TURBA
The Journal for Global Practices in Live Arts Curation
Co-Editors:
Tawny Andersen: McGill University, Canada / Marie Sklodowska-Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
Sandeep Bhagwati: Concordia University, Canada / Ensemble Extrakte & Ensemble Sangeet Prayog Pune, Canada/Germany
Victoria Carrasco: Wesleyan University, USA / PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, Canada
Dena Davida : Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada / Dance curator & choreographer, writer and editor, educator and researcher, Canada
Barbara Scales: Latitude 45 Arts, Canada / Centre de Musique Canadienne au Québec, Canada
Yves Sheriff: 3rd Floor Projects at Usine C, Canada
Managing Editor: Dena Davida
Call for Papers: CARE (Curating Audience Relationships & Engagements)
View Inaugural Table of Contents & Excerpts
Volume 3 (2024): Issue 2 (Sep 2024): Troubles with Identities
Volume 3 / 2024, 2 issues per volume (spring, autumn)
Aims & Scope
TURBA is the first journal for the study, practice, documentation analysis, and theorization of live arts curation.
TURBA: crowd, multitude; uproar, disturbance, tumult; twirl, move around; soil, earth.
TURBA is the first journal for the study, theory, and praxis of curatorial strategies in the live arts. The live arts are broadly defined as those arts in which contingent, momentary acts and events, performed by human or other autonomous agents, are crucial to the aesthetic perception and the emergence of meaning in ephemeral time-based work. They include, but are not limited to, dance, music, sound art, theatre, performance art, verbal arts, circus arts, live media arts and inter-arts performance works. With this journal, we aim to create a platform for the exploration of ideas, concepts, constraints, expectations, and contingencies which guide and drive curatorial practices in these fields.
Within the live arts, the term “curation” is used in a manner that is largely, but not entirely, analogous to its use in the visual arts.[1] The Latin root of the word “curation” is curare, meaning “to take care of” or “to heal.” Live arts curators mediate the intellectual, societal, and aesthetic contexts, as well as the presentational models, which support the development, dissemination, and reception of artistic work. They negotiate relationships between artists, artistic works, audiences, administrators, archives, the media, and society. With TURBA, we aim to foster a community of critical discourse about live arts curation across traditions, genres, communities, generations, cultures, disciplines, and aesthetics.
We seek to connect, amplify, and contextualize movements and voices, thus making TURBA a seismographic observatory for the impact of the live arts on societies and cultures around the globe.
[1] In the visual arts, the term “curator” describes two different roles/professions: 1) someone who cares for, acquires, and manages an existing collection; 2) someone who conceptualizes a temporary exhibition of artworks. Both correspond to curatorial roles in the live arts, but the first category --persons ensuring the persistence of a live arts tradition, an artist’s body of work, or a particular type of live art--are not usually called “curators”. Instead, they are usually called griots, opera directors, dance archivists and reconstructionists, Brechtians or Shakespearians, guardians of temple music etc. TURBA explicitly aims to include critical discourses around their work and practice, too.
Co-Editors
Tawny Andersen
PhD., Art History, McGill University; Performance Theorist, Canada
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
Sandeep Bhagwati
Professor (Music), Director Matralab, Concordia University, Canada
Music Director, Ensemble Extrakte & Ensemble Sangeet Prayog Pune, Canada/Germany
Victoria Carrasco
Mngmt/Curator, Public Programs, PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, Canada
M.A., Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP), Wesleyan University, USA
Dena Davida
PhD. & Lecturer/ Faculty of Fine Arts/Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Dance Curator & Choreographer, Writer and Editor, Educator and Researcher, Canada
Yves Sheriff
Independent Curator, 3rd Floor Projects at Usine C, Canada
Managing Editor
Dena Davida
Editor-at-large
Barbara Scales
Founder/President, Latitude 45 Arts, Canada
President, Centre de Musique Canadienne au Québec, Canada
Technology Consultant
Kurt Waizmann
Advisory Board
Knut Ove Arntzen
PhD., Professor emeritus of theatre studies, University of Bergen, Norway
Scientific consultant, Bergen International Theatre; Theatre critic, Norsk Shakepeare Tidsskrift, Norway
Silvia Bottiroli
PhD., Independent Performance Arts Curator, Researcher and Educator, Italy
Lecturer, Method, Criticism and Research in Artistic Disciplines, Università Bocconi, Italy
Ricardo Dal Farra
PhD, Professor, Music Department, Concordia University, Canada
Director, Balance-Unbalance (BunB) and Understanding Visual Music (UVM), Canada
Piersandra Di Matteo
PhD., Lecturer on Curating Performing Arts, IUAV University of Venice, Italy
Performing arts theorist, dramaturge, lecturer and festival curator
Bertie Ferdman
PhD, Professor, Theater Studies/The Graduate Center & Borough Manhattan Community College, USA
Rita Ferreira de Aquino
PhD., Professor, Post-Graduate Dance Program, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil
