Young Curators, Living Manifesto

Commissioned by Loui Chen, Jade Cosgrave, Skye Garnett, Daisy Gwilliam, Grace Hargreaves, Chloe Holmes, Lily Jackson, Ross McGregor, Daisy May Moreton-Pedrosa, Varya Romaniuk and George Sumner. 

The Young Curators are a group of local 16–18 year olds, who have been meeting weekly at Aspex for the last 5 months to learn more about creative careers, take part in artist-led workshops, and co-commission artwork as a collective.

This exhibition is a visual representation of their ‘Living Manifesto’, showing how the group navigate life together. The Young Curators commissioned Portsmouth-based Sasha Damjanovic to give life to their collective outlook, with the artist presenting the manifesto as both a foldable zine and series of eight posters, now displayed in our Learning Space.

For the Young Curators, the ‘Living Manifesto’ was a journey in getting to know one another, their shared values and visions for the future. To support the process, Artist Collective Stair/Slide/Space delivered masterclasses, providing an insight into their own experience of working as a collective.

The Young Curators also used mapping and geography as a means of generating connection, sharing favourite areas and local knowledge with one another, as well as with Lead Artist Flora Duley, who moved to Portsmouth at the start of the project. To sit alongside their ‘Living Manifesto’, the Young Curators decided to create a map of the city, which would allow people to travel through local spaces of personal meaning through the eyes of the group.

To produce the map, the Young Curators commissioned illustrator Carys Tait. Based in Bristol, Carys was able to learn more about the Young Curator’s experiences of Portsmouth through a mapped series of diagrams, images and words, which visitors to Aspex would have seen displayed in this space from 5 January to 6 February 2022. This mapping exercise explored the way our minds place things, with each location holding an emotional significance to group members, rather than striving for geographical accuracy. Inspired by these materials and insights, Carys has created an A4 printed map, which visitors can use to explore Portsmouth from the perspective of the Young Curators.

This exhibition celebrates the work the Young Curators have achieved over the last 5 months together. Aspex would like to thank Lead Artist Flora Duley for facilitating the project, our thanks also go to the Young Curators – Portsmouth’s next generation of curators, artists, creatives and community leaders!

Young Curators has been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.