Reading the Present: A Workshop on Art Writing for emerging South Asian writers

Asia Art Archive in India (AAAI) and the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) invite applications from emerging writers from South Asia for an online series of weekly workshops on art writing, titled Reading the Present. The workshops will run on Zoom from October 23 - December 5, 2020.

The workshop will prompt a rethinking and re-orienting of core concerns in art writing today, and encourage emerging writers from South Asia to think through genealogies of method, form, and vocabulary. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to writing, the workshop will explore research-based writing methodologies, forms of the digital, reading and referentiality, ways of mapping textual and curatorial topographies, while also addressing the need for collaborative practices.

Sessions will take place every Friday and Saturday for seven weeks, from October to December. Each pair of sessions will be structured to include one led by an invited speaker, and a follow-up session involving a practice-based framework created by them. The workshop will incorporate reflective writing exercises, peer-led critique sessions, and emphasise formats of collective thinking integral to sustaining and nurturing a critical writing practice.

The workshop invites applications from writers based in South Asia who are willing to commit to all the sessions, and are developing individual and collaborative writing practices. Participants are expected to attend the weekly sessions on Friday and Saturday, and adhere to deadlines for completing reading and writing assignments. The workshop aims to bring together early career writers, scholars, curators, and art-workers writing on and around fields of art, visual culture, and the expanse of trans-media. We welcome individuals who take initiative, and who share references, resources, and healthy criticism with each other in the spirit of forming what will hopefully be a small art-writing community.

The workshop will be conducted in English.

Open to applicants based in South Asia
Deadline for applications: Monday, 5 October 2020