The Curatorial Knowledge Forum held on 17 November 2012 in Karachi Pakistan, was part of a two-week residency programme – the Asia-Europe Curatorial Knowledge Workshop. The programme was supported by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) in the framework of the Creative Encounters programme.
The Forum was organised at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture Gallery by Gemma Sharpe and Adeela Suleman from Gasworks (UK) and Vasl Artists’ Collective (Pakistan). Over 50 participants and speakers from Pakistan, India and the United Kingdom, attended the Forum. The panellists, from diverse backgrounds, shared personal stories. This resulted in an informative exchange within the group and the fifty art practitioners who attended the event.
The aim of the discussions was to relook at the definition of curators’ roles and their obligations towards local communities in the context of Pakistan. The Forum focused on the relationships that bind curators and artists to their communities. The discussions explored the importance of building new support frameworks for Pakistani art in order to make it more relevant in the societies it is emerging from.