The Faculty of Arts and Design (FoAD) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) recently hosted a webinar to discuss the Prospects for Art and Artists in an ever-evolving milieu: A Curator’s Perspective via Microsoft Teams.
Facilitating the webinar was DUT’s Dr Dianna Moodley from FoAD, who began by introducing the keynote speaker, Dr Kehinde Christopher Adewumi. She said Dr Adewumi is a Curator and Art Critic. He holds a PhD in Art History, with specialisation in Sculpture and Curating. He is Curator-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Now Expressions, a Curatorial Collective. Dr Adewumi has curated and co-curated various projects. Recently, his curated exhibition tagged ‘Lines of the North’ by Bale Ola-olu Olawale, was featured at the Abuja Art Week ‘Digital 2020’. He is a Fellow of the Arts in Medicine Projects. Furthermore, he has authored several locally and internationally published articles. His current career interest lies in exploring developmental possibilities for art and artists, through inter/multidisciplinary projects and research.
Dr Adewumi expressed his gratitude to the FoAD for inviting him to address the DUT community. At the end of his address, he said he hoped everyone will understand the idea behind his topic, the responsibilities of art and artists in the society and how artists can take advantage of the available opportunities.
Explaining why the talk was scheduled from a curator’s perspective, Dr Adewumi said it is the responsibility of a curator to think of strategies and to try to get the artist out of the trouble that stand in the way of an artist, during his or her career.
“It is important for the curator to understand that the onus is on the curator to think of ways in which the artist can thrive in the arts and the society, everybody can do well together. The responsibility of arts to society, I think arts is very important to the existence to our human society. Let’s just imagine a world without arts, without beauty. I think you agree with me that we would have a very boring world, where things are just blank and not interesting. It is the responsibility of artists to think futuristic when it comes to the world. We should allow our art to focus on how we move forward from here and how we get out of whatever complexes we find ourselves in,” said Dr Adewumi.
He added that the complexity that people find themselves in is living in a world that has been stricken by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he highlighted that it is very unfortunate how the world has been and what people have experienced so far, however, he said people need to come up with ideas on how to make the world function and how to thrive in this difficult time. Dr Adewumi said that it is the reality of the now, saying to look at the implications of the pandemic, one needs to look at what was there prior to it.
“Before COVID-19, we could go to exhibitions, go for sales and marketing. We could actually interact with people physically and it was wonderful. There was easy international mobility, no stringent rules. We didn’t have to worry about the state of the country in relation to COVID-19, health and safety. Art could be appreciated for its beauty and elegance. In the post corona, there is more focus on the sectors that are called more important than of the arts. We find the arts suffering a very serious neglect, which is really unfortunate right now. Physical interactions have been substituted for virtual interactions, events being cancelled and postponed. Now you have to justify why your arts is important,” said Dr Adewumi.
He said there is hope as long as there is art, the will to do it and the thinking of strategies. Speaking about how artists can take advantage of the hope they have available, Dr Adewumi emphasised that first they should focus on creating relevance, which he said is key because it creates work and seeks to solve and create conversations on the current global issues. Secondly, he said artists need to create functional art, thinking of what is needed by their clients.
“Arts stakeholders also have a role to play, for instance curriculum review. The curriculum we used pre-corona might not be relevant post corona. They need to take informed decisions and don’t neglect data. It is important for artists to have support from their institutions and we should also see collaborations. If we stand alone, we can only reach our networks but through collaborations you can reach the networks of that person, increasing opportunities of getting more ideas. Cross cultural interactions are also important because it helps in adding artists’ mobility, giving artists more exposure to ideas and people,” said Dr Adewumi.
He also advised artists to review their resume periodically, review their prices regularly, be investment worthy by being consistent. He also encouraged them to be original and be always accountable for their work.
The stimulating talk ended with a fruitful interaction between the attendees and Dr Adewumi. Delivering the vote of thanks, Dr Moodley thanked Dr Adewumi for the fascinating talk.
Pictured: Dr Kehinde Christopher Adewumi
Simangele Zuma
