Keith Whittle’s projects encompass exhibitions and commissions, touring and residency programmes, live and moving-image work, and site-specific projects, taking work from initial idea and development through to production, presentation and, where appropriate, touring and wider public engagement.
Projects bring together artists, venues, curators, producers, specialists and cultural partners, connecting them with the expertise, resources and opportunities needed to develop and realise ambitious ideas. They create conditions for experimentation and collaboration, enabling artists to work across disciplines, formats and contexts and to develop new approaches to their practice.
Projects range from individual commissions and presentations to longer-term collaborations between artists and organisations. They enable work to be realised and encountered in new cultural contexts, both in the UK and internationally, creating opportunities for artists to take creative risks, develop their work and reach new audiences.
Commissions
Commissioning has been central to his practice. He works with artists and partners to develop ambitious new work, creating opportunities for experimentation, collaboration and the development of ideas from their early stages through to public presentation.
Commissions and collaborations have included Sutapa Biswas, Adam Chodzko, Erika Tan, Yuko Mohri, Jane and Louise Wilson, Mark Leckey, Johan Grimonprez, Isaac Julien, Janice Kerbel, and Michael Landy.
Exhibitions and Moving Image
Early exhibitions included Jo Spence and Rosy Martin, exploring photography, feminism, activism, and the AIDS pandemic, alongside a solo exhibition of Rotimi Fani-Kayode.
He subsequently toured exhibitions of artists’ film and video, including work by Vito Acconci, Marina Abramović & Ulay, Vito Acconci, Bill Viola, and Gary Hill, followed by projects with artists associated with the YBAs, including Sam Taylor-Johnson, Georgina Starr, and Jane and Louise Wilson.
Later touring exhibitions brought together artists working across film, video, and interdisciplinary practices, including Abigail Lane, Michael Landy, Gillian Wearing, Mark Leckey, Isaac Julien, Janice Kerbel, and Sonia Boyce. He has subsequently curated presentations of work by Elizabeth Price, Laure Prouvost, John Akomfrah, and Derek Jarman.
New Media and New Forms of Art
While at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, and Film and Video Umbrella, he developed pioneering projects in new media and emerging forms of artistic production, including interactive, internet-based and digital work. These included major festival projects and collaborations with John Maeda and the MIT Media Lab, alongside projects developed with Channel 4 through Film and Video Umbrella. Later collaborations with the V&A South Kensington extended this practice through projects engaging with digital technologies, contemporary culture and the museum’s collections.
International and Cross-Cultural Collaborations
International collaboration has been a consistent part of his practice, including exhibitions, residencies, artist exchanges, and site-specific projects across Europe and Asia.
He has worked with programmes including ARCUS International Residency Programme and Beppu Project, and was nominated for the inaugural OCAT–OCT Contemporary Art Terminal International Art Residency in China, affiliated with the He Xiangning Art Museum. His work has included large-scale presentations of contemporary Chinese art for CHINA Now and EAST.08, as well as artist exchanges and exhibitions developed through the UK–Japan 2008 festival in collaboration with the British Council.
More recently, his work has focused on artists and cultural practices from East and Southeast Asia, through exhibitions, residencies, talks, live programmes, and research. These projects have included artists such as Satoru Aoyama, Shigeo Anzai, Chim↑Pom, Hoo Fan Chon, Taro Izumi, Jia Aili, Mari Katayama, Meiro Koizumi, Kyunchome, Yuko Mohri, Aki Sasamoto, and Chikako Yamashiro.
Cultural Partnership and Engagement
His work in developing cultural partnerships and exchange between the UK and Japan has been recognised through a UK Government Cultural Leadership Award, which supported him in establishing strategic relationships across the two cultural sectors.
Research and Collaboration
Alongside his curatorial practice, he has developed international research, academic collaborations, and public programmes connecting artists, curators, researchers, and students.
At Central Saint Martins, he helped establish international projects including the Global Art Joint Project, developed with Tokyo University of the Arts, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also developed and organised international symposia bringing together artists, curators, researchers, and students to explore questions around biennialisation, collective and participatory practice, and globalisation.