Spotlight with Eloise Sweetman
Eloise Sweetman, Co-founder and Co-director of Shimmer / Independent Curator, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Could you tell us a little more about your background and how you got into curating?
I began as an arts worker and studied Arts Management in Australia and The Netherlands. Slowly I became interested in the way that exhibitions function and the audiences relationships with artworks. For a while, I worked as an event programmer and an assistant to a curator and then eventually went to Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht, The Netherlands where I opened my studio up as an exhibition called Roll on Roll on Phenomena (until you are no more) where I was interested in how to share space with artworks. I felt by this point that curating gave me a way of thinking and experiencing the world that made sense to me. I now curate full-time as an independent curator and through Shimmer a curatorial studio I co-run.
Who/what has influenced your curatorial practice?
I am inspired by artworks that are changable as they resist the exhibition as a static site and involve the curator in a way that I find very exciting and challenging. Artists that I return to include Charlotte Posenenske, Lee Kit and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Artists who curate are also a big influence such as curator and artist Paul O’Neill’s Coalesce(nce) exhibition series where the artworks are accumulating and shifting. O’Neill has been collaborating with other curators and artists on this series for 20 years. Artist and curator Jo-ey Tang’s approach to curating also is an important influence on my approach. Tang some times will deviate the artwork halfway through the exhibition to become something else, or to install all the artworks in the hallways and leaving the main spaces empty.
The role of the curator is continuously changing. Could you describe what it means to be a curator today?
I love how curating is continuously changing as is the role of the curator. Currently, I am interested in artworks that resist the exhibition thereby putting into question what a curator does and how.
A curator needs to be trusted by the artist. Without that trust the curator cannot support and challenge (when appropriate) the artist to create an exhibition or make a work that is right for them. Furthermore, I like to experiment with the format of the exhibition and its important for me that the artist trusts me and that I trust them to suggest strange curatorial ideas.
For me, the most exciting time is being with the artist and their work during installation and seeing how all the decisions we made together beforehand come into being.
I place a lot of importance on the time spent with the artworks in the space after the exhibition is installed so I can really understand the artist's material thinking, what the works are doing together in the space, and how as the audience of the work experiences it as a whole. I want to then communicate that to the audience and back to the artist.
To be a curator is to be open to continuous learning and to be able to stand up for an idea, an artist and ones own work.
Tell us about the latest exhibition / project that you curated.
The latest exhibition is called Always Thinking Like A Scrim which I have co-curated with Jason Hendrik Hansma at Shimmer the curatorial studio we run together. Etel Adnan and Lynn Marie Kirby wrote “Always Thinking Like A Scrim”, and just as a scrim can be both visible and invisible, depending on the lighting, our experience of the world is shaped by multiple, often overlapping facets. For this unfolding show, Shimmer explores the lifecycle of fabric, and through the action of making we enter into the deep. Always Thinking Like A Scrim begins in March with works by Matt Hinkley, Liz Magor, and Hana Miletić and changes in June with works by Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, Cihad Caner, Daniel Giles, Lotus Laurie Kang, and Tenant of Culture.
With IKT member Kris Dittel, I am working on the third season of I Hope This Message Finds You Well, a podcast on curating where we interview curators about their work. We intend to launch in late March.
Finally, I am working on an exhibition at Les Bains-Douche in Alençon, France called Every Flower Seems To Burn By Itself inspired by “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Wolf. This is an exhibition about the slow burn and the linger. It flickers on the outer edges of Maaike Schoorel’s minimalist paintings, glows in the embers of Jason Hendrik Hansma’s video work, and is found in the dankness of Marlie Mul’s sculptural sludge. It hovers in the wash of the words by Tanatchai Bandasak and the fog of Damon Zucconi. All the works slowly burn by themselves, generating an internal heat, radiating and lingering outward. The exhibition opens in November 2024.
What are you reading, watching, or listening to now, that is helping you to stay relaxed and positive?
I really enjoy crime fiction and speculative fiction. I have recently finished “Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation Series” by Vaseem Kahn, about a Mumbai private detective who solves crimes with a baby elephant in tow. (I know, weird but it's very good). Kahn names Agatha Christie as an inspiration, who I also enjoy reading. I am right in the middle of reading “The Wrath and The Dawn” by Reneé Ahdieh which is a retelling of the Middle Eastern tale "1001 Nights".
How long have you been part of IKT and how do you feel that it has benefited your curatorial practice?
I joined IKT in late 2023 but I have already benefitted from the association by the wonderful opportunities that are continually offered by the association and its membership. It is my hope to connect with the other members to learn from their work. I am endlessly inspired by how curators work, so IKT is a good place for me.
Thank you Eloise!
Learn more about Eloise: Website | Instagram | Shimmer | I hope this message finds you well | Les Bains-Douche
Spotlight
Spotlight is a new series of short interviews, aiming to showcase the diverse expertise and innovative approaches of our IKT members. Whether you're seeking inspiration or searching for potential partners, join us on this captivating journey as we uncover the stories, ideas, and creative visions of our members.
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