I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode, we talk with Zippora Elders with whom we delve into the imaginative realm of curating, connecting the personal to profound questions, and her approach to navigating institutions. Zippora Elders is the chief curator (head curatorial department & outreach) of the Gropius Bau in Berlin. Previously she was director of Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen in the Netherlands, where she has since 2016 increased the visibility of this UNESCO heritage site as a thriving retreat for contemporary art and ecological exchange under the themes of Science Fiction and Enchantment, Healing, Fertility. In 2019 she also became co-curator of Sonsbeek 20-24: On Labour and its Sonic Ecologies. Formerly she was curator at Foam, museum for photography in Amsterdam. She studied Art History, Curatorial Practice and Museum Curatorship, with extracurricularly Public Administration and Philosophy. The episode was recorded in May 2022. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Show notes Institutions and exhibitions mentioned in this episode: Foam Museum Amsterdam https://www.foam.org/nl Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen https://www.kunstfort.nl/ ‘En­chant em­brace them you odd penin­sula, A gathering with love, for Kunstfort’ https://www.kunstfort.nl/en/exhibitions/enchant-embrace-them-you-odd-peninsula/ Gropius Bau https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/gropiusbau/start.html Sonsbeek 20-24 https://www.sonsbeek20-24.org/en/

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode, we talk with Paul O'Neill. We discuss Paul’s professional trajectory from being an artist to becoming a curator; the many different modes one can work as a curator; the notion of failure as a threshold of learning, and accumulative exhibition models. Dr. Paul O’Neill is an Irish curator, artist, writer and educator. He is the Artistic Director of PUBLICS, a position he took up in September 2017. PUBLICS is a curatorial agency and event space with a dedicated library, and reading room in Helsinki. Between 2013-17, he was Director of the Graduate Program at the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS), Bard College, New York. He is author of the critically acclaimed book The Culture of Curating and the Curating of Culture(s), (Cambridge, MASS., The MIT Press, 2012), which has been translated into many languages. His most recent coedited book is Curating After the Global: Roadmaps to the Present published with MIT Press, 2019. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. The episode was recorded in March 2022. Show notes: People mentioned in this episode: Eduardo Padilha - https://eduardopadilha.com/bard-college/ B+B Sarah Pierce https://themetropolitancomplex.com/ Kathrin Böhm https://kathrinbohm.info/ Institutions mentioned in this episode: PUBLICS https://www.publics.fi/ Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College https://ccs.bard.edu/ The Hessel Museum of Art https://ccs.bard.edu/museum SMART project space https://arcam.nl/architectuur-gids/smart-project-space/ Exhibitions mentioned in this episode Coalesce: With All Due Intent https://www.pauloneill.org.uk/www.pauloneill.org.uk/curatorial/projects/index.html Coalesce-Happenstance https://www.pauloneill.org.uk/www.pauloneill.org.uk/curatorial/projects/coalesce-happenstance/index.html We are the Center for Curatorial Studies https://www.pauloneill.org.uk/www.pauloneill.org.uk/curatorial/projects/center-curatorial-studies/index.html

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk with Sofia Lemos who shares with us her curatorial trajectory, how she relates to art institutions and her interest in bringing together the discursive, the spiritual and the artistic. We also discuss the meaning of utopia and how art can help us to envision new worlds, alongside the question of intimacy as a possibility and the limits of institutional care. Sofia Lemos is a curator and writer. She is curator at TBA21– Academy where she leads Meandering, a new live research program centring contemplative and creative practices for social and environmental justice. From 2018–2021 she was curator of public programmes and research at Nottingham Contemporary and was associate editor at The Contemporary Journal. Recently Lemos was Associate Curator Public Programmes to the 2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art – RIBOCA (2020), with previous curatorial and research roles at HKW, Berlin, PRAXES, Berlin, DRAF, London, and MACBA, Barcelona. Her writing has been featured in various contemporary art and culture publications as well as exhibition catalogues and artist monographs. The episode was recorded in November 2021. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Show notes: People mentioned in this episode: Paul B. Preciado https://monoskop.org/Paul_B._Preciado Sophie Lewis https://www.versobooks.com/books/3756-full-surrogacy-now Avery Gordon https://www.soc.ucsb.edu/people/avery-gordon Hazel Carby https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-news-from-LSE/2021/j-October-21/Hazel-Carby-joins-LSE-as-Centennial-Professor Pilvi Takala https://pilvitakala.com/the-stroker Anselm Franke https://www.hkw.de/en/programm/beitragende_hkw/persons/personenseite_195251.php Federico Campagna https://www.federicocampagna.eu/blank-3 Omar Kasmani https://omarkasmani.com/ Institutions mentioned in this episode: tba 21 https://www.tba21.org/#item--february-september-2020--2054 Nottingham Contemporary https://nottinghamcontemporary.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjwm8WZBhBUEiwA178UnHltUM8PpIFGuIpoRxaXqnQyhDnnc4aLOnGl890vSBsXgAkhZhospxoCLaUQAvD_BwE 2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art https://www.rigabiennial.com/en/riboca-2

