Summary: Beyond the Artworks- Curatorial Strategies at Taipei Dangdai 2024

In my recent article "Beyond the Artworks- Curatorial Strategies at Taipei Dangdai 2024" published on Insular City Zine, it provided a detailed article about the Taipei Dangdai contemporary art fair, which focuses on the strategies employed by galleries in showcasing artworks, the concept of spatial practice, and the introduction of niche styles into the art market. The article also touches on the significance of curatorial strategy practice, and the introduction of African art into the Asian market.

Here's a summary of the key points:

• Taipei Dangdai Contemporary Art Fair:

• • Showcased works by living artists across diverse media.
  • Emphasised careful curation of exhibition spaces to convey intended concepts and integrate multimedia for dialogue between artworks and audiences.
  • Highlighted the importance of strategy in guiding galleries' presentations.

• Strategies Employed by Galleries:

• • Galleries employed different strategies, from long-term vision to thematic anchors, to support artists through exposure.
  • Examples of strategies included dual-artist presentations, experimental pairings, and bold, unvarnished presentations.
• Spatial Practice and Artistic Presentations:

• • Spatial practice played a crucial role in decision-making, curation, and the overall experience of the exhibitions.
  • Galleries focused on tone, media integration, and artist-audience interactions to articulate their perspectives and strategies.
• Introduction of Niche Styles into the Art Market:
  • The article mentioned the introduction of African art into the Asian market by Afriart Gallery, igniting interest and offering a refreshing perspective.
• Additional Insights:
  • Dandai refers to 'contemporary' in Mandarin.
  • Spatial practice involves curating the exhibition wall and space.
  • The article also shared the perspective of the founder of Afriart Gallery regarding the vibrant nature of African artworks.

Overall, the article provided an insightful look into the strategies, spatial practices, and niche introductions in contemporary art exhibitions, emphasising the significance of clear articulation and overarching concepts in the presentation of artworks.

Read the full aritle:

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Arts matter

The pandemic hugly imapcted on ourl life. 

Being chaotic to cope with it, eventually, I am able to come back, expressing my point of view in art and creativity (and beyond!). 

Words are stored as draft, waiting to spread out. 

PC3: Personal Portfolio

The importance of personal portfolio is it represents who you are to your clients, it reflects you as a photographer and your understanding in this field, showing you are an innovative, your creative ability and professional skills you have. An outstanding portfolio is memorable, unique and concise, showing a serious of photographs you are proud of and you can talk about. Thus, when customers see your works, they would know how much time you have invested on preparing your portfolio.

Buttomhole Stitch & Longstitch Binding Workshop

                         

In this workshop. We learnt how to make two beautiful non-adhesive books structures: the Long Stitch and the Buttomhole Stich Bindings. Both bindings gave exposed decorative sewing on the spine and lots of potential in terms of materials selection, colour combinations, stitching and decorating techniques. They open completely flat which makes them ideal to use as sketchbooks, notebooks, photo albums or to incorporate own artwork or writing.

The sewing structures of these books are similar to Coptic binding all of them are sewing and pages exposed. I like this idea of seeing the horizontal line pattern in spine area that makes the decoration look abstract. Considering to make a book as my final, the idea of pure handmade seems to be working well and this shows the audience that I have skills to make a high standard body of work. Maybe combine this sewing structure covered by a box like visual artist Catanlina De la Cruz works for her photobooks which she creates Solander box and uses the front of board as her cover pages.

Photo etching workshop

                                    

In this workshop. I learnt the slow process of making photo etching to produce a body of work for my final project. Photo etching is also known as photo ingalito, the word ingalito comes from Italy, which means carved. In this type of print, lines are etched with acid into the surface of a metal plate. When the plate is inked, then wiped clean so that the link lies only in these recesses. A print is made when the plate is covered by damp paper and the two are rolled under pressure in an etching press.

The sophistic process is slow and skilled. Most of time you need to rely on technicians as students are not allowed to use the exposure machine, when they are busy at some point, you need to wait for them after they come back. I felt a bit frustrated when making the finals, as I mentioned, you need to wait, and literally it’s not you being independent to create your work, is someone help you to accomplish it. Thus, I think I didn’t learn the whole process of making photo-etching. Although Penny went the process in details, I still have nothing on the time controlling of exposure. Nevertheless, the result is amazing, I think the image contains simple contour and after it is etched, the effect of exposure stands out the contour and hence they look more vivid than printing on photographic paper.

Reference:

Artistsnetworkcom. 2017. Intaglio Printmaking Made Simple | Here Are The 5 Key Processes. [Online]. [25 April 2019]. Available from: https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/drawing/intaglio-explained/ 

PC3: Tax & Licenses

Being a sole trader is providing a service individually, you have your flexible working hours and you could work on various projects. However, this enjoyable role could be a risk than you need to consider where to get the next project as well as trying to meet up with people to build your networking. The negotiation itself and can take the form of a face-to-face meeting, an email or phone call but it is important to close a negotiation with an agreement. Repeat back to the client what your understanding of the agreement is, and consider whether you need to create a contract for clarity and protection. Regarding tax record, you need to keep receipts your income and expense every week/month, you could use an accountant to help with your trading year.

PC3: Branding and Marketing

The process of branding can be as valuable as using outputs to voice you as a brand. A good design stands out your style through outputs and people would easily remember you are a professional. Various things you could use as branding, for instance, business cards or other physicals, logo, website, social media, newsletters and you represent your branding.