Jobs and opps

Liverpool Biennial has appointed Lorenzo Fusi as curator for the International, the lead exhibition of the Liverpool Biennial festival of contemporary art. He will be working on the development of the programme for the next festival – the UK’s Biennial - which takes place in 2010.

Welcome to Liverpool and your new position as International Curator for Liverpool Biennial.  

What, do you think, won you the post of International Curator?

I think there is a time and a place for things to happen. When I applied for this post, my private life and career in Italy seemed to have come to a dead end. I felt I had to diversely challenge my skills as a curator and place myself in a different context in order to verify where I was standing as a human being and rethink my role as a cultural operator. I was not afraid to dedicate myself entirely to a new project or move here on a permanent basis (at least for the two years to come). Unlike many globe-trotter curators who organise shows from the seat of an aircraft and who like to wear many different shoes at once, I made clear that I would have committed to the Liverpool Biennial full time, dedicating and devolving all my energies to it. I like to think that my working history in the public realm and commissioning art in the not-for-profit sector won me this position. My availability to reside here and desire to have a first hand experience of the city were surely a bonus.

What are the main aims for the Biennial and what are your personal aspirations beyond these?

“Engaging art, people and place” is the Liverpool Biennial motto. A vision and a take on the arts I deeply share. It is my desire to contribute to the consolidation of the reputation of this event locally, nationally and internationally. I would like contemporary art to be perceived by the future generations not as an alien entity or an imposed dictatorial act but has a natural necessity, a need, a grassroots desiderata, a tool of cultural, social and political emancipation. Art - and more broadly culture - is a great way to empower people since it activates processes of self-consciousness. If I can facilitate by any means these processes, my aspirations will be matched.

What is the criteria for selecting artists and their work?

Honestly I don’t believe quota representations can work when you have to select artists for a show. In doing so you might be fair and politically correct but you fail in giving voice to what it is actually worth been said. I have always been deeply engaged with issues related to cultural diversity, minorities, etc. Yet I believe the only valid parameter to choose art should be its quality, regardless of the actual provenance of its authors. I don’t want to cage or confine artists in categories of national or ethnic representation for my own convenience. Excellence and the ability of the artists to communicate should be the only criteria to be followed. I don’t want to give birth to a self-referential soliloquy and I wish to set up a dialogue with the broadest possible audience. 

What do you think will be the main challenges for you as the curator for the 2010 Biennial?

There is nothing easier than starting up a new cultural enterprise or art festival and be acclaimed unconditionally. Everybody is going to love it: it doesn’t matter how good that is. It is much harder to keep it up and maintain or improve the standards you have set up initially. I feel the weight of the heritage left by those who have worked at the Biennial previously and the pressure of the expectations of raising the profile at each time. Naturally 2008 was an exceptional moment for our Biennial. The fact that Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture boosted its outreach and attracted into town more money and funding than ever.

The Biennial press release states that you ‘bring to Liverpool almost a decade of experience in delivering contemporary art commissions, with a distinct interest in politically and socially engaged work..’

Could you tell us a little more about the political and socially engaged work that interests you?

I am interested in any work of art that successfully combine form and narrative and it is able to convey its messages in an interesting way. Thickly layered artworks are those I favour versus those that are too literal. Social equality and visibility, freedom of expression, integration vs. exclusion, are some of the issues that interest me. This said, I believe all art (at least all good art) is political by definition in that it lives in the polis. A good artist might be talking about how much he or she loves his/her garden and be socially and politically engaged. You don’t necessarily need to talk about Margaret Thatcher to be political.

Do you feel there are political or controversial elements that need to be addressed in Liverpool?

I have been in Liverpool for just over a week now. I cannot make but very superficial comments. I don’t think I have yet grasped the city in its complexity.  I personally find striking the amount of newly constructed buildings that seem to serve nobody. I was expecting to meet with many dilapidated and deserted industrial sites and I was prepared to face the remains of the past industrial history and glory of Liverpool. But these new architectures that appear not to be occupied pose altogether different questions...in fact they question the very same notion of regeneration and its relation to speculation.

How do you feel local audiences engage with the Biennial? Will you be working with and engaging local groups of artists?

I am in charge of the International exhibition. I assume this means that I shall be primarily involved in bringing international artists into town for the festival in order to open a window onto the outside world. It would have been pointless to appoint me if the Biennial was to present its audience with an introvert look at Liverpool artistic scene, given that I am not a Liverpool art expert. I am naturally very interested in getting to know the local artists and possibly collaborating with the art community based here. Hopefully the Biennial will set up an osmotic and reciprocally advantageous relation between the Liverpool “Us” and the non-Liverpool “Other”. I guess the more we grow in terms of international reputation the more visible Liverpool artists will be in the future. I hope we are going to bridge the local with the global.

What do you want to leave as a legacy for future Biennials? How will you ‘put your stamp’ on 2010?

Intellectual integrity and courage. It is difficult and scaring to face decision-making whilst under pressure and yet remain true to yourself.

Do you have any advice for artists / curators aspiring to work in a biennial context?

I have no recipe to share, I am afraid. Each one of us comes from different paths. Be consistent, open-minded, and generous. What goes around comes around. A certain degree of modesty helps but if you are too modest nobody will take you seriously. We need to have aspirations...and goals.

Can you share any humorous anecdotal incidents on your journey so far?

None I can share publicly. 

Liverpool Biennial is a world-class public art commissioning agency, best known for presenting the UK’s largest festival of contemporary visual art. Since its inception, the International exhibition has commissioned well over 100 new works, many for the streets and public spaces of Liverpool, by established contemporary artists from around the world.

For more information visit: www.biennial.com

Image: Lyle Ashton Harris, Untitled (Face #131 Lorenzo), courtesy of CRG Gallery

Kate Gilman Brundrett

www.kateb.co.uk

First published: a-n.co.uk May 2009