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk to the three core members of Sarmad: Alireza Abbasy, Golnar Abbasi, and Arvand Pourabbasi. Sarmad is an independent, non-profit interdisciplinary platform for research, publishing, collective thinking, and education in the fields of art, architecture and design. In this episode we discuss editorial practices and their possible links to curating, how curating can be understood as a way of redistributing resources; navigating relationships towards audiences and funding bodies; and the work of making space for others. The episode was recorded in October 2021. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Show notes: https://sarmadmagazine.com/ https://worknot.info/ Golnar Abbasi https://golnarabbasi.com/ Alireza Abassy https://eyneyneyn.com/ Sarmad Fiction Writing Club https://sarmadmagazine.com/about-fiction-writing-club-2 Fiction Writing Club 2021 Collection https://sarmadmagazine.com/Fiction-club-2021 Fictioning Comfort project at Showroom Mama https://thisismama.nl/en/events/home-en/fictioning-comfort/ Fictioning Comfort, online platform http://www.fictioningcomfort.space/ People mentioned in this episode: Tomi Hilsee Bik van der Pol Institutions mentioned in this episode: Showroom MAMA

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk to Sara Giannini, curator, writer and educator currently affiliated with the Amsterdam based organisation If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part of Your Revolution. We discussed Sara’s approach to curating, which usually includes experimental situations and platforms that continue over time; how the loneliness of freelancing led her to take an institutional position; and the thin line between friendships and professional responsibilities. The episode was recorded in October 2021. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Show notes: Maquillage as Meditation: Carmelo Bene and the Undead https://ificantdance.org/maquillage-as-meditation-carmelo-bene-and-the-undead/ Heterotropics, an independent research and curatorial platform http://heterotropics.com/about Institutions mentioned in this episode If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, Amsterdam Dutch Art Institute

Welcome to the second season of I Hope This Message Finds You Well, a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. This episode is with us. We return to our initial conversation in 2020 and discuss what we have learned from our guest in season 1, and what has changed in our personal and professional lives since then. The episode was recorded in April 2022. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. The jingle was made by the artist duo Momu & No Es and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Show notes: Lara Khaldi’s episode https://soundcloud.com/ihopethismessage/i-hope-this-message-finds-you-well-lara-khaldi Jo-ey Tang’s episode https://soundcloud.com/ihopethismessage/i-hope-this-message-finds-you-well-jo-ey-tang Fierce Pussy https://fiercepussy.org/ Paul O´Neill - Exhibitions as Readymades, Attentiveness and Escape https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8sw0KcVvZw Shanta Rao http://shantarao.net/ Aneta Rostkowska and their collaborative project with Kris https://www.medienwerk.nrw/en/projects/3955/ Clementine Edwards, The Material Kinship Reader https://www.onomatopee.net/exhibition/the-material-kinship-reader/#publication_19309 Katie West https://katiewularniwest.com/home.html Joseph Grigely https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG_cZjUP088

I hope this message finds you well, heading into 2022! What a year it’s been! We are thankful for the genuine and joyful conversations to all our guests. As we are wrapping up our first season, we’d like to share with you some cheerful moments full of laughter. We will be back soon with Season 2. ~ Stay tuned ~ As always, if you have feedback, we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mzt5SOk6LOCxCc_Ta2KoBH5rGVkOMQ3fr-GR7NHJU7Q/edit?usp=sharing

