The Emerging Curators’ Capacity Building Program took place on 18th-19th November 2025 in Wrocław. Over two days, bringing together emerging curators from the Magic Carpets platform for an intensive programme of learning, reflection and exchange hosted at Barbara. The programme opened with a welcome by Project Manager Neringa Kulik, followed by warm-up and ice-breaker sessions facilitated by Fluxus Labas, setting a collaborative and open tone for the days ahead.
A central focus of the first day was audience engagement, explored through an in-depth workshop led by Agata Etmanowicz (“Impact Foundation”). Emerging curators reflected on who gets to access and enjoy the outcomes of artistic residencies, how audiences can be meaningfully invited into artistic processes, and the social responsibility of curatorial practice. These sessions strengthened participants’ skills in designing inclusive, accessible and participatory audience experiences, while sharpening their awareness of ethical and social dimensions within curatorial work. The afternoon shifted towards evaluation and self-reflection, with Fluxus Labas (Aistė Ptašinskaitė-Paukštė and Goda Kacilevičiūtė) guiding participants through tools and discussions focused on personal impact, helping curators clarify their values, intentions and areas for growth. The day also included a visit to the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, offering insight into the local artistic and educational context, and concluded with an open discussion among participants.
The second day focused on the relationship between process and final outcome in curatorial and artistic work. Through workshops, debates and facilitation by Fluxus Labas, participants developed stronger capacities to articulate process-led approaches, embrace experimentation, and navigate uncertainty within long-term projects. This was complemented by a presentation from Lewis Biggs and Diane Dever, who shared practical examples of balancing process and results in artistic practice. The programme continued with workshops by an international Storytelling Coach Milda Varnauskaitė on storytelling structure and ethics, equipping emerging curators with tools to build responsible narratives, reflect on authorship, and approach storytelling with greater sensitivity and care.
The programme concluded with a collective check-out and a meeting with the local community and artist Olga Budzan, centred on a tapestry co-created through collaboration between the artist and the community. This final encounter grounded the learning process in participatory practice, reinforcing the emerging curators’ strengthened skills in community engagement, ethical storytelling, reflective evaluation and inclusive curatorial thinking, which they carry forward into their work within the Magic Carpets platform and beyond.
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The Emerging Curators’ program was hosted by our partners in Poland, the Wroclaw Institute of Culture.
This project is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.