Curating Conversation
RAFIKI STUDIO
We talk to interesting people leading the way in the creative industries to find out how they got there, why they do it and what other people might learn from them. From artists, curators, actors and musicians to professors, freelancers, and technicians there are so many roles that fit in with being creative. We have these conversations to understand their passions from a different perspective and hopefully come away a bit wiser than we went in! Every episode features a new guest, having a relaxed, fun chat and sharing their experiences, enjoy! These conversations are hosted (usually) by the Director of RAFIKI STUDIO, Leo Sartain.
Curating Conversation is a RAFIKI STUDIO production.
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Top 10 Curating Conversation Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Curating Conversation episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Curating Conversation for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Curating Conversation episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Anna Choutova & Flora Bradwell, Bad Art
Curating Conversation
04/19/21 • 61 min
This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with the fabulous duo Anna Choutova and Flora Bradwell, the team behind Bad Art Presents.
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Anna Choutova is a visual artist and curator working and studying in London. She is currently studying for an MFA in Painting at Slade School of Fine Art, after graduating with a First Class Honours with a BA in Painting from Brighton University in 2015
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Flora Bradwell is an artist and curator whose playful, generously grotesque practice encompasses painting, sculpture, installation, performance and moving image. Flora has exhibited internationally and collaborated in curating site responsive projects, performance events and exhibitions across the UK.
She undertook a BA in Fine Art painting at City & Guilds of London Art School, from 2007 - 2009 and is currently undertaking a further MFA in Fine Art at Slade School of Art.
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Bad Art is a curatorial project founded in 2016 by Anna, with Flora latterly joining as co-director. With an aim to challenge the contemporary art world through transgressive exhibitions that offer a different way of interacting with art. Their shows are a reaction & protest against the hushed silence, white-walled gallery experience.
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During our chat, we discussed the backgrounds to each of their artistic practices, along with how the two crossed paths and their friendship developed. Topics discussed include the role of text in art spaces, the importance of understanding why artists create and their joint desires to create spaces that remove the stale air from art. I dubbed the project a 'multi-sensory, art fuelled wonderland of fantasma'.
We even got a glimpse into their new Berlin project, 'Hot Air', which will be happening later in 2021.
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Thank you so much to Anna and Flora for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Anna and Flora on Instagram
@Annachoutova1
@florabradwellart
and Bad Art
@Badartpresents
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
and The Rafiki Gallery @the_rafiki_gallery
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support, you can do so via Ko-Fi, which allows you to virtually donate the equivalent price to a cup of coffee with which to support the podcast and help me in producing more episodes and hosting interesting guests!
Thank you so much.
https://ko-fi.com/curatingconversation
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Sam Macinnes with co-host Aleem Ellingtone
Curating Conversation
06/29/20 • 60 min
This week Leo is joined by Edinburgh based DJ Aleem Ellingtone to chat to Scottish artist Sam Macinnes.
Sam had just finished his MAFA degree when we spoke and I was keen to hear about his experiences at art school, along with a deeper conversation into his amazing artwork.
Much of Sam's art is to do with lad culture and asks important questions about toxic masculinity in contemporary society.
From finding inspiration in a club bathroom to creating a cast of animal characters in which to play out his ideas, Sam's practice stands out as being very unique and refreshingly honest.
By using humour to bring to light important issues Sam is able to bring into conversation topics that might otherwise remain unspoken.
https://www.instagram.com/thee_dudee_zonee/
https://www.instagram.com/djellingtone/
https://www.instagram.com/curatingconversation/?hl=en
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Adam Dix
Curating Conversation
05/03/21 • 55 min
This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with contemporary British artist Adam Dix.
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Adam Dix is a London based painter, who's work evolves around our collective relationship with technology, communication and ritual. He graduated from Wimbledon School of Art's MA programme in 2009
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Adam grew up with a father who was a painter and jazz musician and a mother who works in TV. This combination meant he was exposed to both creative and technological stimuli from a young age. Rather than going straight into Fine Art, Adam instead chose to become an illustrator before finally deciding to give in to his desires and attend art school to explore his artistic talents.