In this bonus episode of I Hope This Message Finds You Well we share fragments of conversations with our guests that did not make it into the final edit. With Cédric Fauq we discuss our “professional crushes”, curators we hold in high regard. We also talk about what it means to involve the audience into the thinking and making process. With Jo-ey Tang we consider email protocols in pandemic times and beyond. Last but not least, with Clare Butcher we talk about office life vs. freelance time management, and the way the pandemic shaped our comfort to meet others in person. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fou5zuBfUeUbTtRvxGsZBY0wFFuV5O4ElwzSti654C4/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk to Cédric Fauq, recently appointed chief curator at Capc – Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux. In this joyful conversation full of laughter, we also discuss important issues, such as why and if the exhibition as a format should be abolished, and the internal double bind we share when working with this format. Cédric also talks about the issues of class and Blackness and how he works with them via exhibitions and mediation. Further, we discuss the curator as a figure of power and how can we dismantle this figuration; and how to “occupy” or “take space” as curators, artists and institutions in the public realm. The episode was recorded in May 2021. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Show notes Transactional Objects Full of Contexts in Voided Sites, an essay in Mousse 71: http://moussemagazine.it/transactional-objects-full-of-contexts-in-voided-sites-cedric-fauq-2020/ Governmental Fires, FUTURA, Prague, Czech Republic: https://artviewer.org/governmental-fires-at-futura/ Institutions mentioned in this episode: Palais de Tokyo, Paris clearview, London CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux nGbK, Berlin People mentioned in this episode: Ghita Skali Cameron Rowland Carolyn Lazard Ima-Abasi Okon Abbas Zahedi Michael E. Smith Okwui Enwezor Jo-ey Tang Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1on9UFmoqOsUxwH5tux-sHrwMYjZ3NVeYupF1Az14qr4/edit?usp=sharing

I Hope This Message Finds You Well is a podcast on curating hosted by Kris Dittel and Eloise Sweetman. In this episode we talk to curator and educator Clare Butcher. With Clare’s enthusiasm to discuss curatorial methodologies, we kick off our conversation by talking about her professional trajectory and early interest in a critical exploration of archival practices. We talk about institutional hierarchies, learning curves and the importance of collectivity and context-sensitivity. Clare also shared with us why she stopped making exhibitions and found her interest in the field of education and mediation, and the tension that can arise between exhibition making and educational practices in an institutional setting. The episode was recorded in May 2021. If you have feedback we’d love to receive your email at [email protected]; you can also follow us on Instagram @ihopethismessage and find us on SoundCloud @ihopethismessage. Our music is by Difficult and sound engineering by Nick Thomas. Graphic design by Christophe Clarijs. Show notes: Since this conversation was recorded Clare is no longer with the Toronto Biennial of Art and has moved on to independent projects. Here are some links for further reference to the work of her colleagues, practitioners and projects mentioned during the episode which continue to nourish Clare's methods and thinking. This is Not An Archive (2021), Toronto Biennial of Art with Art Metropole, edited by Clare Butcher and Myung-Sun Kim https://thisisnotanarchive.ca/ aneducation–documenta 14 (2018), Archive Books, edited by Sepake Angiama, Clare Butcher, Alkisti Efthymiou, Anton Kats, and Arnisa Zeqo https://www.archivebooks.org/aneducation-%E2%80%A2-documenta-14/ Nourishing Knowledge (2017), part of aneducation program, documenta 14, with Ella Froemmel, Ayşe Güleç, Wanda Heimbs, Karl Leonard Heinemann, Carmen José, Lose Fäden, Ann-Kathrin Mogge, Otobong Nkanga, Emeka Ogboh, Nathan Pohio, Beat Sandkühler, Ahlam Shibli, Katerina Stefanidaki, Maya Tounta, Ida Westermann, Zafos Xagoraris, and more https://www.documenta14.de/en/public-education/25659/nourishing-knowledge unsettling rietveld sandberg, led by consultant Judith Leysner and coordinator Tracian Meikle https://unsettling-rietveldsandberg.net/about The Works of Art Collection at the University of Cape Town http://www.artcollection.uct.ac.za/art/purpose Linda Stupart, artist and previously curator Centre for African Studies Gallery, University of Cape Town http://lindastupart.net/ Institutions mentioned in this episode: Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven The School of Missing Studies, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam People mentioned in this episode: Gabi Ngcobo Renata Cervetto Sepake Angiama