, but also hitting the staff who intended to work with them. I count myself as one of those affected. I had two exhibitions cancelled along with many months of freelance jobs. I have not only realised the precariousness of my working conditions but I have found that I have started to reconsider the value of these works—what is the value of an exhibition? What does it mean to ‘go-online’ and continue producing content on digital platforms? What does it feel like to be in a virtual gallery? How does it affect our relationship with space, art and spectatorship? What is the role of the curator, here and now? How should we value public spaces now that we can no longer access them? How is this uncertain time going to affect artists? Galleries and museums may well be the last places to be reopened to the public—then, will things go back to normal ? It’s important to see the reaction of many galleries and museums during the COVID-19 crisis. As many of us whose independent projects and works were cancelled, we joined with the rest of our friends and families at home, who are not only locked down in their households, but also locked to their screens. Right after the lockdowns a number of museums, art organisations and galleries responded to this moment of crisis by ‘going-online’ where they have continued to produce and disseminate their content through platforms such as Zoom, Instagram, Jitsi and many others with which they can broadcast talks, live chats, workshops, virtual gallery tours and even virtual studio visits. They are still striving to keep us connected. We are quite grateful for this wide range of content being put in front of us while others are struggling to stay connected 24/7 and have started to suffer from digital ‘burn out’. Relevantly, for the last couple of years, there has been a rising debate on ‘ burn out culture ’, especially amongst freelance gig workers. I regularly hear from many colleagues and friends who are in a constant battle with this experience and struggle with burnout. As the majority of people all experience this endless exhaustion where work becomes an identity, capitalism becomes a religion and productivity manifests the way we measure human value. Here we are again, while everything has paused, we are still experiencing the digital side of burnout. I wonder what would happen if the whole art world stopped and went silent for a bit. If there were no arts content, what would it look like? If this is not a great time to slow down and reflect on the values of spaces that are dedicated to exhibiting art and the importance of our relationship with it, then when is it going to be? The Landscape of an Unknown, 2020 Let me explain myself here. My intention is neither to throw a stone at the art institutions, museums or galleries nor do I desire to see the arts and creative sector crumbling down. They are not the essence of the problem but they are the part of the globalised production systems. For instance, contemporary biennials are a way of signalling a city’s headway to enter the globalizing world of trade and culture through the use of art to encourage tourism, cultural ‘growth’ and international media. Hito Steyerl puts this very clearly in her essay Duty Free Art where she says, “…contemporary art is made possible by neoliberal capital plus the internet, biennials, art fairs, parallel pop-up histories, growing income inequality. Let’s add asymmetric warfare -… real estate speculation, tax evasion, money laundering and deregulated financial markets to this list.” I’m not talking about the creation of arts but rather the roles of museums and art institutions in the context of the globalised system of production. The consequences of the globalised production systems in contemporary arts can be seen today in the growth of a certain form of art that is now supposed to be seen everywhere at biennials, also in a marked decrease in the ‘specificity’ of regional cultural output. We are facing the increasingly blurred and confused role of art in contemporary culture. In the last few years, the ideas of transformative change, placemaking, the role of artists and audience, funding and diversity have been the subjects that are widely discussed in art institutions, in public art spaces and galleries. It seems to me that we all go around these subject matters, making mind maps, discussing and sharing stories but not feeling brave enough to delve into the essential questions about what the problem is with the state of art institutions in the contemporary art scene. How can we think of art institutions in an age of globalised production, growing inequality, climate emergency and digital technology? It’s important to rethink and reimagine many subjects like sustainability, diversity, equality and legacy here. Perhaps the answer lies not only in the act of looking to the past, but also in the construction of new conversations about public spaces, the formation of collective culture, and the future of art. Referring to Bruno Latour’s questions here, what are some suspended activities that you would like not to see coming back as an arts professional and/or an artist? It might be useful to visit the concept of curare here. To take care of. Curators are assigned to the job of caring in the art world. Over the years, various forms of caretaking have evolved from this root word, but contemporary curator’s work remains similar to the curare of growing, developing and seeking to help the art of people, their meaning, interpretation and commonalities flourish. Now, the desk of many curators is empty – at least for the time being. Creating art is not always a question of the moment, and neither is its exhibition; curating follows art. So where do we start