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Forever interested in by tech and sci-fi, Adam's favourite books and films often fall into these categories, in turn inspiring his artistic output. Influenced by how society's methods of communication have adapted as times have changed, there are often scenes of rituals and vestiges of forgotten monuments of communication in his paintings. His painterly process is long and laborious, with layers and glazes added to built up his soft, hazy images.
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During our chat, we discussed Adam's introduction to the world of television and technology, his route to becoming an artist, how Paolozzi inspired him to persevere and how his work relates to the world we live in. His art seems ahead of its time, yet is made up of images inspired by an imagined past and invented future.
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Thank you so much to Adam for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Adam on Instagram
@adammdix
and his website
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
and The Rafiki Gallery @the_rafiki_gallery
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support, you can do so via Ko-Fi, which allows you to virtually donate the equivalent price to a cup of coffee with which to support the podcast and help me in producing more episodes and hosting interesting guests!
Thank you so much.
https://ko-fi.com/curatingconversation
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Aubrey Higgin
Curating Conversation
04/12/21 • 60 min
This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with artist and collector Aubrey Higgin
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Aubrey Higgin is an artist and collector based between London and the West Midlands. He completed his BA studies in Art and History of Art at The University of Reading, graduating in 2017.
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Aubrey was first introduced to art from his Grandmother, who would routinely sit him down to paint with watercolours alongside her. It seems this early foray into art stuck with him as he pursued art throughout school and on to University. Aubrey's journey hasn't been smooth sailing, illness struck while at University and he was left bedbound for over a year. Art took on a healing and restorative role for him, something that imbues his paintings with a joy and life-affirming positivity that is wonderful to behold.
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Forever fascinated by nature, Aubrey's work often depicts waterlilies and waves. Far from his watercolour beginnings, his work is now completed in hugely thick strokes of impasto oil paint, with his work regularly being inches thick. His most recent body of work has been pressing into a more abstract corner, fuelled by his desire to distil the landscape onto the canvas.
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During our chat, we discussed Aubrey's artistic practice, from drawing cats for dates in the playground to being influenced by Gerhard Richter and showing work in multiple galleries nationwide. We also got onto Aubrey's role as a collector, mulling over the important role collectors play in the fabric of the arts and even which artists he thinks you should be collecting too!
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Thank you so much to Aubrey for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Aubrey on Instagram
@aubreyhiggin_art
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
and The Rafiki Gallery @the_rafiki_gallery
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support, you can do so via Ko-Fi, which allows you to virtually donate the equivalent price to a cup of coffee with which to support the podcast and help me in producing more episodes and hosting interesting guests!
Thank you so much.
https://ko-fi.com/curatingconversation
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Ica Headlam. Creative Me Podcast
Curating Conversation
07/07/20 • 55 min
This week features Leo in conversation with fellow Podcaster, Ica Headlam.
Hailing from London, but having spent the last 17 years living in Aberdeen, Ica has spent his time working full time as a social worker, while championing creative talent in the North East of Scotland via his podcast, and his platform 'Big up the 'Deen' where he collaborates with artists. More recently Ica started up the 'We Are Here' platform, which aims to be a space in which black and other underrepresented minority artists and creatives voices can be heard in Scotland.
Our chat covered Ica's early years pursuing a creative goal, his experience moving to Aberdeen from London, why he loves his job, how having a child has changed his outlook and how he has learnt to balance his creative passion with the rest of his life; just to name a few!
You can find Ica at @Creativemepodcast, @weareherescotland, and @bigupthedeen
To keep up to date with the podcast, find us at @curatingconversation and discover new art and artists @the_rafiki_gallery
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
David Iain Brown
Curating Conversation
02/04/21 • 74 min
This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with contemporary artist David Iain Brown
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David Iain Brown is a Scottish artist, hailing from Ayrshire and now based in Glasgow. He attended Gray's School of Art at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
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David originally trained as a print maker, and while he has now developed into a painter, his practice still maintains many printerly elements, namely large blocks of colour. David's route to becoming an artist was hardly obvious, growing up it was more normal to follow into the job of a local trade, but after receiving a lecture from a tutor at Gray's, he was inspired to take the leap and attend art school.
