Coordinator’s Note

Hello British Art Network members, I hope this email finds you safe and well. My thoughts go out to everybody facing challenges at this difficult time. We hope your engagement with the Network will continue to be a support to you….

I want to highlight that the majority of BAN’s members receive our communications to a work email address so if you’d like to change your contact email to a personal one, due to furlough or changing circumstances, do please get in touch via britishartnetwork@tate.org.uk. Whilst furloughed, you can still take part in training and networking opportunities so do explore these opportunities to connect with other BAN members and groups where you can. You’ll see that Research Group activity is now really taking off, with a number of events taking place over the coming month. Meanwhile, online content from the three most recent BAN events has been published in a new resources section on the BAN webpage and we look forward to sharing videos from UAL Decolonising Arts Institute’s BAN seminar series soon.

The 2021 Emerging Curators Group (ECG) have started coming together via Zoom, getting to know each other and exploring research interests and professional challenges. In this newsletter, the 15 group members introduce themselves, their work and research interests. An important part of the ECG initiative is to connect emerging curators with others in the field, and in the spirit of this, we invite Network members to get to know more about the research the ECG members are undertaking. Do email me if you would like to be put in touch with any of the ECG members.

One challenge in our current remote world is to find opportunities for informal networking, and organic, unstructured meetings and conversations. In midDecember, we held our first BAN online social event, inviting bursary awardees and the BAN Steering Group to trial the platform High Fidelity. High Fidelity mimics real life audio experience, as you hear people’s voices gradually come into earshot as you get closer to them. We had missed the buzz and hum of an event, knowing that lots of other interesting conversations were happening around you, and hearing familiar voices rise and fall in the background. It was a surreal but fun experience, as we navigated our little avatars around an aerial view image of

the Tate Britain rotunda with Christmas tree installation, dropping into various conversations. This was the closest experience I’d had to an actual networking event since last March, with both the exciting spontaneity and the awkwardness that these events can bring. Sadly lacking were any trays of drinks and snacks being passed round all of our homes! We’ll keep looking for ways to recreate such an experience, as well as other informal occasions where we can learn which platforms work well and how best to utilise them.

Thank you all for the interest and creativity you bring to the Network. As we continue to navigate a challenging time, it’s more important than ever to strengthen our connections and our collective spirit. I look forward to seeing many of you online at forthcoming BAN events.

Jessica Juckes Coordinator, British Art Network