Create Connections. Create Networks. Create Opportunities.

Join the Contemporary Art Society’s Professional Development Programme

Designed to provide international, national and inter-regional perspectives through a tailor-made programme for contemporary curators, events include studio visits, gallery trips, major exhibitions, international events and fairs, symposia and seminars, as well as social and networking opportunities.

For a membership subscription of £195 per annum, or £16.25 per month by Direct Debit (plus VAT), the Contemporary Art Society will provide national, regional and international perspectives, encouraging independent thinking and group collaboration.  Please note organisational membership costs the same as individual membership. 

click here to download the Professional Membership membership form (1-page pdf)

Subscribe now and join us for free at one of our forthcoming events:

South Coast Tour

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-sea; Folkestone Triennial; Whitstable Biennial

Friday 27 June and Saturday 28 June

A two-day event on the South Coast including a talk by Grayson Perry at De La Warr Pavilion, opportunities to network with curatorial colleagues and artists, a curator-led tour of the Folkestone Triennial with one of the participating artists, and an evening of performances and screenings of newly commissioned film and video work at the Whitstable Beinnial.

Day 1. Focus on the Artist as Curator, Friday 27 June

This Curators' Day is a collaboration between The Arts Council Collection, De La Warr Pavilion and the Contemporary Art Society, including a guided tour of the exhibition with Grayson Perry.

Day 2. Commissioning in the Public Realm

Whitstable Biennial and Folkestone Triennial, Saturday 28 June

Folkestone Triennial - Curated by Andrea Schlieker, is the first Folkestone Triennial and involves 23 new commissions throughout Folkestone focused around the theme of `Tales of Time and Space'.  Artists include Christian Boltanski, Jeremy Deller, Tracey Emin and Langlands and Bell.
 
The Whitstable Biennale has a focus on artists' film & video and performance and is rapidly gaining international renown as a showcase for new work by some of the UK's most exciting artists.

For further information and itinerary please contact Lucy@contempart.org.uk

Frieze and Zoo Art Fair

Friday 17 October 2008

We will be programming a day of talks and events for Professional Development Programme subscribers around these two un-miss able London art fairs. More information about this event will be released in the coming months.

17-20 September 2008
3-day trip

For the first time, Manifesta will be spread over an entire region in Trentino - South Tyrol.  Founded on political and economic changes after the Cold War, Manifesta has always had a culturally political stance and re-situates this focus on the rich North Italian landscape that acts as a bridge between Latin and German cultures, underpinned by `cultural developments and a mixture of southern and northern habits'.

This year's Manifesta has been formed into three curatorial units, with each focused in one city.  Adam Budak, a curator based in Krakow and Graz is currently the curator for contemporary art at the Kunsthaus Craz am Landesmuseum Joanneun in Graz, Austria.  He recently curated `Architectures: Megastructures of Humanity, Morphic Strategies of Exposure' exhibition in the Polish Pavilion of the 9th Venice Bienniale of Architecture.  Budak will be working in Roverto. Anselm Franke is the Director of Extra City Center for Contemporary Art in Antwerp and previously the Director of KW Institute in Berlin.  Franke is co-curating in Trento with Hila Pileg, a curator based in Berlin who studied a Goldsmiths and has curated international projects in a number of locations, including the Middle East.  Raqs Media Collective is a group of three artists based in Delhi and have been described as catalysts of cultural processes.  They have exhibited installations and performances online and offline with media objects and will be working in Bozen/Bolzano. The final venue - the Fortress - is collaboration between all three curatorial units.

Negotiation Skills

London, November 2008

This seminar will focus on strengthening negotiation skills to purchase work, the protocols for liaising with commercial gallerists and artists, writing and negotiating contracts for sales and commissions and exploring cross party agreements.

Advance alert on forthcoming international trips:

Delhi, February 2009
Nordic countries (including Norway and Finland) June 2009