& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

British curators Jean Vacher and Aileen Burns in Dhaka

Takir Hossain
Connections Through Culture (CTC) is a new British Council Arts project to develop curatorial skills and exchange information between galleries in the UK and South Asia. CTC has invited eight galleries from Bangladesh, Pakistan and 10 galleries from UK to take part in the project. The project aims to provide an introduction to key cultural institutions, and will give the participants an opportunity to meet several artists, curators and gallery directors from the UK.
To encourage interaction and dialogue between curators from Pakistan, Bangladesh and their British counterparts, UK curators visited Karachi, Lahore and Dhaka from September 10 to 17. The Bangladeshi and Pakistani curators will visit UK in March 2013. The curators from the UK galleries visited their partner galleries, different cultural institutions, and participated in seminar and discussion with the students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, Bangladeshi curators and visual artists.
Syed Masud Hossain, head of Arts and Society, British Council, Bangladesh expresses optimism that this tour will help in gaining a greater understanding of the cultural heritage of Bangladesh, while Bangladeshi galleries and curators are kept abreast with the contemporary UK visual arts scene.
Among the participating local galleries are: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Britto Arts Trust and Dhaka Art Center. Participating UK galleries are: Sidney Cooper Gallery, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Crafts Study Centre, Whitechapel Gallery, Cooper Gallery, De La Warr Pavilion and others. Participating Pakistani galleries are: VM Gallery, Mohatta Palace, Canvas Gallery, Rohtas 2 and National College of Art (gallery)
In a conversation with The Daily Star, curators and art historians Jean Vacher and Aileen Burns spoke on the many aspects of curating.
Every profession has its own code of conduct. What are the duties involved in curating?
Aileen Burns: As a curator, you have a
number of responsibilities. To build a bridge between audiences and artworks is one of the main duties of a curator. Other responsibilities include presenting artists' works with in a way that's visually appealing to the viewers. As a curator, you have to be enthusiastic and interact with the viewers. You have to interact with the patrons as well. You have to have strong research abilities and be familiar with the artists and their works.
What is the process of curating?
Aileen Burns: There are many processes of curating. My institute has a small team who supervise the artists all year round. Curating is a very delicate process. The curator also provides supportive information about the works and gathers relevant contents for the exhibition.
What type of skills does a curator need?
Aileen Burns: Curators should have enough knowledge about the elements of art management as well as preservation. A curator should be a good negotiator and skilled in fundraising. They need good writing skills as they write the exhibition's brochures and promotional materials. A museum
curator needs to be able to work with different people in different departments, including education, community of developers and others.
How do you preserve old paintings?
Jean Vacher: First of all, you have to make sure that the room where the painting is going to be displayed doesn't receive direct sunlight. Maintain the historical evidence of paintings. Make sure that the room has a steady temperature and good humidity level. Strong lights should not fall direcdy on the painting, which can hamper the quality of the painting and regularly clean the painting to keep intact its beauty.
What kind of education is appropriate for a curator?
Jean Vacher: To work as a curator at a museum, one needs a master's degree in museum studies and in art. Most of the time, curators have academic orientation in fine arts and art history. Independent curators may have more flexible academic affiliation. Today's curators even receive education in literature and history.