03 Magazine: March 01, 2023

Dr Reuben Woods,
SHIFT curator
How did SHIFT come about initially?
I was approached by the Museum with the idea and jumped at the
opportunity to be part of something so incredible! The Museum had
incredible success with the exhibition RISE in 2013, which proved highly
popular, and with the building soon undergoing redevelopment, there was a
chance to give this iconic setting a truly memorable farewell!
The amazing thing was the potential scope – this was never presented as
a gallery exhibition, it was always intended as a full building takeover working
with a significant number of artists, so it was such an exciting proposition!
ABOVE TOP: Margarita Vovna
ABOVE BOTTOM: Haser, in progress
OPPOSITE: Floor/lower wall by Benjamin Work,
face mural by Askew One
How did you select/recruit artists?
The first few weeks in my role as curator was a balancing act of figuring
out which spaces could be used inside the Museum and essentially creating
a dream list of artists who I thought would fit with the broader concept of
presenting the evolution and expansion of urban art practices within this
truly unique setting.
We wanted to ensure there was diversity – of material approaches, of
thematic concerns and, importantly, of artistic stories, people from a range
of backgrounds. We also wanted to ensure people would be excited by
the chance to respond to the Museum and the opportunity to create work
within this space.
The list of artists grew throughout the project, but it was amazing to see
the enthusiastic responses from artists when we discussed the project. We
think there is something for everyone to enjoy in SHIFT, the scope of work
and approaches is truly awesome.