Experimenter Gallery
Experimenter is a contemporary art gallery co-founded by Priyanka and Prateek Raja in Kolkata. It represents several important artists in the contemporary art scene from across the globe. The gallery functions as an incubator for contemporary art practice spread across various disciplines and media.The program of the gallery is known for nurturing a space that encourages dialogue, dissent and fearless expression through artistic experiments. In addition to exhibition-making, Experimenter’s programmes encompass a wide range of initiatives that focus on knowledge creation and dissemination through publishing, learning programs, talks, workshops, and performances. Its widely acclaimed  annual Experimenter Curator’s Hub brings together curators from across the world to discuss and debate curatorial practices. In 2016, the gallery launched its publishing wing, Experimenter Books that devotes itself to artist-book publication. The gallery started the Experimenter Learning Program (ELP) in 2018 that facilitates learnings in fields of contemporary and performing arts, curatorship, writing, film and social culture where the audiences actively engage with the gallery beyond passive viewership. On its 10th anniversary in 2019, the gallery started its most recent initiative, Experimenter – Outpost where it moves outside its physical gallery spaces to hold exhibitions in disused  spaces as an exploration of the possibility of a renewed life for them. History. Experimenter was launched in 2009 with a vision to create a platform for the visual arts beyond the conventional white cube format. The co-founders of the gallery had a long-harboured dream to work together and left their corporate careers behind to fulfill the same. They thought of Kolkata, the city they grew up in, as an ideal place to open a gallery that would push boundaries, raise questions and bring to Kolkata a global experience of contemporary art. The original location of the gallery  is its Hindustan Road space that was established in 2009. On 28 February 2018, Experimenter launched its second gallery at Ballygunge Place. Both spaces now run simultaneously, allowing the gallery to build on its multifaceted programmes. Both of these galleries are located in century-old buildings that re-imagine their purpose as contemporary spaces ensconced within heritage structures, in line with the interests of the directors in preserving architectural precincts of the city. Art Fair Participation. Experimenter participates in the leading art fairs of the world including Art Basel in Basel (since 2013), Art Basel in Hong Kong (since 2014 ), Frieze Art Fair in London (since 2010), Frieze Art Fair in New York (since 2012), FIAC Paris (2016–18), Art Dubai (since 2011) and India Art Fair, New Delhi (since 2011). Publishing. The publishing wing of the gallery, Experimenter Books, was launched in 2016 to function as a publishing partner for its artists. It works towards producing artist-books, monographs and art objects. It also explores the vast creative possibilities of bookmaking, displays particular interest in design and closely collaborates with artists to conceive and envisage each book. One can also find the gallery’s annual catalogues under this initiative alongside  the Experimenter Labs Reader, both of which are available for free online access for anyone wanting to give it a read. The Experimenter Labs Reader is a guest-edited anthology of prose, poetry, essays, images by artists, activists, musicians, poets, writers, photographers, philosophers. Educational and Other Initiatives. Educational Initiatives. Experimenter Curator’s Hub. The Experimenter Curator’s Hub is an annual programme, started by the gallery in 2012. It brings under one roof, the most influential curatorial minds in the contemporary art scene around the world to discuss, debate and create a discourse around curatorial practices. With a lack of  institutional discourse formulation around curation, the gallery co-founders decided to launch this initiative to start a much-needed conversation on curatorial practices for artists, curators, critics and audiences to critically engage with and understand curation as a distinctive discipline. In an interview to the "Firstpost", they said, “We both agree that one of the biggest inhibitors to knowledge in our country are our structures of learning and education, and we are deeply interested in breaking these structures even in our limited capacities. We re-evaluate our roles as directors of Experimenter all the time and have been thinking about  how we can make a definitive impact to the world we inhabit individually and as directors of our program. We have felt over time, that discourse and conversation lies at the crux of understanding our dystopian contemporary moment and possibly the only way to establish a future of awareness that appreciates plurality and celebrates contradiction and diversity and would like to invite thinkers, writers, curators, artists, philosophers, architects, designers and so on from all over the world.” The hub is open for all to attend and was shifted online in the year 2020 owing to the global pandemic situation. All  presentations by curators and panel discussions are archived as video recordings on the gallery’s website as freely accessible resources for those interested in listening to and learning about the various curatorial practices from all over the world. The hub has had participating curators like Leuli Eshraghi, Reem Fadda, Adam Szymczyk, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Doryun Chong, Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Naomi Beckwith, Natasha Ginwala, Gitanjali Dang, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Abhay Maskara, Raqs Media Collective, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Shumon Basar, Pooja Sood, Dayanita Singh and more. Experimenter Learning Program. The Experimenter Learning Program (ELP) was launched in 2018 with the  vision of knowledge creation and increased audience engagement in order to make the gallery an active space for dialogue, discussion, debate and learning. It is a long-term education program rooted in visual culture and has a year-long schedule including Experimenter Curator’s Hub, workshops, lecture performances, symposia, salon-style classrooms and Experimenter Juniors’ Program. Generator - Co-operative art production fund. In April 2020, in the very early stages in the global COVID-19 pandemic, The Generator co-operative art fund was created by Experimenter in collaboration with artists and friends. This collaborative fund awards production grants to aid artists ’ projects. It is a decentralized funding framework exclusively meant for artists not represented by the gallery and is open to all visual artists irrespective of medium, age or provenance. The applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year and are reviewed by a rotating jury. In an interview with "Ocula" magazine, gallery co-founder Prateek Raja said, “One of our early conversations was with Bani Abidi, who is based in Berlin, about how grant-giving is such a power-disseminating activity, where an organization or a group of patrons decide to give something to the artist, as if  you are bestowing upon them this honor. This is a conversation we renewed, because we figured we would be closed for a few months, and very quickly we launched Generator, which came out with other initiatives from the Labs.” Other Initiatives. Experimenter Radio. A curated Spotify channel consisting of music and podcasts by artists, writers, thinkers, collaborators, philosophers that brings together an acoustic experience which can be a source of comfort, inspiration and musings. Filament. Filament is a space for streaming films and video art by a wide range of artists and filmmakers. Deep Dive Series. A series of in -depth online (sometimes live) conversations of artists with curators, writers, gallerists or other artists and peers who know the artist’s practice and thoughts intimately. These are shared as podcasts, video interviews, live online studio visits, book readings, and more. Reception. In 2014, Experimenter won the ‘Contemporary Gallery of the Year (Exhibiting young artists)’ award at the Forbes Art Awards 2014. In 2016, Experimenter won the 'Gallery of the Year' award at the India Today Art Awards 2016. In 2020, Experimenter co-founders Prateek and Priyanka Raja were named in the ArtReview Power 100 list of the ‘Most influential people  in the contemporary art world’.