Anna García is a Catalan-Spanish independent artist and art curator based in Melbourne.
Her research and performance are focused on developing and establishing an international art community. Connecting artists, curators, managers, collectors, spaces, sponsors, and audiences in a contemporary art background. Since 2012, she has concentrated her efforts on the development of a social environment suitable to encourage the creative process as well as intellectual skills from a critical thinking point of view.
Her photography narrates daily rituals picturing identity from people and places. However, she consider herself as a multidisciplinary artists depending on the project she run across disciplines.
Fire Escape’s thinking mind.
Looking for... Anna García
[interview]
Chloé Hazelwood (C.H.). How do you think your photography influences your curatorial practice and vice versa?
Anna García (A.G.). The fact that I studied fine arts and photography opens my mind to my curatorial experience. First I was an artist and then I was a curator. I always have a special sensitive feeling as a curator because it makes me think from two perspectives, as an artist and as a curator. When I assistant the work of another artist, often I am sympathetic with their situation because I am in the same (as an artist) so it is easy to be in tune. Both sides are interesting in my performance they feed back into each other opening my mind and helping me to understand the point of view as a creator and as a thinker. Understanding concepts from both sides enriching my practice.
C.H. What makes art such a powerful tool for recovery and rebuilding the community after a global crisis?
A.G. Art is a massive communication tool. Nowadays thanks internet art has no limits. We can connect around the world with a simple ‘click’. At the beginning of the human era, art was used as a magical means, followed by religion and then was appropriate from the elite society. But currently, art (not the business of art) I am talking about art as a way of expression, is inexorable. Art always will be a way to transmit feelings, concerns, philosophical questions, fears, criticism, etc… On the other hand, is well known, that art therapy is a considerable recovery tool. We can work through art to find ourselves as a community, creating music, photography, performance, painting… leaving our creativity and feelings free, and findings ourselves, sharing knowledge, being strong as a population, believing in our consciousness, recovering of our pain and fears. The practice of developing creativity is the most powerful tool because activate our minds opening them.
C.H. Name five artists who are making really exciting work right now.
A.G. Such a difficult question, I always hate to talk about my favourite one because I have millions of favourites things about everything. Obviously, I fall in love with the artists that I am working with at Escalera de Incendios, my Curatorial Contemporary Art Project, Alexander Grahovsky, Natalia Carminati, Miguel Andrés and Alejandra de la Torre are the team. But here I go with other artists, Kate Just, Jenny Holzer, Sol Rezza, Carlos Tardez and Jacob Jonas, the last one is a Creative Director and Choreographer who I really enjoy with his Instagram profile in the last few days.
C.H. What got you into the creative industries?
A.G. Making a way to live about. The romantic idea of ‘do things for the love of art is fine but everyone has to pay bills, and art is not free. There is always someone working behind an art project or artwork. Investing time on it and time is money. Professionalize art or culture is the way to develop a smart society. Education and culture are the goals. The thoughts are free but the way to materialize an idea has a prize, always!
C.H. If you could go to any gallery or museum in the world right now, which one would it be?
A.G. Well… another difficult question! Probably Kiasma in Helsinki. I have never been to Finland, but I am so interested in the way that they think as a society. Always smart choices, looking after their population, inspirational education system and politically advanced. The problem is that there is too cold in Finland! The same thing is an advantage for them, spending more time at home developing creative and thinker skills.
Interview by Chloé Hazelwood [she/her] writer and art curator based in Melbourne.
Melbourne 2019.