IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture] invites emerging and aspiring curators with a specific interest in media art and its relationship to technology and society to apply for the Full Spectrum Curatorship Programme.

Full Spectrum Curatorship is a programme by IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture] which aims to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and the practical and substantive aspects of curation in the field of media art and contemporary arts dealing with digital technologies and online environments. IMPAKT, as the premier media art festival in the Netherlands, offers recent graduates and curators at the beginning of their career the opportunity to develop their own curatorial programme under expert guidance. The experience of internationally recognised curators will be complemented by IMPAKT’s extensive archive and contemporary critical programming.

The third edition of the Full Spectrum Curatorship (FSC) programme will take place online across a period of five months, from February to June 2022. It kicks off with an online conference in February with presentations by curators, and will be followed by scheduled sessions for mentoring and exchange with the paired coach-curators to develop a particular project proposal. There will also be invited guests who will speak on different aspects of production and curation. Core to FSC is the development of a project proposal, whereby participants and their paired coaches will work closely to exchange ideas and expand on focused sections of their project. This process, together with exchanges with other participants, will focus on aspects of networking, mentorship and skill development.

The training programme will include discussions on the history, theory, contextualisation, organisation and execution of media art-related programmes, and cover the development of curatorial concepts, critical and societal contextualisation, artwork selection, budgets and funding, audience reception and presentation formats. The focus will be on time-based media , with specific attention to technological history and change, logistical considerations, and the challenges and opportunities presented by multi-channel and interactive presentation formats.

The list of coach-curators is still in progress, but the following are confirmed:
Angelique Spaninks is director and curator at MU Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven, since 2005. She currently is a member of the board of The Hmm, RAUM and We Are Public and chair of the Talent Development committee at Creative Industries Fund and the Design Research jury at Dutch Design Awards. Spaninks was also the director and artistic manager at STRP Festival from 2012 to 2018, and international curator for the 6th Guangzhou Triennial in 2018.

Doreen A. Ríos is an independent curator and chief curator at the Centre for Digital Culture in Mexico City. Working with digital art and specialising in digital cultures and new media practices, Ríos’ curatorial practice focuses on hybrid materialities. She is also the founder of [ANTI]MATERIA, an online platform dedicated to the research and exhibition of Latin-American Digital Art.
Florian Wüst is a Berlin-based film curator, artist, and publisher. He has curated film programmes for international art institutions, cinemas, and festivals. From 2016 to 2020, Wüst was the film and video curator of transmediale. His latest curatorial projects include two exhibitions at the Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporánea Tabakalera, San Sebastián: Zin Ex. From Abstraction to Algorithm (2020) and Zin Ex. Body and Architecture (2021). He is also co-founder of the Berlin Journals—On the History and Present State of the City, an ongoing series of publications that address the social, cultural and economic changes in Berlin and other cities.

Paulien Dresscher is an independent researcher, curator and advisor. She curates Digital Culture Program of the Dutch Film Festival, is festival curator Noorderlicht Festival 2021 and advisor for Into the Great Wide Open, formerly curating for Cinekid MediaLab.

Wade Wallerstein is a digital anthropologist, strategist and curator from the San Francisco Bay Area. Wade is the founder and director of Silicon Valet, a virtual parking lot for expanded Internet art where he runs an exhibition platform and digital artist residency programme. He is also co-director of TRANSFER Gallery in Los Angeles, an exhibition space devoted to simulation and computational art forms.

Recent graduates, as well as aspiring and emerging curators are invited to apply. As a participant you are expected to attend all sessions, including the ones in which fellow participants present and discuss their projects. In addition to the collective sessions, there will be one-on-one sessions between participants and coaches. Expect that participation in the programme, including the preparation and research you will need to do, will require a time investment of about 8 hours per week.
Do note that the participation fee is €250, and that all meetings will be held in English. To apply, please complete the questions in the online application form by 23:59 (CET), 14 November 2021.

APPLY HERE

Please note that your submitted application should also include:
1. A project proposal for development over the course of the programme with a clear conceptual statement and approach, your personal interest in the topic or process, brief description of the historical and societal context of the subject, and suggestions for potential artists to include, if any. (max. 2 pages)
2. An up-to-date resume/CV (max. 2 pages). You may include links to past projects in this document.
Evaluation will be based on your motivation, relevance of the programme to your personal and professional goals, your experience and interest in the media arts, clarity and criticality of your project proposal with regards to a specific theme or topic, and the originality of your perspective and approach. We aim to notify successful applicants by 20 December 2021.
See here for information about the previous edition.

If you have further questions, please contact the programme coordinator at bernice@impakt.nl.

impakt.nl