Director of Curator & Mediator Seminars, Bahia Festival, Brazil
Jennifer Fisher
PhD., Professor, Contemporary Art and Historical Studies, York University, Canada
Co-editor/founder, Journal of Curatorial Studies, Canada
Sigrid Gareis
M.A., Co-Director, Performing Arts Curation, Paris Lodron University, Austria
Dance & theater curator, lecturer, book author & editor
Jens Richard Giersdorf
PhD., Dance History and Theory, University of California; scholar, researcher
Chair, Contemporary Dance Department, Concordia University, Canada
Amelia Jones
PhD, Art & performance historian, theorist, and curator;
Robert A. Day Professor, University of Southern California, USA
André Lepecki
PhD., Curator, Researcher in Dance Studies, Curatorial Practice, Performance Theory, USA
Chair, Performance Studies, TISCH at New York University, USA
Florian Malzacher
MA, Institute for Applied Theater Studies, University of Giessen, Germany
Performing arts curator, dramaturge, & writer; Host, Art of Assembly, Germany
Jay Pather
Director, Institute for Creative Arts/University of Cape Town, South Africa
Curator, Aftrovibes, Netherlands
VK Preston
PhD, Concordia University, Canada
Associate Professor, History and LeParc, Milieux Institute, Arts Culture Technology, Canada
Brett Pyper
PhD, New York University; Associate professor in Curatorial, Public and Visual Cultures, Wits School of Arts
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Dylan Robinson
PhD. in Music, Stó:lō scholar, Researcher in Indigenous Arts and Culture, Canada
Associate Professor, School of Music, University of British Columbia, Canada
Keng Sen Ong
PhD., Founding Director, International Curators Academy, Singapore
Artistic Director, T:>Works, Singapore
Alma Salem
Alma Atelier for curation & cultural advisory, Place des arts à Montréal, Syria/Canada
Tom Sellar
DFA, Professor, Yale School of Drama, Independent Curator, Critic, Journal Editor, USA
Editor, Theater Magazine, Yale University, USA
Noémie Solomon
PhD., Independent Curator, Dramaturg, Book Editor in Dance, Canada
Director, Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance, Wesleyan University, USA
Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski
PhD., Program director/curator Lokomotiva, Macedonia
Co-curator, International School “Curating in Context,” Stockholm University of the Arts, Sweden
Cyril Thomas
M.A., Exhibition Curator, Researcher & Writer in Circus Arts and New Art Forms, France
Director, École du Cirque de Rosny-Sous-Bois, France
Beatrice von Bismarck
PhD., Curator, Anthology Editor; Co-founder, /D/O/C/K-Projekbereich Space, Germany
Professor & Initiator, Cultures of the Curatorial/Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Germany
Gordana Vnuk
PhD., Founder & Artistic Director, Eurokaz Festival, Croatia
Previously Theater Programmer, Chapter Arts Centre, UK
Artisitc Director, Kampnagel, Germany
Editorial Board
Funmi Adewole
PhD., Dance Studies, Storyteller, Dramaturg, Researcher in African Diasporic Dance, UK
Senior lecturer, Dance Department, De Montfort University, UK
Rodolfo Andaur
M.A., Art History, Independent curator, Cultural manager, Writer, Chile
Lior Avizoor
PhD, Tel Aviv University; Curator; Artistic director, BatSheva Dance Company, Israel
Clint Bracknell
PhD., Musician, Songwriter & Music Researcher of Aboriginal Australian Song, Australia
Associate Professor, The University of Queensland, Australia
Dian Marie Bridge
BA, Theatre Arts and Dramatic Literature, Brock University, Canada
Writer, director, creative producer; Artistic director, Black Theatre Workshop, Canada
Dana Dugan
PhD. Candidate, Interdisciplinary Humanities Programme, Concordia University, Canada
Creator, Performer, Dramaturg, Curator in the Circus Arts, Canada
Gurur Ertem
PhD., Director of Programming and Research, Bimeras Berlin gGmbH, Germany
Founding Co-director, Bimeras Projects, Turkey
Brandon Farnsworth
PhD., Independent Music Curator, Guest Lecturer, Akademie der Künste Berlin, Germany
Postdoctoral Researcher, Division of Musicology, Lund University, Sweden/Canada
Ashley Ferro-Murray
PhD., Performance Studies and New Media, UC Berkeley, USA
Theatre, Dance & Experimental Media Curator and scholar; Program Director, Doris Duke Foundation, USA
Gustavo Fijalkow
PhD., Performing Arts Curator, Dramaturg, Researcher, Germany/Argentina
Artistic Project Director, Forward Dance Company, Germany
Tang Fu-Kuen
Artistic & Managing Director, BIT Teatergarasjen, Norway
Jane Gabriels
PhD., Director, Dance West Network and Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative, USA
Visiting Scholar/Temple University and Simon Fraser University, USA/Canada
Amitesh Grover
M.A., Theatre Director & Curator, ITFoK & Serendipity Arts Festival, India
Assistant Professor, National School of Drama, India
Adham Hafez
PhD. Candidate, Performance Studies, New York University, USA
Founder, HaRaKa Movement & Performance Research, Egypt
Marta Keil
PhD., Independent Performing Arts Curator, Dramaturg, Researcher, Poland/Netherlands
Curator,“Breaking the Spell”; teaches curation at Jagiellonian and Utrecht Universities
Anna Kerekes
PhD, Études et pratiques des arts, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Curator, Educator, Researcher; Professor, École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes, France
Nyédé Mané Touré
