OPEN CALL: THE AUTUMN SCHOOL OF CURATING

“Worlding: What does it mean to be ‘international’ today?” The sixth edition of the Autumn School of Curating led by curator Kate Fowle.

Art Encounters Foundation (Timișoara) and Cluj Cultural Centre (Cluj-Napoca) are launching an open call for the Autumn School of Curating, taking place in Cluj and Timișoara, Romania between October 20–27, 2024.

The Autumn School of Curating is a rigorous eight-day seminar led by renowned curator Kate Fowle, offering emerging curators an international platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and learning. 

Over the course of the program the participants will be immersed in the artistic context that both cities have to offer while exploring concepts and conversations around the theme “Worlding: What does it mean to be ‘international’ today?”

Today, as international outcry continues over shared ‘global’ crises such as climate change, displacement, war and genocide the magnitude of competing scientific, technological, psychological, historical, and environmental frameworks create paradoxes through which we still strive to build networks of affinity. Focusing on ways that art and curatorial practices respond to these planetary politics, the 2024 Autumn School asks what does it mean to be ‘international’ today?; What is it to work outside your own cultural and social context?; How do you respond to multiple worldviews?; Are there any ‘universals’ in curating? 

Who can apply 
Emerging professionals
 in the field of curating and art writing, with at least three years’ experience. The Autumn School of Curating is free of charge and open to international candidates. 

The organizers will cover accommodation costs from October 20 to 27, 2024, as well as transport costs from Cluj-Napoca to Timișoara on October 23. 

The courses will be held in English. Availability in person for the entire course is required in Cluj and Timișoara. 

Why you should apply
Participants will be immersed in the rich artistic environments of both cities.

The program focuses on how art and curatorial practices respond to global political issues, providing a critical framework for understanding and addressing contemporary challenges.

Participants will learn what it means to work outside their own cultural and social contexts, gaining valuable skills in cross-cultural communication and collaboration.

The course encourages exploration of diverse perspectives, helping participants to develop curatorial practices that are inclusive and reflective of multiple worldviews.

How to apply
Applications for the Autumn School of Curating #6 can be sent until August 20, 2024. Respond to the call for applications using the application form available at: https://academiaschimbarii.ro/en/autumn-school-of-curating-6/

The applications will be reviewed by Kate Fowle and representatives of both institutions, Art Encounters Foundation and Cluj Cultural Centre.

The selected participants will be notified by August 30, 2024.

For 30 years, Kate Fowle has developed an international practice as a curator, writer, educator, and director. Currently she is the senior curatorial director at Hauser & Wirth in New York where she works closely with Gallery artists and their teams in Europe and the US. She is also board chair of the Center for Art & Advocacy, a non-profit that supports justice-impacted artists across the United States; a regional collaborator for the Kadist Foundation (Paris/San Francisco); an advisor for the In-tangible Institute in Chiangmai, Thailand; a board member of the Drill: an alternative learning system for creatives in Lagos, Nigeria; as well as a board member of Artistic Noise in New York, which supports system-impacted youth. 

She has also worked in China as the first international curator of UCCA in Beijing and was the co-founder of the first Masters Program in Curatorial Practice on the West Coast, at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. 

Before moving to the United States in 2001, Fowle was co-founder of Smith + Fowle, an independent curatorial partnership in London. She initially trained as an artist, graduating in 1993.