Framework: Curatorial Studio Curator's Talk: OFF Biennale Budapest

Curator Nikolett Erőss introduces OFF Biennale Budapest as a context for a wider discussion about art, curating, politics and self organisation.

Since 2012 political and subsequent legislative changes in Hungary have caused dramatic changes to the curatorial leadership of Budapest’s art institutions. The first edition of OFF-Biennale in 2015 is both a consequence and a civil response to these changes.

OFF-Biennale is a series of exhibitions and art events in and beyond the city of Budapest which operates without government funding, through a network of self-organisation. OFF is not affiliated with an institution, but organized by a voluntary collaboration of artists, artist groups, curators, art managers, gallerists and collectors, with the aim of bringing contemporary art closer to the public at large.

OFF proclaims the importance of independent thinking and action, breaking away from clichés and habitual routines. In the run-up to Glasgow’s own biennial GI Festival we discuss the models, structures and financing of city-wide presentations of contemporary art.

Nikolett Erőss is an independent curator and art writer based in Budapest. She gained a PhD in Art History in 2000 from Lóránd Eötvös University in Budapest. As a founding member of the curatorial team of the OFF-Biennale, Budapest she has been involved in the critical and creative development of this new city-wide project that launched in 2015. Based in a productive, self-organised, collaboration network the Biennale aims to offer an alternative to the network of government-funded art institutions. Erőss was formerly curator at Ludwig Museum (2011-13) and the Trafo Gallery (2006-2011) in Budapest. She is a member of the working group for Curatorial Dictionary, a long-term collaborative research project initiated in 2012 by tranzit.hu.

The Curatorial Studio is a supportive peer-learning group and mentoring project for emerging curators across Scotland. The participants are: Frances Davis, Gordon Douglas, Cicely Farrer, Rachel Grant, Marcus Jack, Grace Johnston, Maria Lanko, Gemma Lawrence, Emmie McLusky, Katherine Murphy, Rosie O’Grady, Frances Stacey, Shireen Taylor, Nick Thomas and Claire Walsh. The project is organised by Kirsteen Macdonald (Framework / The Glasgow School of Art) and was developed through a partnership between SCAN, Framework, CCA Glasgow and the MLitt Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art) programme; a partnership between The Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow. For more details, please see http://framework.parallellines.org.uk