Media Art Friesland

Young Curators was an exciting new learning program based at the Media Art Festival in Leeuwarden. From the 1st to the 10th of October, a group of emerging curators from Tunisia, Greece, Spain and Germany visited the festival supported by a pilot mobility grant by i-Portunus Houses. As the intercultural exchange was at the heart of the program, they were also joined in many open activities by local curators and professionals. Together, the group focused on training in curatorial practice and writing, through a diverse program of inspiring activities at and around the Media Art Festival.

The Young Curators’ main task was to select and engage with one the artwork of one MAF Young Masters artist. Each participant is currently working hard, developing an upcoming text in dialogue with the piece that they selected. To deepen their understanding of curatorial writing, the Young Curators attended lectures and artist talks by professionals visiting the Media Art Festival. Among our distinguished international guests, Bettina Pelz, a recognized German light art curator, kicked off the program with a workshop on the curatorial task of text-writing. Bettina was later joined by Aymen Gharbi, a Tunisian light art expert, who offered a lecture on experimental art.

A huge success of the project was that the participants took full advantage of the festival’s stimulating environment and different inputs, but also found their own, vibrant identity as a group. Throughout the visit, the curators developed their own working methods to discuss, experience, and write about the works. Based at the festival venue in Stationskwartier, they co-organized and hosted open writing workshops, education sessions, and moments for quiet writing and reflection. Their intensive working hours were delightfully punctuated by embodied exercises (from stretching and moving to create human-made soundscapes) and shared meals.