The Hnatyshyn Foundation Sending Two Emerging Curators to Fogo Island Arts Residency in Newfoundland
February 9, 2023
The Hnatyshyn Foundation is proud to announce that emerging curators Katie Lawson and Tak Pham will be attending the Hnatyshyn Foundation-Fogo Island Arts Young Curator Residency on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, in 2023.
About the Program
Established in 2014, the Hnatyshyn Foundation-Fogo Island Arts Young Curator Residency program, valued at $15,000 annually ($20,000 from 2023 onward), provides opportunities for exceptional emerging Canadian curators between the ages of 25 and 30 to participate in a residency with Fogo Island Arts, a residency-based contemporary art venue that supports research and production of new work for artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, curators, designers and thinkers from around the world.
Candidates are selected based on their body of work, curatorial philosophy, and ability to work both independently and part of a team. This year’s selection was adjudicated by Nicolaus Schafhausen, Strategic Director of Fogo Island Arts, and Reesa Greenberg, an art and exhibition historian.
While the program usually funds one residency per year, because some recipients were unable to attend in the last iterations of the program, this year The Foundation is proud to be sending two young curators to Fogo Island: Katie Lawson, based in Toronto, and Tak Pham, based in Regina. Each six-week residency will take place in the summer and fall of 2023.
Katie Lawson
Katie Lawson is a curator and writer based in Toronto. She was recently one of the curators for the Toronto Biennial of Art, working with Candice Hopkins and Tairone Bastien on the inaugural 2019 and 2021 editions. She was the editorial lead on the Biennial’s first major double catalogue, Water, Kinship, Belief, co-published with Art Metropole.
Lawson is a graduate of the Master of Visual Studies Curatorial program at the University of Toronto, where she previously completed a Master of Arts in Art History. She has held curatorial and programming positions in Ottawa, New York and Toronto in addition to her independent practice. Currently, she is working towards her PhD in Art and Visual Culture at Western University, with a focus on environmental art discourse and sustainable curatorial practices.
Lawson recently co-curated All Flourishing is Mutual with Jaclyn Quaresma at Collision Gallery in Toronto (December 2 - February 24 2023). Informed by the writing of Robin Wall Kimmerer and presenting the works of Logan MacDonald, Odeimin Runners Club, Patricia Domínguez, sophia bartholomew, and Sylvia Matas, All Flourishing Is Mutual “provides nuance to considerations of belonging, bodies, plants, and public space.”
“The vast majority of my professional experience has been in Toronto, as I gradually developed relationships with the community after completing my graduate studies. I have not, however, had the opportunity to connect with art communities across Canada's vast contemporary art landscape. Spending time on Fogo Island through this residency program is an unparalleled opportunity for me to have meaningful exchanges with artists, writers and community members of Atlantic Canada as I further my career. From afar I follow practitioners who are of great interest to me, but I have yet to spend significant time out of province.”
Tak Pham
Tak Pham is a curator and writer based in Regina, Treaty 4 territory, Saskatchewan. He holds an M.F.A in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from OCAD University and a B.A. Honours from Carleton University.
Pham has curated exhibitions and organized curatorial projects for the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Contemporary Calgary, Varley Art Gallery, and Nuit Blanche Toronto, among others. His writing has appeared in Canadian Art, C Magazine, ESPACE art actuel, esse arts + opinions, GalleriesWest, Studio Magazine, ArtAsiaPacific and Hyperallergic.
Pham currently works as an associate curator at the MacKenzie Art Gallery. His curatorial practice is driven by mutual interests, which he shares with artists, the audience, and the space he works in. Coming from a background in architectural history, Pham understands how a curatorial experience can take up physical space and create transformative experiences that push visitors toward new emotions, experiences, and knowledge. Currently, Pham is pursuing original research on immersive experiences in contemporary art.
“This Hnatyshyn Foundation-Fogo Island Arts Young Curator Residency award is a tremendous opportunity. I look forward to the creative energy and resources available through the program, the island’s beautiful nature, the exciting network of artists, and the abundant inspiration from the program’s rich history. I want to thank The Hnatyshyn Foundation and Fogo Island Arts for the support and the opportunity to further dedicate the needed time and attention to my current curatorial research project on immersive experiences in contemporary art. I can’t wait to experience the transformative impact that this award will have on my career as I continue to grow as a curator.”
About Fogo Island Arts
Fogo Island Arts (FIA) is a contemporary arts and ideas organization on Fogo Island, located in Newfoundland & Labrador, on traditional Mi’kmaw territory and the ancestral homeland of the Beothuk.
Since 2008, FIA has brought some of the most exciting, emerging and renowned artists of today to Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada to take part in residencies and to present solo exhibitions at the Fogo Island Gallery. Combining contemporary art, iconic architecture and social innovation in a singular setting, FIA is a world-class institution that is uniquely rooted in community. Fogo Island Arts is an initiative of the Shorefast Foundation, a registered charity dedicated to improving the social, cultural and economic conditions on Fogo Island and other small places around the world.