MBA, Institute Africain de Management, Senegal
Director of the Festival Bideew; CEO Makeda Production, Senegal
Ed McKeon
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Birmingham City University, UK
Curatorial Producer of Post-Experimental Musics; Director, Third Ear Music, UK
Juan Menchero
PhD. New York University; Dramaturg/playwright, Spain/USA
Lecturer, Spanish & Portuguese Languages & Cultures/NYU, USA
Helly Minarti
PhD., Independent Curator/Scholar, Choreographic Historiographer, Indonesia
Creator of the LINGKARENú Koreografi Research Platform on Choreography, Indonesia
Roselle Pineda
PhD. Candidate; Artistic Director, Performance Curators Initiatives, Philippines
Faculty, Department of Arts Studies, University of the Philippines at Dilman, Philippines
Anastasia Proshutinskaya
M.A., Independent Dance Curator/Educator/Researcher, Russia
Alma Quintana
M.A., ICPP, Director ¿Cómo encender un fósforo? Festival & Research Program, México
Professor, National Folk Dance School, Claustro de Sor Juana University, México
Sarah-Louise Spies
PhD., Independent Curator, Co-founder of Accumulations, UK
Researcher/senior Lecturer, Contemporary Dance, Performance/live Art, Ccuration, ZHdK, Zurich
Ken Takiguchi
PhD, Manager, Setagaya Public Theatre, Japan
Part-time lecturer, Graduate School of Global Arts/Tokyo University of the Arts and Tama Art University Japan
Francesco Venturi
PhD. Candidate, Kingston University, UK
Voice Theorist, Composer/Performer, Researcher; Educational Curator, Milano Musica; Co-Founder, Italy
Jingyi Wang
MA, Performing Arts, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Independent Interdisciplinary Performance-creator/curator, China/Norway
Submission
Please carefully review the submission and style guide before submitting.
TURBA invites submissions engaging with any tradition, genre, community, culture, discipline, artistic expression, or aesthetic in the live arts. The journal is particularly interested in featuring compelling, experimental, politically engaged, and transformative content that fosters critique and debate, expands knowledge, and provides socio-cultural and historical context for the evolving practices of live arts curation.
TURBA is open to a wide range of genres and formats. Contributions may include: academic papers for [double blind] peer review, critical essays, dialogic exchanges and transcribed group conversations, manifestos, reviews of publications and symposia, analyses of curatorial paradigms and events, poetry, images, notations and graphic representations, etc. They may also interweave such styles and epistemologies if this heterogeneity helps to better illuminate their subject matter.
TURBA welcomes writers in any language to submit texts, including texts previously published in other languages. Such texts must be accompanied by an English abstract and the first draft of a translation into English. Should the text be selected for publication, we will, if necessary, work with the author(s) on a final English version. The original language version, however, will usually be posted on the journal's resource pages.
Academic papers to be peer reviewed should be a maximum of 6,000 words and should be accompanied by a 150-word abstract. Please do not include your name in the article or the document’s metadata. Submit a 50-word biography on a separate page with accompanying image(s).
"Letter from [name of city, region or country]" is a regular feature written in a casual style. About 500 words long, these should be short reflections, reports, explanations, critical observations on something that is happening or has just happened in the writer's local area —a controversy, a new policy, the opening or closing of a venue, a travelling show or a text that have made waves, the death (or birth) of an influential live arts protagonist, a miracle or a scandal, etc.
Other submissions may be of any length but no longer than 3,000 words, and should include a 50-word biography in the main document, with accompanying image(s).
All text submissions should be submitted in Microsoft Word in 12-point Times New Roman and formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
All images must be submitted according to the Artwork guidelines on the Berghahn Journals Submissions page.
TURBA appears twice a year both in print and as an e-publication. In addition to two annual calls for specific issues with fixed deadlines, submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis.
Send your contributions, queries, and questions to Dena Davida at turbajournal@gmail.com.
Ethics Statement
Authors published in TURBA certify that their works are original and their own. The editors certify that all materials, with the possible exception of editorial introductions, book reviews, and some types of commentary, have been subjected to blind peer review by qualified scholars in the field. While the publishers and the editorial board make every effort to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinions, or statements appear in this journal, they wish to make clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles herein are the sole responsibility of the contributor(s) concerned. For a more detailed explanation concerning these qualifications and responsibilities, please see the complete TURBA ethics statement.
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