the conversation now? What sort of time and space is required for the manifestation of contemporary art? The Landscape of an Unknown, 2020 “This machine is a master at collecting goods and people from around the world. It has the characteristics of an assemblage, yet it also has characteristics of a machine, a mechanism that is limited to the sum of its parts. This machine is not a total institution” as Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing puts it, we live and spend our lives inside of it. In my mind, I’m imagining the red button and the nice steel handle mentioned by Bruno Latour, and how the states, one after the other, can pull it to stop the engine. Here we are. Now.The engine has stopped, along with the noise it produced; the machine is not working -for now. We can start to hear things, other things that we could not hear or did not pay attention to before. As we all feel the somnolence that comes through adapting to our new routines, we should not lose the impetus for action. I have been thinking about my answers to questions posed by Bruno Latour*, below. Perhaps, now, we can all think and share some thoughts. So let’s not waste this crisis, instead think and ask ourselves some questions. — *Here are the questions posed by Bruno Latour in his article called What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model? (translated from French by Stephen Muecke) (This article appeared in AOC on 29th March 2020: https://aoc.media/opinion/2020/03/29/imaginerles-gestes-barrieres-contre-le-retour-a-la-production-davant-crise/ ) Question 1: What are some suspended activities that you would like to see not coming back ? Question 2: Describe why this activity seems to you to be noxious/superfluous/dangerous/incoherent and how its disappearance/putting on hold/substitution might render other activities that you prefer easier/more coherent. (Write a separate paragraph for each of the activities listed under 1). Question 3: What kinds of measures do you advocate so that workers/employees/agents/entrepreneurs, who can no longer continue in the activities that you have eliminated, are able to facilitate the transition to other activities ? Question 4: What are the activities, now suspended, that you hope might develop/begin again, or even be created from scratch? Question 5: Describe how this activity appears to be positive to you, and how it makes other activities easier/more harmonious/coherent that you prefer and can fight against those that you judge to be inappropriate. (Write a separate paragraph for each of the activities listed under 4). Question 6: What kinds of measures do you advocate to help workers/employees/agents/entrepreneurs to acquire capacities/means/finances/instruments allowing for restarting/development/creation of this activity ? (Now find a way to compare your description with that of other participants. By tabling and then superimposing the answers, you should start to build up a picture composed of conflicting lines, alliances, controversies and oppositions.) Idil Bozkurt (1990) is a lens-based media producer and an independent curator. Previous Next

< Back Art as barrier gestures Anne Bourrassé Early mornings collide with long evenings. Tuesday is like Friday, and Saturday runs without sleep. News are so often repeated that it falls into the norm. The days pass by. Without natural light in the apartment my shadow disappear. It appears behind my back, twice a week, on my way to buy basic necessities. All that remains to be done then is to reconquer the “infra-ordinary”, as Georges Perec calls it, to enchant the usual. There is nothing usual about the crisis. It does, however, impose new attitudes on us, by freezing the binary rhythm. It defines a space for our movements and its choreography of useful gestures. Locked up, the right foot more rarely exceeds the left foot, and vice versa. Big is the magnitude of the situation, small is the space of our condition. How can we extract ourselves from it and apprehend it in new forms? See this crisis as an object in its own right, understanding its language and the tone of its appearances, deducing from it the means of artistic action, even ephemeral and solid. How can we propose an image for the invisible ? How can we lend a material to the impalpable? Artists, curators, critics, operate at a distance to make the sensation of reality take off and allow creation to emit new frequencies. Geographically isolated, but united in the experience of the environment. The studio moved to the home, in a context that constrains us in our possibilities and tools. At the same time, the situation delivers its own atmosphere, it defines its point of view, its materials, its sonorities, and its colours. Resource of inspiration, it sets the tone of time. Art thus becomes a rampart to agitation with its own barrier gestures. Respect the distance with your subject. Listen to your environment. Favour the tools at your disposal. Use your hands regularly. Anne Bourrassé is an independent curator, fostering the interactions between visual arts and humanities. Previous Next

