Throughout December 2023 – January 2024 I organised a public programme of talks to accompany the exhibition “EASTinternational: Unpacking the Archive” at EAST Gallery, Norwich University of the Arts (2 December 2023 – 3 February 2024). These were hybrid events that occurred in the conference room above the gallery and streamed online.
The first of these events, titled “Staff Selects” (which I have discussed in an earlier post), featured a series of presentations by “staff” – in the broadest sense – of EAST. For this, artist Paul Kuzemczak wrote an account of his experience of working on every edition of EAST throughout its 19-year history. You can download Paul’s thoughtfully designed document here.
Paul’s text was subsequently reproduced as “PK Goes East” in the catalogue for originalprojects;’ national summit for radical and alternative arts education “Contra Curricular“, Great Yarmouth, 22/03/24
Installation of each EAST was managed throughout its 19-year history by Paul, Norwich Gallery assistant curators and the exhibiting artists working with a team of paid students who remained in the city after summer term ended. This was also a social event. As Paul told me in an interview in 2023, “Early on there were not many artists involved. Work was selected and the work was delivered. Later on that changed. It developed into more of a residency model. Artists came and hung out.”
In 1996 Paul was briefly assistant curator at the Norwich Gallery. While Arts Council curatorial trainees carried out work experience with Lynda Morris at the Norwich Gallery throughout the 1980s, a trainee curator post of two-years was formalised in 1991. Tracking EAST, Norwich Gallery trainees have been: Trevor Burgess (1991–1993), Josephine Lanyon (1994), Anthony Lumley (1995–1996), Krzysztof Fijalkowski (1996), Paul Kuzemczak (1996), Kirsty Ogg (1997–1998), Catherine Moseley née Butcher (1999–2001) (from 2001–2005 Butcher was EAST administrator, a role taken on by Eleanor Cherry from 2005–2009), Michelle Cotton (2002–2003), Andrew Hunt (2003–2005), Dan Tombs (2005–2007) and Kaavous Clayton (2009).