In conversation with Pelumi Odubanjo and Katy Barron

“We wanted the exhibition to be multi-generational and to explore how artistic expressions of home and belonging have shifted over recent decades.”

- Pelumi Odubanjo and Katy Barron

Image: Pelumi Odubanjo and Katy Barron, Portrait by Bernice Mulenga, 2022

Pelumi Odubanjo (PO) and Katy Barron (KB) are the curators of Photo50 2023 at the London Art Fair. The theme this year is Beautiful Experiments which will bring together the work of a group of multigenerational women photographers whose practice engages with their diasporic heritage, and through their lens explores domestic life and the home as not only a physical place but also a space of memory and generational exchange.

Photo50 is London Art Fair’s annual exhibition of contemporary photography, providing a critical forum for examining some of the most distinguishing elements of current photographic practice.

Can you tell us about your background in the arts, and how you ended up working as a curator? 

PO: I studied Fine Art for my undergraduate and was always fascinated by the theory and ideas which form the basis for creating artwork. During my Masters, I studied Contemporary art theory, where I was able to dig deep into a specific area of interest of mine - Photography. Since then, I have worked closely with photographic images, and studied their relationship to artistic practice in contemporary times. 

KB: I studied the History of Art at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and spent a number of years working in museums and public collections. I was a specialist in Old Master Paintings but gradually developed an interest in working with living artists and realised that photography in particular was a field that she wanted to explore as a curator. Later, I went on to work as a photography dealer and advisor to collectors whilst curating photography exhibitions and has worked with a number of photographers and estates, curating exhibitions and thinking about artist’s legacies. 

According to you, what does it mean to be a curator today? 

PO & KB: We feel that the word curator is over-used today and so it has lost some of its original meaning.

KB: Being a curator is about expertise, really understanding the field that you are working in and having ideas as to how to present works to an audience in a compelling and thought-provoking manner. Being a curator is also collaborative and creative and it should be an opportunity to think about different approaches to an artist or theme, bringing fresh eyes to something that appears obvious. 

How would you define your curatorial process? 

PO: Collaborative and experimental.

KB: Also collaborative and maybe driven by ideas and process. 

Have any artists, writers, curators, and other creative thinkers influenced your curatorial practice? 

PO & KB: We are both greatly inspired by a range of creatives from different fields. In this context, we took huge influence from the work of writers who have touched on the topic of home. These include writers such as Saidiya Hartmann, from whom this exhibition was inspired directly by, and the work of bell hooks, who also wrote about ideas of Home and Place over her career, particularly in her piece homeplace.

Can you tell us a bit about how the Beautiful Experiments came together? 

PO&KB:  Beautiful Experiments takes inspiration from a range of sources. The first being Saidiya Hartman’s book Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals (2019). The book explores the lives of young Black women in New York and Philadelphia during the early twentieth century. It is a remarkable work that combines academic archival research alongside imaginative text and extrapolates meaning from anonymous portrait photographs of unidentified sitters. The book was a starting point for the exhibition in that we ask similar questions as to what do home and place mean to women who come from a range of diasporic heritages? We began to think about this theme and then sought photographers whose work interprets these ideas in different ways. We wanted the exhibition to be multi-generational and to explore how artistic expressions of home and belonging have shifted over recent decades. 

Image: Adaeze Ihebom, The Artist's Room, 2022 ©Adaeze Ihebom

What messages and themes are you trying to communicate in the Beautiful Experiment? 

PO&KB: Something that was important to us was thinking about how to unravel normal definitions of 'Home'. People so often think of 'Home' as a stationary, singular place, and we wanted to use this exhibition to expand on these notions. In their show, the idea of Home is explored through many themes - home as a safe space, a queer space, an invisible space, a space of isolation, and a place of memory. The exhibition also explores how our homes can be found in environments outside of a physical place, and how they can also be situated in places that are both real and imagined. It was also important to address Home as a framework through which to consider the expansive potentials of the domestic - something traditionally regarded as quiet and often read through a singular feminine lens. It is also not often the case that such topics are seen primarily through an intersectional lens, namely that of Black and Mixed-heritage artists, all of who are women and non-binary artists.

Can you tell us a bit about how you build relationships with artists? 

PO&KB: We feel that with this experience, the process of building relationships with the artists is a wholly collaborative process. We have worked closely with the artists to really think about how we could show their works in unique ways to an audience. Although all the works resonate with one another through the overarching theme, these works are all very different explorations of this theme and we wanted the presentations of the works to reflect this, whilst also allowing room for experimentation in their individualities, something which may not always be the case in group exhibitions. The artists were all very open to the idea of printing and displaying their works in new, risk-taking ways, and play around with different ways to present photography to a wider audience. It was a wonderful and engaging process for all involved.

What is the most challenging thing about what you do? 

PO&KB: Working to tight budgets, deadlines and with a diverse group of people, all of whom have something interesting to say can be challenging. 

What are some memorable things that have happened while organising Beautiful Experiments? 

PO&KB: Speaking with the artists and understanding their deeply personal definitions of home, and realising how these themes underline their practices as a whole.

What kind of experience do you want visitors to have from the exhibition? 

PO & KB: We hope this exhibition allows visitors to experience new and alternative ideas of what it means to find and build a ‘home’ and that the work in the show will open new conversations about how we each individually think of 'Home' and the different ways and places we can locate 'Home'. We want audiences to ask questions such as; Where do I feel at home? Where do I belong? Where am I from and where can I go? What is my heritage?

What is the best advice you have ever received? 

PO & KB: Attention to detail is crucial as a curator - no-one wants to read sloppy labels or find that their work has been incorrectly described. Start planning your exhibition very far in advance - bringing work and ideas together takes time and thought and can’t be rushed. 

We like to discover new artists in our interviews. Can you recommend three artists that you think our readers should watch out for this year? 

PO & KB: All of the artists in our exhibition are wonderful and it is really tricky to highlight only three of them. 

Do you have any tips for a young person aspiring to work within the art industry? 

PO & KB: Contact people via email and ask to meet with them. Explain your specific interest in what they do and be prepared when you meet them - research is key. Try to get a mentor within the field - it doesn’t need to be someone that you know, but a person that would be prepared to guide you and give you advice as you begin your journey. You can start curating in a very small way - online or in a local cafe, and just gradually build up your expertise and experience. 

London Art Fair will returns from 18-22 January 2023 at Business Design Centre, 52 Upper St, London N1 0QH. Click here to book your ticket now.

Website: pelumiodubanjo.com ; www.katybarron.com 

Instagram:  @pelumi.odubanjo ; @kbarronphotos

LinkedIn: Pelumi Odubanjo ; Katy Barron