Finale

This will be the final post about my internship at the Biennale. I have learned a number of things. Having worked previously at a local gallery, working for a festival was vastly different for me, even though i was working in the same department. It started of quite slow, but got really intense over the three months. It was interesting for me to take guided tours of general public, as opposed to what i was initially used to - school groups (although i took a couple of great school tours). I loved seeing the way people interacted with the works, hearing stories about how Kader Attia's works reminded people of different places they had seen or visited; the awe when people saw the exploding cars; the reaction to AES+F's fantastic video, visceral responses to Dale Frank's paintings, etc. Working in Public Programs is great in the sense that I love seeing reactions that people have to contemporary art, which vary from "I can do this myself" to thought-provoking laments and conversations with visitors to the Biennale. Another great aspect, which was also confidence building for me, was liaising with and meeting international artists. I have to try and not be so starstruck when i do meet international artists, but working with the Biennale, especially in opening weeks allowed me to start getting over the nerves. This was a great experience, and I thank those who made it happen - Dr. Gay McDonald and Kim Snepvangers (COFA), Dougal Philips and Nisa Mackie (BoS). Also, it was great networking with the BoS staff, who were all supportive and a great team.