< Back Art in Central Asia during the quarantine Nellya Dzhamanbaeva I went through several stages when the quarantine was announced. The first stage was an observation. Being far from the crisis, without full information about the virus, I was a bit skeptical about it. The next stage I faced, being closed at home was “okay, now I’ll have more time to do what I haven’t had time to do before.” After that came a realization of the situation, and I was scared of what would be tomorrow. How will I survive? After the acceptance of the inability to change the situation came recognition. That led me to desire to do something and continue to work in the frames of the current circumstances. I feel that this emotional portrait could be applied to the art institutions as well. On the last stage, there are two variations: one is a desire to move forward, another is anger and the inability to be flexible. It all depends on the management and creativity. Some institutions could change and adapt to the situation, even taking advantage of it; another couldn’t and will be stuck even though the current time shows an inability to avoid digitalization. This situation also applies to the art market and artists in general. One will find ways to extend their influence and gather more attention; others will die or, with time, will follow the path of those who invented new forms. In general, this is an entire period of being creative, finding new ways of collaboration and forming digital strategies towards sustainability. Currently, I am happy to see that now it is a time of art blossoming. Being isolated, people watch films, listen to music, draw, craft, play on musical instruments or learn to do it, read books (even online), take part in art challenges, etc. Art institutions are available as they never were before. They organize virtual tours, show exhibitions online, guide, show ballets, performances, hold live translations, and FREE! It is the right time to recruit people to art, teaching them about it, allowing them to try it, being accessible, and creating loyalty. This time should be considered as an asset and investment to the future bigger auditorium. When the crisis ends, they need to adapt and maintain attention, finding new ways to attract people to their events. What I see now is that every day there are new situations. Announcements appear from the governments, and it is a time of being fully conscious. In some countries, because of the quarantine and curfew (as in Kyrgyzstan), there is a lack of media information as they are limited in movements. This leads to misinformation, which is very dangerous. Politics tries to use this time to take more power and influence. Lack of education and knowledge leads to acceptance of everything they say. It is crucial to keep track of pulse and not allow overusing of power and strangling of freedom. People are unusually adaptive, and I see how those in power use this period to promote their draft laws that could be harmful. That is why I think it is essential to be actively involved in the situation and use art to talk about it. It is essential to inform people in a more understandable and accessible method for them – art. During the period of quarantine, I’ve created several artworks dedicated to isolation and how the government doesn’t do much for people. They keep them at home without support and lobby state legislations. One of the works called “How I see the government/ How government (doesn’t) see me” is about the isolation both for the government and for the citizens. It seemed that government doesn’t see the problems of the people left without work or any financial support. There are volunteer groups that have formed and support those in need, providing food, essentials, medicine, sewing protection costumes for doctors and face masks. Sympathetic people in diasporas from abroad have donated money to support those needing it. How government (doesn’t) sees me, Nellya Dzhamanabaeva How I see the government, Nellya Dzhamanbaeva At the same time, government initiates a draft law about the referendum to reform the government – parliamentary or presidential. That is definitely not an important topic today for the country, but somehow important for certain individuals. For example, those who are on the front line today – doctors and medical personnel don’t have enough equipment to protect themselves and still haven’t received promised increase in salary due to increased working hours. I’ve made a contribution to the doctors with public art installation “Crane” by placing it on the gates of the National Hospital. I’ve also made an art intervention to the pharmacies with the free distribution of self-made facemasks “Maska bar” (we have masks). It was a reaction to the lack of facemasks in the pharmacies after the quarantine declaration. They placed a sign “No masks. Maska jok,” and it was said that people flocked to buy masks. Often those in need don’t have an opportunity to buy it. There are already many mistakes that have terrible consequences. For example, raising nationalism towards Asian people. I see art institutions as influencers that build such cases to talk with their audience. My point of view is that they need to be socially involved; this is when they cannot ignore problems anymore and need to take a position and raise questions. A few Central Asian countries, artists, curators, and art managers have united and created a group where they could sell their artworks to each other for the available price. It is excellent, because they support each other. Another thing that some people find perspective to do in the current moment is invest in art as it is always an asset. I would say that we live in a strange time whereas usually there are pros and cons, but the most important aspect to remember is that tomorrow will be a new day and we could do something we have not done today. It is always possible to find the solution and do something meaningful to influence the future sustainability of art institutions (as well as personal). Nellya is an artist, art manager, and curator from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Previous Next

