What kind of a year has 2013 been for you?
Exciting, difficult, definitely challenging, but promising at the same time.
What has changed for the better and what, if anything, has changed for the worse?
Available funding has changed for the worse – our stakeholders, specifically Arts Council England and Birmingham City Council – are less giving than they were the year before and the year before that. That means we’re having to do as much as we were before but with less, which is inevitably putting pressure on staff and existing resources. Ultimately it will mean that there is – and there must be – reduced output. On the other hand, Ikon’s profile is considerably raised through our programme and also the fact that 2014 is our 50th anniversary.
What do you wish hadn’t happened this year?
What I wish hadn’t happened is George W Bush’s paintings – not a particularly exciting contribution to the world’s cultural output.
What do you wish had happened this year, but didn’t?
I wish that a very wealthy philanthropist had walked into my life.
What would you characterise as your major achievement this year and why?
The major achievement for me and for Ikon was the Iraqi Pavillion in Venice (which is going to South London Gallery in March). It was such a challenge to make an exhibition out of work that was so inaccessible, to reach into a culture that’s been so isolated for such a long time, and to create something that made sense and was coherent – with very little art infrastructure in Iraq to support me. We’re bringing a photographer from that show, Jamal Penjweny, to do a solo show at Ikon in February.
Is there anything you’d like to have done this year but haven’t?
I very much wanted to go to Istanbul to see the biennial – with all its difficulties, I wish I’d been there to see it but also to support it. What’s happening there and in the Middle East is important and urgent and I think it needs to be engaged with.
What would make 2014 a better year than 2013?
Definitely Ikon’s 50th anniversary. 2014 will be a year of celebration – of the fact that we’re still here and that in spite of all the difficulties, we’re going from strength to strength. Our ambition is undimmed and I think our programme is as exciting, international and relevant as ever.
Jonathan Watkins was talking to Chris Sharratt
