Spotlight with Shirley Madill
Shirley Madill, Executive Director at Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Canada
Could you tell us a little more about your background and how you got into curating?
After a school visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery at the age of 10, I was determined to work in an art museum. At that time, there were no curatorial courses. My graduate and post-graduate studies focused on Cultural History, International History and Art History. I was not interested in becoming an artist; rather I wanted to work with them. Studying a broader approach to art as I did, an approach that encapsulated the cultural, social, and political context, was critical to my subsequent direction in curating. I began my career at the Winnipeg Art Gallery during a time when post-modernist discourse was flourishing. It fit my comfort level more than, say, focusing solely on modernist aesthetics, especially in relation to feminism that took a powerful revisionist approach to art history. Supporting women artists was important and I worked on making a change in representation of women artists in collections and exhibitions.
Who/what has influenced your curatorial practice?
I was fortunate to have great mentors over the years that included directors, some that were former curators, art writers and critics, fellow curators, and most of all, the artists I worked with. I also acknowledge many Indigenous artists I have had the pleasure to work with.
The role of the curator is continuously changing. Could you describe what it means to be a curator today?
Today, I think artists, curators and directors are rethinking their work and creative practice in these times of socio-ecological crisis. We are looking into more art projects, cultural practices and narratives that help cultivate sustainability, relationship-building, and dialogue. Practices that are not only sustainable and ethical, but that also nurture human values such as collaboration, active participation, empathy, and care. There is a need to catalyze a shift to more eco-social ways of being, thinking, and doing. Everything we do, no matter how small, has an impact on the world and on all existing systems, whether personal, socio-cultural, or environmental. Acknowledging this viewpoint provides a new lens through which to view the arts, culture, economy, and everyday life, especially at a time of uncertainty, complexity, and profound socio-ecological transformations. Calls for social justice and responses to systemic racism in Canada and beyond is important in our roles as curators, artists and directors. As curators we should be pushing the expectations for contemporary curatorial work and engaging strategies of mutual aid when (un)learning, interacting with, experiencing, and communicating knowledge. What work we do and our approach to re-thinking how we involve community means taking a deeper dive.
What’s next for you? What are your upcoming projects?
In my current capacity as Executive Director, I am doing less curating. My latest ventures have been writing on art. One titled, Feminism and Appropriation Art in a book published by YYZ Canada titled Community of Images, Strategies of Appropriation in Canadian Art, and Robert Houle: Life and Work and Kent Monkman: Life and Work, two books, printed and on-line, with Art Canada Institute, Toronto.
What are you reading, watching, or listening to now, that is helping you to stay relaxed and positive?
Gardening is my sanctuary – I love listening to jazz, watching foreign films, and I became a fan of Outlander and Suits on television.
How long have you been part of IKT and how do you feel that it has benefited your curatorial practice?
In my early curatorial work, I did a great deal of international travel and curated exhibitions of artists from all over the world. My visits to Europe resulted in making many curatorial friends and I joined IKT in 1994 as a result of that. It was exciting for me and the main benefit of joining IKT was the networking and sharing of ideas and issues facing curators today as well as collaborations.
Thank you Shirley!
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Spotlight
Spotlight is a new series of short interviews, aiming to provide insights about IKT members, their curatorial practice and projects in which they are involved. The series is intended to boost members' engagement with the network and help them find new opportunities for collaboration.
Want to participate?
Send us a request to ikt.curatorial@gmail.com and we will send you interview questions.