By Rebecca Ceccatelli. Cover image: courtesy of Jemma Israelson.
Being an Art Curator is certainly not a simple task, especially if you’re young, trying to carve out your space in a field dominated by established professionals. We met Jemma Israelson, the very young Head Curator of an important project called Shifting Vision in Florence.
With her blonde hair, blue eyes and a love of bows, Jemma is a Canadian-Israeli girl, and at the young age of 29, she stepped into the field of art curating through various experiences that brought her to Florence, where she now resides. During our meeting, Jemma shared some secrets about her work. We discussed how she manages her workload and what it takes to become a successful art curator. Here’s what she had to say.
As a young art curator, what led you to Florence? What important steps have you taken, and how are you trying to accelerate your work?
How I ended up in Florence? That’s a good question. I was working in Tel Aviv with Shifting Vision, the creative production organization I’m currently working with. I was working closely with the CEO and founder Edouard Sterngold, who is a collector himself, and we did a variety of different projects around creating new artworks with artists on an individual basis. And then, two years ago, we met the director of the Medici Archive Project in Florence, Dr. Alessio Assonitis.
We started collaborating very quickly on a single project relating to the Jewish ghetto of Florence, which became our large-scale project Ghetto Redux. The more we worked together, the more we realised that the archive held really endless sources of material that would be inspiring to artists. So we entered into a long-term, exclusive collaboration whereby Shifting Vision and I, as the art curator, are running the contemporary art programming at the archive. We brings artists to Florence for research residencies, tailoring the themes for the artists, researching closely with the archive and curating the overall project. Initially, I was flying back and forth from Tel Aviv, and then, as the projects grew, it just made sense for me to be here full-time, so I moved here last September.
So now you’re a very young art curator who’s responsible for a big project. Was this your first time?
This is my first experience fully leading projects at this scale as an art curator, although I have completed several internships across various institutions. One notable experience was my involvement in provenance research at the National Gallery in Scotland during my undergraduate studies.
I worked at the Jewish Museum of London and in the photography department at the Israel Museum Jerusalem in curatorial internships, and I was at the Guggenheim in Venice as an intern as well. I’ve also entered into contact with many aspects of the art market while working as a Client and Business Development Coordinator at Christie’s in Tel Aviv and for preparing the estate of an artist’s studio. All this before meeting my boss and starting to work with Shifting Vision.
Everything kind of influenced my career in the realisation of the next step: it’s like a connection of networks; as you meet people and gain experiences, your journey unfolds until the work you once did as an intern becomes your current occupation.
How challenging was it for you to enter the world of curating? Was there anything that made you stand out among others?
First of all, a lot of things in life are connected to being in the right place at the right time. Your network of people is also very important as an art curator. All the artists, gallerists, collectors, and curators I’ve met throughout the years helped me reach the position I’m in now.
But then it is also about having your own personality; you know that you collect people in your network, and you’re able to draw on those sources in a meaningful way for different projects.
People will come to you because they like your style, they like your eye, they think you have a good approach, you’re very professional and all of those things. But then you’re going to be able to pull something together, which I’m actually doing right now by working with other people and maximising everyone’s input and skills.
Do you think that being a young art curator can make a difference in the art world?
I think it still depends on the person and their style, but I obviously have artists in my network that an older person might not typically have. I’ve discovered a lot of those artists through things like Instagram, or friends of friends. Many are around my age, so of course, that brings a different approach. It can be an approach that young people could have, a different modus in collaborating with new emerging minds.
One of your more recent projects is titled Ghetto Redux, which uses the archive from the Jewish society of Medici Florence as its base. Why do you think it is relevant to highlight this overlooked history through the medium of art?
I would say that it is a medium that can actually have a very strong impact, especially when we’re talking about making the past tangible. Art is so much — more than just a historical reenactment or a documentary film. It’s something that can actually make you feel emotionally invested. Bringing together multiple artists who work in different mediums allows a larger accessibility to the historical and philosophical subject matter of both the Jewish Ghetto of Florence and to an understanding of what the modern interactions and conceptions of Ghettos and Ghettoization are today.
What is the role of writing in your work of Art Curator?
I think I have written around 100 and 200 catalogue essays, exhibition texts or artist statements. Increasingly, I’ve come to believe that good writing shouldn’t be overly complex or needlessly academic. It has to be clear, and that’s the hardest thing to do. It’s a process of always refining and always making sure that the actual message of what you’re trying to say is at the very front of the writing. Writing is a skill; it’s a muscle, and it needs to be exercised, and you also can’t do it alone. I have a lot of people who read my work to help me improve the tone, cadence, and content of my writing.
What about the upcoming projects?
Well, right now, our major project with the archive is called Future Relics. It’s a collaboration between the archive, Shifting Vision, and Gallerie Philia, which is an amazing collectable design gallery based in Mexico, Singapore, Geneva and New York. We have seven artists who are making new works responding to the material history of the archive and to the concept of a relic, with the aim of creating objects that will become precious objects of reverence in the future. The exhibition will take place in October 2024 in Florence. In this case, I work with the gallery. I leave most of the choices around the scenography to the director, Ygaël Attali, whom I adore, but we work together with the artists on the development of the artworks themselves. Finding someone with an aligned style and philosophical approach is very rare, so I’m very lucky. It’s a kind of a dream.
Are there any behind-the-scenes aspects of your job that nobody talks about?
I love my job, but there are also some things that you have to keep in mind if you want to become a curator. You never stop; you don’t have a final working hour each day. It’s a continuum. There’s also a social part, which takes a lot of time and energy. Your life and your job are mixed, which can be really nice, but you also need to find some time to recharge your battery. A very exciting and productive week is also a very tiring one, but it is also this that gives you the satisfaction to proceed.
Would you list 3 keys to success for us, young curators?
Firstly, remember that success for an Art Curator requires considerable effort and may not come immediately. Your research, writing, and approach are super important to cultivate at all times, and this comes before everything else. Two: understand your strengths and weaknesses. Recognise what you’re good at and where you need other people’s help, and focus on building a team around you, mastering the art of delegation. The third tip? It’s to do as much as you can to develop your own taste and style because people won’t like you only for the rigour you put in your work but also for your personality and your overall tone. You need to aim to create things which are authentic for yourself and your values — this will be evident in the final result. The last thing is to enjoy: art is fun, and it’s about being curious about the world. You get to learn every day both from the work and from the artists around you—enjoy every minute!
