Today, the program we created—the Curatorial Program for Research, or CPR—is a renowned international organization that broadens access and offers equal opportunities to arts education. It provides professional development and research residencies for people who recognize the value of this work. In ten years, we’ve had many trials and errors, some failures but many successes. What has endured through it all are the friendships—the human connections.
One of my fondest memories is still that journey we took in September 2016, during CPR’s third residency program. There were nine of us, all crammed into a minivan, traveling 800 kilometers from Kiev to Warsaw. When we reached the border, the government troops stopped us, made us get out, and proceeded to inspect every millimeter. Were they looking for artillery and explosives? What they found were paperback copies of artists’ catalogues. We were a group of international curators from Sweden and Argentina, South Africa and Peru, Colombia, Italy, Spain, and the United States. What could such a group be planning? It took hours before they finally decided we were not a threat.
It may be obvious to say, but the great and powerful thing that endures from an experience like that is the human relationships we forge under pressure. The nine of us in that minivan got to know each other very well—very well! And on that trip I met someone who changed the course of my life: Susanne Ewerlöf. Back then she was a resident of my program; now she is the Europe Director at CPR. She is my colleague, my co-director, but most of all, I am honored to call her my friend.
After a decade of producing residency programs around the world, I have come to realize that the most important element of our programs are the human connections. That has always been, and always will be our focus at CPR. Susanne and I could be considered what Brian T. Edwards and Driss Ksikes call organic connectors: “agents that navigate in fluid modernity, forced to adapt continuously to maintain human relations.”
It is a common misconception that a creator works in isolation. Only a misanthropic few are truly isolated. Human beings are inherently relational. Yet this perspective is often lost in most collaborations, which prioritize output over relationships. To me, a long list of professional achievements is less significant than a genuine human connection. Friendships with others who share a passion for the arts are ultimately more valuable than any professional outcome. In fact, friendships are fundamental; professional achievement flows from them.
Our programs at CPR offer residents the chance to engage in meaningful interactions with other individuals, rather than thinking of the others solely as artists, curators, journalists, gallerists, or directors. We achieve this because each program is tailored to the specifics of its people, their culture and their locality: from Scandinavia to the Global South, from the perfectly paved highways of Europe to the dirt roads of South America. An artist elevates a particular place at a particular time, and it is those artists that we elevate in turn.
During our second decade, our residencies will offer a space to build on the human connections our fellows are searching for. There is no outcome expected. CPR will focus on fostering a space to meet and to experience how time passes with other human beings. Creativity, we trust, will follow.
I want to thank everyone who has participated in one way or another in our programs. And a big thank you even to that cold, generic-looking city in the Midwest, because after driving around your wide, empty streets, I ended up forging life-long friendships as well.
