Artforum

EXPO CHICAGO, the city’s international exposition of contemporary and modern art, has partnered with Red Bull Arts Detroit to bring more international curators to the Detroit and Chicago area. The Red Bull Arts Detroit Global Curatorial Initiative, an expansion of EXPO CHICAGO's existing program, will offer mid-career and established curators the opportunity to participate in the eighth annual exposition, which will take place at the Navy Pier from September 19 to September 22, coinciding with the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

The fully-funded initiative, which was conceived as a cultural immersion program, will provide fellowships that will focus on creating dialogue between global cultures and the Midwest to between two to four curators. Participants will include curators from Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

“Expo Chicago’s curatorial initiatives provide an opportunity for a global community of curators to convene and engage with ideas and points of intersection and divergence within their work, while also exploring the particularities of a place: Chicago,” said Matthew Eaton, a program manager at Red Bull Arts Detroit. “That spirit is mirrored in what we do at Red Bull Arts Detroit supporting artists, curators and writers and engaging them with our place: Detroit. The opportunity to extend the work happening at Expo Chicago while bringing these two vital Midwestern cities into further conversation with one another is truly exciting.”

In addition, Expo Chicago announced the program for its Curatorial Forum, a series of sessions focused on critical questions relevant to contemporary practice that is presented by Independent Curators International. This year, the forum is expanding its partnership with the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and will invite several architecture curators to take part in a session led by executive director and chief curator of Storefront for Art and Architecture José Esparza Chong Cuy.

Among the other sessions are “Race, Gender and Representation” led by Williams College professor of art history Ondine Chavoya; “Placefulness” led by independent curator Sara Raza; “Accessibility,” led by director of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation Cara Starke; and “Modern Museum in the Global Modern,” led by director of the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Dominic A small Willsdon. Last year’s forum brought together thirty curators from eighteen states. Expo Chicago will announce its keynote speaker in the months to come.

“Expo Chicago exists in an incredibly collaborative city and prides itself on its relationships with a wide range of partners, from foreign consulates to regional nonprofit art organizations,” said Expo Chicago director of strategic partnerships Mia Khimm. “This year, we are focusing our initiatives to support our international exhibitors and programming within the context of expanding Chicago’s global and regional artistic landscape.”