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 Creative Director of Rafiki Studio Leo Sartain.

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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.

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

Support the show

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

Support the show

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

Support the show

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

Support the show

Jonathan Freemantle

Curating Conversation

01/15/21 • 76 min

This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with contemporary artist Jonathan Freemantle
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Jonathan Freemantle is a South African born, Edinburgh based artist, gallery director and entrepreneur.
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Jonathan's art should be regarded in a similar vein to the works of the Romantic era, they are created with a deep sense of awe and respect for the process and subject they are inspired by . A recurring theme in much of his work is the mountain, and with this there is a deeper meaning than simply its physical form. Proximity to nature and an almost ritualistic creative process of discovery and creation can be seen in his work. Alongside this personal style, Jonathan carries out a select number of portrait commissions, with one of the most recent being featured in the Scottish Portrait Awards.
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Alongside his painting Jonathan also co-founded the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival and HAZARD gallery in Johannesburg. In 2002 he set up and directed the painting department of The Art Academy in London. His work has been widely exhibited and featured in publications worldwide since 2007, following on from his intensive traditional study at St Oswald's Academy in London and years teaching.
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In our chat today we delved into the creative process behind Jonathan's work, looking into what inspires him, and how certain experiences have affected his views and styles. Spreading his time between South Africa and Edinburgh has led to a rich tapestry of tales and opportunities; some of which we delve into, taking time to see how these experiences affect him and in turn his work.
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A huge thanks to Jonathan for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Jonathan on Instagram at
@jonathanfreemantle
and his website
jonathanfreemantle.com
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

Support the show

Michelle Hamer

Curating Conversation

01/08/21 • 62 min

This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with contemporary artist Michelle Hamer
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Michelle is an Australian visual artist with over 24 solo shows to date and work in 5 permanent national collections.
'We all know the billboards, graffiti and instructional signage in our neighbourhoods but have you ever really stopped to think about what its all telling you about society? Michelle Hamer’s hand-stitched and drawn works force us to confront this language of our fears, beliefs & aspirations.
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Michelle’s work literally connects to a unique moment in time yet as the world changes the works take on new meaning and speak to us in new ways. The messages and scenes captured are pointed and personal. They are the moment, sign, scratch of graffiti that hits us directly - irreverently encapsulating life and memorialising an everyday instance while allowing us the time and space to be present, reflect and then laugh at what life presents us.'
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In our chat we covered her route to creating hand stitched works of art, starting from her earliest experiences with her mother through to, situations that have led to her creating the work she does, whether it be world leaders tweeting during a pandemic or abuse shouted on the streets. We discuss the realities of being an exhibiting visual artist during a pandemic, and her experience having works bought for national collections along with much more.
Michelle's journey to where she is now is a path hard fought, and something that really resonates is her desire to not let setbacks and difficulties stop her.
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A huge thanks to Michelle for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Michelle on Instagram at
@michelle_hamer
or her website
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
and The Rafiki Gallery @the_rafiki_gallery

Support the show

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

Support the show

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

Support the show

Bess Atwell

Curating Conversation

11/13/23 • 87 min

This week's episode sees Leo in conversation with musician Bess Atwell
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Bess Atwell is a British musician who has been making music for over 10 years. Her last album, 'Already Always' we met with widespread praise for her honest lyricism and beautiful songwriting. Having found a way to capture the emotions of her listeners like a few others, Bess chats with me about the build-up to this latest release and how her songwriting has changed.
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During our meandering chat, we understand why Bess creates the music she does and how moments in her life have all helped her get to where she is now. And she shows no signs of slowing down. From early memories of Taylor Swift to the ongoing process of truly understanding oneself ( and her burgeoning art career...) we get into all sorts of topics across our chat and hopefully offer an insight into her as an artist and a person.
Discover all this and much more in this episode of Curating Conversation.
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Thank you so much to Bess for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Bess on Instagram
@bessatwell and their website
And you can hear the music on Spotify

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Michael Kay Terence | Swiss Portrait

Curating Conversation

06/23/22 • 79 min

This week's episode see's Leo in conversation with Artist and Musician Michael Kay Terence, perhaps better known for his music project, Swiss Portrait.
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Michael is a Scottish artist, who turned to making music in 2020 as a way to channel his creative energy. Fast forward to 2022 and he is selling out venues and playing stages all over the country with a full band. His 'dream pop' sound has made waves in the USA and at home, building a following that love the DIY approach the artist has.
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During our chat, we get into how Michael came to music, and how he has managed with it developing the way it has. We talk about the importance of sustainability in music and art, along with how he has found it working with distributors and labels opposed to self releasing. If you are a musician or a creative and want to learn a bit more about making music and how to navigate the maze of sharing your own creative endeavours, listen in, lots of value here!
Discover all this and much more in this episode of Curating Conversation.
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Thank you so much to Michael for coming on the podcast.
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You can find Swiss Portraits on Instagram
@Swiss.Portrait and their website
And you can hear the music on Spotify
Find all images discussed @Curatingconversation
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support, 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

Support the show

Show more best episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Curating Conversation have?

Curating Conversation currently has 33 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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Curating Conversation

RAFIKI STUDIO

Top 10 Curating Conversation Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Curating Conversation have?

What topics does Curating Conversation cover?

What is the most popular episode on Curating Conversation?

What is the average episode length on Curating Conversation?

How often are episodes of Curating Conversation released?

When was the first episode of Curating Conversation?

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