Curatorial Development Workshop 2020

The Japan Foundation, Manila continued the Curatorial Development Workshop 2020 in partnership with the Philippine Contemporary Art Network (PCAN), and the University of the Philippines Vargas Museum.

The Workshop, spearheaded by Patrick Flores, working together with other members of PCAN, Tessa Maria Guazon, Renan Laru-an, and Roberto Paulino, is the sixth in the series since 2009 and seeks to reflect on the relationship between the social context of the public health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the kind of curatorial mode responsive to the ecology of production. This production has been disrupted because of the restrictions on basic mobility; domestic and international travel; physical interaction; and general everyday activity. This situation, coupled with uncertainty and unpredictability, has affected the economic and emotional well-being of everyone all over the world and rendered daily life and the imagination of the future precarious, even as various forms of violence have in the same breath heightened. The Workshop is to speak to this context: to explain and propose ways of understanding the complex and delicate condition and to translate these strategies into a curatorial mode or instinct.

The workshop consisted of a Public Program streamed live in Zoom and Facebook and a 2-day Zoom workshop with PCAN, JFM, and the chosen participants. One-on-one mentorships were also done prior to the workshop presentations. A few participants selected from the open call will have the unique opportunity to implement their curatorial projects in Feb 2021 at the UP Vargas Museum.