Gallery as Community. Art, Education, Politics

This publication documents a series of conversations held at the Whitechapel Gallery in March 2011 between curators, directors and programmers working in UK galleries.
The publication sets out to discuss a particular vein of curatorial activity initiated by galleries, much contested, and articulated differently across institutions. It is characterised by activity beyond the site of the gallery, an interest in context and situation and a tendency to problematise notions of community. The publication aims to make explicit the inherent tensions at play in this field and to map some of the projects, artists and institutions influencing thought in this area.
The book features a foreword by Marijke Steedman, Curator: Community Programmes at the Whitechapel Gallery, an introduction by Grant Kester, Chair of the Visual Arts department, Professor of Art History, and Director of the University Art Gallery at the University of California, San Diego, a series of ten themed conversations and a detailed, illustrated section charting significant projects undertaken by the artists and curators included in the book.
Contributors include: Greygory Vass, Camden Arts Centre, Kate Gray, Collective Gallery, Sarah Mossop, Modern Art Oxford, Janna Graham, Serpentine Gallery, Emily Pethick, The Showroom, Emma Smith, The Showroom, Frances Williams, South London Gallery, Martha Crean, Spacex, Marie-Anne McQuay, Spike Island, Marijke Steedman, Whitechapel Gallery and Lotte Juul Petersen, Wysing Arts Centre.