Twice Shy

Chih-Tung Lin

30.11-17.12.2023

Twice Shy is an exhibition that deals with the peculiar interpersonal relations between a curator and an artist. With a zoom-in on the situation where the two come together for a purpose (or not), the exhibition is interested in unraveling the obscurity and patterns of a curator-artist relationship.

Chih-Tung Lin has approached the exhibition making with a goal to facilitate a meeting point for cultural and especially art workers to ponder on certain topics in a shared space. Accompanying their commentary on the theme, they have invited collaborators who encourage dialogues and facilitate multilingual voices to inhabit and co-shape the space with their respective works. As an audience, one can engage with the exhibition in the given framework and/ or interact with the exhibition materials with alternative readings as they wish.

The exhibition features the publication Studio Visits Ethics by Feminist Culture House and a special issue of the monthly zine Salarakas. Both bodies of works involve contributors of cultural workers interested in similar topics at different times and from various perspectives.

During the exhibition span, the exhibition also serves as a site for the Twice Shy meetup, an event where two match-made participants meet at the exhibition venue for a “studio visit” with each other. The participants, upon meeting, will find out if the studio-visit-in-practice is an awkward smile/ a short conversation/ a flash date/ a shared exhibition viewing experience or perhaps a professional exchange. Chih-Tung Lin and Mimi McPartlan from Salarakas will be the matchmaker and instruct the participants on how to show up.

The Twice Shy meetup is for everyone but artists and curators who are seeking a new networking experience are encouraged to sign up!

Fill in the form to book a place for the Twice Shy meetup and receive a curated instruction package via email: https://forms.gle/dpNHbn3iFUGAQuix9

In collaboration with Feminist Culture House and Salarakas.

Twice Shy derives from Chih-Tung Lin’s master thesis project titled A Curator’s Report of 19 Studio Visits (2021) where they delve into the studio visit culture, conventions, power structure, among many other topics regarding an artist working with a curator in the visual arts realm. 

Biography

Feminist Culture House is an intersectional feminist organisation based in Helsinki, Finland. It is a curatorial and editorial platform that works with and for underrepresented artists, and produces tools for more equitable collaborations within the arts.

Salarakas is a monthly Helsinki zine for the multilingual, the sweet, and the curious.


About the Studio Visit Ethics project by Feminist Culture House:

The Studio Visit Ethics project gathers artists’ lived experiences to investigate and challenge how studio visits are normatively (and uncritically) conducted. The project responds to needs raised by our artist collaborators for tools they can use to address the often unequal power dynamics that arise during studio visits.

The project included a series of workshops and studio visits facilitated by FCH (Gladys Camilo, Paola Jalili, Katie Lenanton, and Orlan Ohtonen) and in collaboration with Ignata Elana, Özgü Gundeslioglu,  Natalie Hamada, Sasha Huber, Sonya Lindfors, Sara Moayed, Thomas Moose, Vidha Saumya, Shubhangi Singh, Kaino Wennerstrand, and Haliz Yosef.

As a result, a printed and digital poster publication was launched by FCH, designed by Anh Ngo. It includes a flowchart that maps possible pathways for navigating different moments and positions during studio visits.

https://feministculturehouse.org/publishing/svp/


Thank you,
Mimi McPartlan
Salarakas contributors
Paola Jalili
Katie Lenanton
Niko-Tii Nurmi Sipiläinen
Lymy