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We are not in a sterile space, a vacuum, untouched by the outside world. And yet many think that art could be free of conflicts, that we could avoid them by leaving them unspoken. 

But these conflicts are not created by speaking them out in the first place, and they cannot be separated from our material reality. They lead all the way into the exhibition spaces and panel discussions, into the work contracts and raw materials of our artworks.

Curating Through Conflict with Care, CCC for short, is a collective research project. Together as art workers we are looking for curatorial strategies and methods to deal with conflicts in the art industry.. We want to break out of the logic of damage control. 

In doing so, we take our experiences with racialization and marginalization as a starting point for analysis and work on exemplary conflicts in order to better understand which questions of power remain unanswered.

When does criticism interfere and who does it interfere with? 

Which conflicts are struggles for resources? 

Who can survive conflicts? 

And whose existence is at stake? 

Which conflicts serve to exclude? 

Who is allowed and able to speak when, about what 

and with what self-evidence?

Conflict is perceived as an obstacle, a disruption of relationships. 

Conflicts are a negotiation and exercise of power relations. 

They are rarely isolated, but together form a context, a system and atmosphere. We want to make these contexts recognizable and to learn to break through them together. 

Conflicts are not isolated controversies either. But again and again, people who recognize and name problems are treated as the problem. They say that the tone, space or time is inappropriate. 

In reality, conflicts are fleeting symptoms of deeper relationships. 

We work in and out of them.

Contemporary curatorial practice is full of contradictions of care. 

Even the term „inclusive curating“ seems inherently contradictory.

Selecting and omitting remains inherent in curating. 

We ask: If curating means „caring/care-work,“ then who and what do curators* care about?

Curating should support collective goals rather than self-serving career models. 

For CCC, curating means caring about conflicts and giving them time and space with those affected. In doing so, curating should not control, but contextualize. 

We ask about the reasons for conflict and seek to engage with different perspectives. How can we confront conflicts honestly?

Curators are mediators. They represent and distribute power, space and visibility in the art world. They interact between institutions, artists and the public. The role and responsibility of curatorial practice needs to be examined and collectively reshaped. 

Curatorial practice is seen as elitist, partly because of its external perception. Only a few have access. And although more and more art workers with historically excluded perspectives are entering the art world, they are still isolated. They are intellectually discredited and economically exploited. Without structural and methodological changes, atmospheres remain that prevent power-critical work.

CCC invites BIPOC artists, organizers and interested individuals for collective research. 

During the retreat we will focus on methods and strategies of curatorial work in dealing with conflicts.  

There will be workshops, lectures and discussion sessions with us and mentor*s, but participants are also invited to share their work and experiences. 

We want to know: 

What does it take to feel comfortable in this industry and to remain able to act? 

How has conflict been handled in the workplace in the past? 

How can our work sector take more responsibility for the history of colonialism, fascism, discrimination and exploitation?

The goal is:

To share experiences and knowledge with each other, 

to discuss strategies 

and to help art workers 

to help shape change in the art world.

Collaborative results and insights are then accessible to all and shared as a collective resource on our platform.

We invite practitioners who have had experiences with racism and, beyond that, classism, trans and queer hostility, sexism, and structural discrimination in the art world. We intentionally want to bring these perspectives together and strengthen the ways of dealing with conflicts. 

Curating through Conclict with Care, 2022
Written and directed by Curating through Conflict with Care
(Ayasha Guerin, Moshtari Hilal, Maithu Bùi, Duygu Örs)
Editing by Alice Z Jones
Sound Design by Pamier Hilal
Animation and Logo by Tessa Curran