August 1, 2019

Feeding the art curators of the future

For new art exhibition curators, the opportunity to showcase University of Wollongong creative art students' creative works was a joy and a privilege.

Third year Bachelor of Creative Arts students Emma Moser and Nicola Crampton-Smith were selected as the curators for this year’s student-initiated art exhibition that also coincides with the UOW Open day.

The show named 'Feed' includes installations, paintings, photographs and textiles that tackle everything from current socio-cultural, political and environmental issues.

“The name Feed refers to what feeds us and what consumes us. It’s a reminder of the power of art to advocate for change,” Emma Moser said.

“As curators, we wanted to encourage art lovers to experience the world through different creative thoughts and talents of our art colleagues. We tried to cover all aspects of art practices and visual ideas from 48 different artists.”

Feed is the fourth student-initiated exhibition to take place as part of the School of the Arts, English and Media’s student-initiated program, which was established in 2008. The show provides students with a unique opportunity to exhibit their works outside of formal class assessments and gain valuable curatorial and practical skills.

The exhibition also helps students develop their understanding of themselves as artists according to Dr Agnieszka Golda, a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Arts at UOW.

“Students are set the task to explore the exhibition spaces at the University and to present an exhibition in creative ways. I think student artists deserve spaces in which to share their work on campus, and exhibitions such as Feed, celebrate the truly incredible community of artists the university has to offer,” Dr Golda said.

Nichola Crampton Smith said that when you set up an exhibition there is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but various methods.

“A curator’s job is not easy, from selecting artworks, overseeing art in spaces. I think you have to be extremely organised to pull off a fantastic exhibition. We looked at and arranged a lot of different art pieces. Some worked together, and some didn’t, it was quite a process, with great rewards in a visual sense,” she said.

Feed is on at the TAEM Gallery, Building 25, University of Wollongong main campus from 2 August to 16 August.