The Wick Culture - Courtesy of Meneesha Kellay

Monday Muse

Interview Senior Curator V&A Meneesha Kellay

Interview

Meneesha Kellay

28 October 2024

Interview

Meneesha Kellay

28 October 2024

Meneesha Kellay is a curator working across art, architecture, design, and performance. Currently the Senior Curator, Contemporary at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), she supports emerging creative practice through commissioning exhibitions, installations, performances, as well as the monthly Friday Late programme. Meneesha has experience leading major events on London’s cultural calendar, such as the London Design Festival and London Festival of Architecture (LFA) at the V&A, and Open House London, reaching over a quarter of a million people.

Meneesha is also co-curator of the British Pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2023 which received a Special Mention Award. Previously she was Public Programmes Curator at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), led Open House London, and was Assistant Director of the AA Night School at the Architectural Association. Meneesha is a current 2024 Clore Leadership Fellow.

THE WICK: Who is your ultimate Monday Muse and why?

Meneesha Kellay: Without a doubt Professor Lesley Lokko OBE, her achievements and legacy are vast, yet she defies definition. It was a privilege to be part of her curatorship of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, she made a whole generation of black and brown people finally feel seen in architecture.

I have to also give a shout out to my mum, she is the strongest person I know and has an inspirational quality – she loves an adventure and meeting new people. I have a surge of pride when I think of her.

TW: You co-curated the British Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2023. How did the themes of identity and community take shape in the exhibition, Dancing Before the Moon?

MK: The exhibition reflected on dialogues representative of modern Britain, how diasporic communities occupy space in the public realm through everyday rituals – from cooking and celebrations, to engaging in games. We wanted visitors to expand their notion of who has agency to shape and make space and present new ways of thinking about architecture and the built environment more broadly.

TW: As someone deeply involved in architecture, is there a particular architectural project or building that has made you stop, think, and rethink your curatorial approach?

MK: I recall being moved by the Centre Pompidou when I first experienced it, an otherworldly encounter of colourful pipes, glass and steel coming from the neat boulevards of the Haussmann plan. I later learned how truly radical it is, the building is swept to one side of the site to allow for a public Piazza, a generous civic gesture that connects the city and the building. In new buildings commissioned today, it’s rare to find a building that foregrounds the public so distinctly. Originally designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, I’m pleased to see Mexican architect Frida Escobedo in collaboration with Moreau Kusunoki will be working on the 5 year refurbishment of the nearly fifty year old building to ensure it meets modern day environmental, health and energy standards.

TW: What is your favourite Culturally Curious hotspot that always leaves you feeling inspired?

MK: I was born and raised in Southall, west London, it is a predominantly South Asian community, and I’m always surprised and in admiration of the ingenuity of the area. The high streets are buzzing with independent shops selling textiles, jewellery and the grocery stores sell every fruit and vegetable imaginable, it’s a feast for the senses.

“Find out what really motivates you and work with authenticity and integrity, that’s where the most meaningful work comes from.”

Meneesha Kellay

The Wick Culture - Photographer Taran Wilkhu

TW: With technology transforming the way we experience art, how do you envision the role of curators evolving in the next decade?

MK: The key is storytelling and capturing the imagination. Artists will always respond to the issues of our time, curators need to work with care and empathy to ensure exhibitions continue to be vital experiences.

TW: You curated the London Design Festival exhibition at the V&A – Emerging Designer Commission: Origins. What was it like working with Arjun Singh Assa, Liang-Jung Chen and Angela Ford on the meaning of origin through material?

MK: Commissioning artists and designers is a huge passion of mine, it has been a pleasure to work with Angela, Arjun and Liang this year. They each explored the provocation ‘origins’ through their practice. Angela explored the ‘raw origin of a diaspora’ through her forensic yet poetic analysis of land and materials related to her DNA; Arjun drew on generational knowledge through craft and his Sikh heritage in the form of a Iroko teak bench; and Liang created a site-specific installation that examines the tension between borders based on her experience growing up in Taiwan. All drew on how their diasporic experience can broaden the design cannon to include non-Western design thinking.

TW: How do you see architecture driving conversations about identity and community, especially in a culturally rich and diverse place like Britain today?

MK: It is important that we consider who designs the spaces and buildings we inhabit, and the influences they are considering in this process. This must be equitable and the profession needs to work harder to ensure it reflects society it serves. Throughout the British Pavilion in Venice, we placed quotes from intellectuals such as James Baldwin, Arundhati Roy, Stuart Hall and others who have guided our thinking. This quote by bell hooks speaks to a more equitable approach: “irrespective of our location, irrespective of class, race, and gender, we were all capable of inventing, transforming, making-space.”

TW: What advice would you offer emerging curators trying to make their mark in today’s competitive and rapidly evolving art world?

MK: Find out what really motivates you and work with authenticity and integrity, that’s where the most meaningful work comes from.

TW: What are you most excited to see at Asian Art Week in London next week?

MK: Runjeet Singh is showing his rare collection from across Asia including some important recent discoveries, the exhibition will be at Sotheby’s St. George Street Gallery. Also, my colleague Masami Yamada, Curator of Japan at the V&A is speaking at Japan House on 2 November about challenges facing Wajima’s renowned ‘urushi’ (lacquerware) industry.

TW: A book that has changed your life?

MK: Art on My Mind by bell hooks, there is so much wisdom in her words. I now buy the book as gifts for friends.