CHASE

Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England

Research and Curatorial Assistant at Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

For the past six months, I have had the pleasure of working with the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (SCVA) as part of a very small team to support in the planning, co-ordination and delivery of a highly ambitious exhibition – ‘The Russia Season’. Assigned the role of ‘Curatorial and Research Assistance’, I was closely involved in the development of the thematic sequences and conceptual frameworks for the show, as well as overseeing the final installation and placement of the works. My responsibilities included researching, translating, and writing the interpretation texts, generating works lists, sourcing graphics and providing context to inform both the 2d and 3d aesthetics, alongside the broader identity of the exhibition.

At the start of the placement, there was just a skeleton brief for the project – ‘The Russia Season’ was to mark the centenary of the Russian Revolution, and was to consist of two exhibitions set to contrast Russian art and life, before and after the Revolution. The first, Royal Fabergé, to explore the extraordinary production and glittering saga of Fabergé, the leading artist-jewellers during the decades preceding the First World War. The second, Radical Russia, to demonstrate how in a few short years a new approach to art emerged. This exhibition was to include pre-revolutionary works, illustrating the way in which Russian abstraction included specific Russian themes – especially relating to the Russian peasantry. The exhibition was also to include a wide variety of objects ranging from suprematist ceramics that utilised revolutionary symbolism, to architectural models, which would exemplify the unity between architecture, art, and life.

The Radical Russia exhibition seemed closest in its alignment to my own interests and expertise – with my thesis research focused on providing a critical examination of how Soviet manipulation of public space was employed in an attempt to ease the complex transition of East Prussia from Königsberg to Kaliningrad. And documenting the extent to which the process of Soviet urban development was an effective means of fostering the assimilation of new settlers toward the wider socialist project. As such, the majority of my time went into this aspect of the Season. Despite the overlap of exhibition content and research interests, however, the placement required applying my knowledge and skillset in hitherto unexplored ways. It encouraged me to develop my abilities as a researcher in a new environment, and to consider how they could be applied in previously unconsidered contexts.

Thus, the last six months have offered an invaluable opportunity to learn how to communicate my research and ideas to new and diverse audiences. Whether it be through creating text panels, timelines, exhibition catalogues, teacher’s resources, or giving public tours and lectures – all have necessitated communicating ideas in a way that makes them accessible to non-academic audiences. But without doubt, abandoning the comfort of articles and papers for the unfamiliar tools of objects and artworks, and understanding how to apply narrative, impart knowledge, and communicate ideas through forming relationships between them has been a thoroughly rewarding experience indeed.