< Back Untitled Madina Gasimi When I finish my essay, I will become obsolete for the world. This is a joke that becomes the truth and concerns literally everyone. I am not able objectively to discuss self-isolation and the global consequences of a pandemic. I am not a politician, I’m a curator and most of the time I work at home. It’s kind of an isolation, but it’s a freewill. In this essay I try my best to describe my thoughts on the situation after the pandemic of COVID-19. There is an epidemic storm in Europe and the USA, and it is growing in Russia. Many people, among them my friends, believe that COVID-19 is harmless and there are different conspiracy theories that say it is built to destroy the economic system of the whole world. But the majority is still afraid to get sick and die. Then I have a question. What is the main problem revealed with the start of the pandemic? Is it a fear of death? But it’s not a problem, it is a primal feeling we always have, and it escalates in individual cases. I think that the main problem concerns the changes in relationships between people, and these changes are affected by fear. Fear to die, fear to get sick, fear to lose a job, fear to become vain. Different kinds of fear between people have become a driving force. The virus has changed our relationships and is changing the planet. In the face of a disease whose origin still causes controversy, globalization has proven powerless. Coronavirus gives a chance to individual nation-states and is a catalyst for the birth of dictatorship. For example, the state of emergency introduced in one of the European countries provided the current Prime Minister with almost unlimited power, which could lead to restrictions on freedoms and human rights. Let’s see what has already happened with freedom and human rights. I could never imagine such a thing, but the people of Europe instantly and voluntarily gave up their rights and freedoms in the face of an unknown disease and obvious danger. Museums, theatres, restaurants, cinemas, parks are closed, people are self-isolated and are waiting for the vaccine. In Moscow people only can go outside on passes and no further than 100 meters from the house, and they pay fines if they break their self-isolation. There is a new reality in which there is a coronavirus. People of the whole entire world are not used to living in a new reality. This is the reality where familiar and favourite places (bars, restaurants, cinemas, museums) have turned into places that can cause COVID 19 and therefore kill people. The urban environment is collapsing, and our usual way of life has crushed. It’s amazing how people reacted to this. What is happening now looks like a dystopia. It seems like people have thrown away several centuries of cultural development, locked themselves in their houses, have given all their rights, and are waiting good times. This is a manifestation of animal fear of an unknown infection, the symptoms and parameters of which change in the media every day. I am happy being alive and healthy. I appreciate free time that has appeared, I spend it with my family and, surprisingly, to work more. I am happy to see all the people who support the doctors, who are the true heroes of our time. If people still can help each other, then nothing is lost. But I think we should not forget the one thing. If we want to remain human beings and save mankind, one day we will have to open the borders, go to theaters again, shake hands and make friends. The one who first removes the mask after the quarantine is finished, and open the doors to other people, will be a hero. We just have to survive! It’s hard for me to imagine what activities will be void or unnecessary. We observe that digital support has appeared in every realm. It turns out that you don’t need to go to the office 5 days per week in order to work well, you have an ability to work directly from home, and it turns out that if you are a responsible one your efficiency is bigger. Utility and optimization are becoming the main characteristics of the work, regardless who you are – a programmer or a methodologist in a museum. We are fully transitioning to online life. Digital is possible everywhere, but should it be everywhere? Where, for example, will the Tretyakov Gallery collection go after it is digitized? Will offline museum occupations become online, and will other museum offline ones be excluded? That is the question. Perhaps after the pandemic people who create content will be included in the system, competing for the attention because the attention will finally turn into a new currency in the world. People will sit at home and watch Netflix, and screenwriters will tirelessly come up with new stories. People will be able to visit the museums not leaving their homes. There are online exhibitions curated online by online curators. And you absolutely do not need to make physical contact with anyone. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Honestly I am not worried what should I do as a curator when it’s over. A curator is a person who creates ideas and meanings, a curator can form an agenda for today. I’m sure the curator can do anything and work in existing circumstances. I am concerned more about the issue of how homeless people, people with disabilities stay alive against the virus, how the environment will develop for such people, what will happen with palliative care? So many questions, and so few answers. We live in interesting times, and only those people who are able to change and adapt will survive. We are now united in the struggle for life, but we have forgotten that dying and disappearing is normal. I would like to recall the concept of Timothy Morton: the world changes regardless of how a person wants to see it. We should not fear such uncertainty, but it should be perceived as something positive. No one knows what is going to happen next, but arts and culture always rise up after every major epidemic. Madina Gasimi is a curator and cultural project manager based in Moscow, Russia. Previous Next

