Fire Station announces open call for Curator in Residence applications

AMMAN — The Fire Station, a contemporary art space in the heart of Doha which supports artists and engages local communities through cultural programming, announced its annual open call for the Curator in Residence programme. 

This year, the residency is in collaboration with the Qatar-MENASA 2022 Year of Culture to support curators from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, according to a statement from the initiative. 

For this edition, two curators will be invited to join the programme from October 17, 2022, to January 17, 2023. The deadline to apply is June 18, 2022.

The three-month residency offers wide-ranging support to the burgeoning talent, including a round-trip ticket to Doha, off-site accommodation, and a monthly per diem. 

The two curators selected for the residency will also have access to a furnished workspace at the Fire Station and assistance in developing their curatorial concepts. 

The residency is designed to immerse participants in the dynamic local art scene through interactive sessions with local artists and curators, participation in Open Studio events, public programmes, and opportunities to organise exhibitions.

The residency programme is open to independent and institutional curators of all curatorial and research-based practices from the MENASA region. 

Curators from the following countries are eligible: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Bhutan, Egypt, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Students enrolled in an academic programme (excluding doctoral candidates) at the time of residency are not eligible to apply.

Fire Station launched its Curator in Residence programme in 2020, taking place twice a year for three months in conjunction with the Artist in Residence programme. Three curators have gone through the programme since 2020.

David Suárez Mira, a Colombian curator based in New York, conducted curatorial research on sound art in Qatar and the Gulf region during his residency, which was presented at the Fire Station in an exhibition featuring local artists titled “Acts of Listening from Future Generations”. 

Fahad Al Turky, a Qatari cultural professional and Exhibition Manager with Msheireb Museums, served as a Curator and part of the development team for Msheireb Museums' permanent exhibitions, with a specific focus on the history of slavery in Qatar, the Indian Ocean Region and global Modern Slavery in Bin Jelmood House. 

Hadeel Eltayeb explored identity and cultural production in her work. Her research explores facing down the haunting effects of ghosts in the archive, negotiating narratives of ownership through oral histories, and negotiating the tension between individual, social and public remembering through cultural practices.