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Since graduating from Gray's in 2018 with a masters in Fine Art, David has been busy exhibiting all over the globe and working hard to build a network of artists and collectors, alongside his time spent in the studio creating his art.
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During our chat, we discuss his time growing up and the impact that being in nature had on him, the time he had at art school, his painterly process and studio habits. The role of an artist in this new digital age is an evolving one and David explains how making the most of this growing latticework of creatives is vital to developing. So listen in to learn a bit about David and perhaps pick up some useful tips for navigating the art sphere.
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A huge thanks to David for coming on the podcast.
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You can find David on Instagram at
@davidiainbrown
and his website
Davidiainbrown
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
and The Rafiki Gallery @the_rafiki_gallery
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support, you can do so via Ko-Fi, which allows you to virtually donate the equivalent price to a cup of coffee with which to support the podcast and help me in producing more episodes and hosting interesting guests!
Thank you so much.
https://ko-fi.com/curatingconversation
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Caroline Gormley, Made In Paisley
Curating Conversation
03/01/21 • 52 min
This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with artist and arts facilitator Caroline Gormley
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Caroline Gormley is a Scottish artist, based in Paisley. She studied art at Glasgow Kelvin College, obtaining a 1st class degree, before starting up Made In Paisley alongside artist Alexander Guy.
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Caroline's route into art was not a direct one, having been a carer from the age of 12 she has spent most of her life looking after others and only at the age of 40 did she decide to apply for art school. Her journey since then has been one of positivity and community, sparked by her meeting Alexander Guy.
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Made In Paisley is an arts studio that offers art classes to children and adults. Through learning how to handle paint, it offers the opportunity for many people to encounter creativity, form a community and take a break from the stress of the outside world. Paisley is known for its industrial heritage as much as for the textile production of the same name, but within this is a beating heart of creativity that can be seen alive and well within Caroline and Alexander's community.
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During our chat, we discussed Caroline's early years and how she eventually followed the artistic calling that was always there. We talked about the hardships and pains of painting, alongside the joy and freedom it can bring. Within all this we considered the motives behind her own personal artistic style and the importance of being true to oneself.
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Thank you so much to Caroline for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Caroline and Made in Paisley on Instagram at
@caroline_gormley
and @made_in_paisley
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
and The Rafiki Gallery @the_rafiki_gallery
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support, you can do so via Ko-Fi, which allows you to virtually donate the equivalent price to a cup of coffee with which to support the podcast and help me in producing more episodes and hosting interesting guests!
Thank you so much.
https://ko-fi.com/curatingconversation
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Faye Woods
Curating Conversation
11/04/22 • 62 min
This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with Artist Faye Woods.
Faye Woods is a Scottish artist, she is currently working out of a tiny home studio in West Yorkshire. She graduated from Greys school of art with a BA in painting. Her current work acts as a love letter to the much-loved establishment of the British pub. To Woods, the pub represents a state of emotional freedom where the act of dancing, singing and drunken debauchery transcends time itself. The pub is a representation of the inner psyche, the room within rooms that is teetering on the edge of disaster and joy.
‘Recently my work has been very inspired by the concept of ‘the perfect pub’. To me, the whole rigmarole accompanying a night at the pub acts as the perfect metaphysical realm for my joyous albeit grotesque figures to exist. In a less obnoxious way, it’s a portal to channel all of my reprehensible behaviours and social faux pas’ into a landscape where spitting in someone's drink or passing out in a bush is encouraged. In my practice, I try to bring attention to the surreal aspects of life and the way the oddness of experience manifests within individuals and how that manifestation affects me. In my vulnerability, I crave strange moments of intimacy. I imagine drinking straight from the tap of all emotion, drinking so much of it, I take on too much and I’m sick and everything I spew out ends up in my work... But more importantly, who the hell doesn’t love a good pint?’
