CO-ORDINATOR’S INTRODUCTION

I am delighted to join the BAN team and look after the role of Coordinator whilst Jessica Juckes is on maternity leave. In my previous role as Administration Manager at Tate Modern as I led a team of Exhibition Assistants in delivering projects across the Tate Modern programme as well as supporting the operational planning of the gallery. I have been at Tate for 7 years and bring a wealth of experience in project planning and delivery across all areas of the galleries including Visitor Experience, Development, Legal & Finance and Curatorial.

It was a pleasure to meet members from this year’s cohort of emerging curators in person at the recent workshop in York on 17 March. We were joined by previous ECG member Becky Gee, Curator of Fine Art at York Museums who shared her experience and lead the group on a tour of Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love & Legacy and Reyhan King, Chief Executive Officer for York Museums Trust for a Meet the Director session. The day-long workshop was a chance to meet in person with some lively discussions and ideas generated. The group continue to meet online and we are planning another inperson session in the summer.

Members of the Emerging Curators Group in the exhibition Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love and Legacy, York Art Gallery, during a gallery tour by Curator and former Early Career Curators Group member, Becky Gee (in profile, to the left)

We were delighted to receive so many applications for the Seminar Support Bursary and the BAN/YCBA Curatorial Forum The latter is a residential weeklong forum to take place in New Haven, Connecticut, the week of 17 October 2022. It will bring together a select group of up to 12 participants from a range of backgrounds, working contexts, and career stages, drawn from the UK, US and beyond. We hope this will develop into a dynamic peer group that examine and discuss British art together beyond this initial week together.

We would also like to highlight our most recent opportunity for anyone who is a current or past member of BAN’s Emerging Curators Group or the Early Career Curator’s Group. You are able to apply for a small research support bursary, envisioned as support towards research travel in the UK to visit an exhibition, library/archive/collection, artist, curator or collector, or to attend a conference or event, in support of your research into British art and curatorial practice and theory.

It is great to see our Research Groups begin to share their programme of events. Queer British Art collaborated with artist Jez Dolan to present: STORMY WEATHER – A day of debate, defiance & celebration. Using the current exhibition Derek Jarman at Manchester Art Gallery as a leaping-off point for discussion, debate and interventions. The symposium welcomed artists, academics, curators, students, writers and those with a general interest in Jarman’s life, works and legacy. I look forward to working with and meeting more of the Research Groups and members of the British Art Network in delivering an engaging and relevant programme this year. Please do get in touch with me directly with any questions or ideas you may have, it would be wonderful to hear from you.

Lizzy Harris BAN Coordinator