< Back Immovable Object /Unstoppable Force Devashish Sharma Bangalore, India Hidden from view by the forest, about two kilometres from where I stay runs a highway, and at night once things are quiet, it is possible to hear the low hum of vehicles as they move across the landscape. I stay on the southern side of rural Bangalore, about seventeen kilometres from the city centre. For the past few weeks I haven’t heard the vehicles at night – only the occasional barking deer or an owl, and at times the sound of rustling of dry leaves, and the snapping of twigs as wild boars and other animals roam the forest late at night in search of food. Birds 1, Home, Valley, 3rd April .wav Download WAV • 15.27MB Birds 1, Home, Valley, 3rd April The past three weeks have been difficult for me, and catastrophic for some; India has been under lockdown. Being away from the city, I haven’t been able to see the empty streets that my friends tell me about, or witness the migration of people as they walk back home. The lockdown has also brought with it a set of unintended consequences; people from around the world have reported how nature has reclaimed spaces that humans had polluted; air in the most polluted cities has become breathable again. Listening to these descriptions, I feel incredibly happy, but there is also a sense of guilt. I wonder what is the future of cities. Do they need to be more like villages- smaller in size and more self-sustaining? There is also the possibility that we transition into a society where hyper-surveillance becomes legalized. Is the Pandemic a Portal? The models for cities in India have failed and industries globally have done more damage to the environment than we can possibly repair in our lifetime. It is imperative that we stop and contemplate new ways of living. As Latour, Arundhati Roy and others urge us to treat the pandemic as a portal to reconsider systems of production, I find it quite difficult to isolate activities that I would not want coming back, or that I would want started, or accelerated. Ideally I would like to live in an environmentally sustainable society; where every person has good food, a nice place to stay, good education, and an enjoyable job – overall a healthy lifestyle. But how can these ideals be translated into action? Which activities must I stop in my life, and which must I initiate or accelerate to move closer to this ideal society? And if we were to do this collectively, won’t the cessation of a few of these activities destabilise the already precariously placed ecological and economic systems that we are a part of? At the same time, this uncertainty shouldn’t become an excuse for inaction, to postpone action until a later date when things seem clearer. How do we negotiate this change? Will a new system of production really reduce or negate the possibility of ecological and social catastrophe? What is the fundamental cause of this problem? Is the human mind geared to produce societies that are doomed to fail? Perhaps the solution lies in understanding how we produce these systems, and letting our lives organically evolve from this understanding. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? It is surprising how fragile everything is; our bodies, the plants around us, the streams, lakes, the buildings, even the economy in which we put such trust. Looking back, there are innumerable examples of civilisations that have vanished- entire cities abandoned, and buried under the unceasing flow of time. These were civilisations, just like ours, that probably didn’t considered the possibility that one day the structures that they had built would collapse. Is that where we are headed? If not forgotten, we might be remembered as the generation that could have done something to prevent the imminent ecological disaster. As I sit to think about the future, I am faced with an even more basic question – what is time? How do I understand it? And how does it structure my response to my environment? I have a feeling that the answer to the question of production lies in our understanding of time and thought. As a society we have become preoccupied with accumulating both wealth and knowledge. This might be attributed to our understanding of time. Thinking about time is important because that is what lays the foundation for our systems of production, distribution and consumption of products and ideas. It is possible that in the desire for a better tomorrow we have neglected our present. The current crisis offers us the opportunity to sit quietly, observe our minds, and to understand how we think – to think about thinking. I suspect that the very nature of thought is aggressive, and anything that is born out of thinking is bound to posses its very basic nature. Perhaps, right now the most pertinent question that faces humanity is, can we think without being selfish? Otherwise, any system- political, economic, or artistic, while attempting to be selfless, will ultimately be a sophisticated way of gaining control over material resources and people. I am reminded of a riddle we used to ask as children- What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? In the current ecological crisis are we the unstoppable force, and nature the immovable object? Or is nature the unstoppable force and we the immovable object? Is that what we are witnessing; the collision of an unstoppable force with an immovable object? Devashish Sharma has a BFA in Painting from the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, and an MFA from the Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida. Previous Next