During our chat, we get into how Faye came to Art, her processes of inventing worlds and channelling emotions along with some of the events and encounters that led her to tell the stories she does. At the heart of her work is communication, and it is that need to tell stories via a physical medium that provokes a great deal of her work.
Mixed in with the ridiculous scenes and bright colours are some real moments of honest, raw emotion and foot-stomping hilarity, you just need to look.
Discover all this and much more in this episode of Curating Conversation.
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Thank you so much to Faye for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Faye on Instagram
@eleanor.woods and their website
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Gabi Gillott with co host Max Walker
Curating Conversation
09/07/20 • 49 min
In this week's episode Leo is joined by Edinburgh based writer Max Walker to chat with award winning artist, Gabrielle Gillott.
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Gabrielle attended the Edinburgh College of Art and won the Glenfiddich award for her artwork ' Safe Haven' which is a piece is large scale installation referencing Domesday prepping.
Our chat covers her use of Sims software to create artwork, her time at the Bothy Project, winning the Glenfiddich Award and how the recent pandemic induced lock-down has affected her creative output. We also touched on how she ended up studying the Edinburgh College of Art and her relationship with colour has affected her artwork.
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Gabi currently also works at the Royal Botanics in Edinburgh so we had a wee chat about all the great things that go on there!
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Find Gabi on Instagram at @gabriellegillott
Keep up to date with the podcast and see all images discussed at:
@curatingconversation
and find me and the gallery at
@the_rafiki_gallery
Thanks for listening!
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
Jennifer Smith, Clovermill Artist Residency
Curating Conversation
12/16/21 • 54 min
This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with painter and founder of the Clovermill Artist Residency, Jennifer Smith
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Jennifer Smith is an Irish visual artist based in The Netherlands. She received a BA of Fine Art, Painting in 2005 from Limerick School of Art & Design. She creates abstract expressionist nude figurative paintings. Or so her bio would have you believe, she does much more than this. Her work touches on themes varying from the female gaze, sexuality, image, femininity and mythology, although her practice is constantly evolving.
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Alongside her artistic practice, she is the founder of The Clovermill Artist Residency, which provides onsite accommodation, studio, gallery and exhibition space, located on the grounds of an old water windmill in The Netherlands. CloverMill offers opportunities to collaborate. The focus is on the work of emerging to mid-career female artists and curators.
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During our chat, we discussed her entry into art, how her practice has endured throughout the changes in her life and the impact it has on her. Also mentioned in this episode are some tales from her travels, ideas about her work and of course the story of how the residency came into being.
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Thank you so much to Jenniferfor coming on the podcast.
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You can find Jennifer and The Clovermill Artist Residency on Instagram
@Jennifer_smith_art and @clovermill_artist_residency
and her website and Clovermill's site
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
and The Rafiki Gallery @the_rafiki_gallery
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support, you can do so via Ko-Fi, which allows you to virtually donate the equivalent price to a cup of coffee with which to support the podcast and help me in producing more episodes and hosting interesting guests!
Thank you so much.
https://ko-fi.com/curatingconversation
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, you can do so via Patreon which allows you to become a patron of the podcast which helps me to produce more episodes and host interesting guests!
www.patreon.com/curatingconversation
Thank you so much.
Leo
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FAQ
How many episodes does Curating Conversation have?
Curating Conversation currently has 34 episodes available.
What topics does Curating Conversation cover?
The podcast is about Culture, Art History, Society & Culture, Art, Visual Arts, Music, Creative, Podcasts, Journal and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Curating Conversation?
The episode title 'INFEMS ART COLLECTIVE' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Curating Conversation?
The average episode length on Curating Conversation is 60 minutes.
How often are episodes of Curating Conversation released?
Episodes of Curating Conversation are typically released every 22 days, 23 hours.
When was the first episode of Curating Conversation?
The first episode of Curating Conversation was released on Mar 10, 2020.
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