Parnell Project Space

Current Curatorial Intern: Felixe Laing 2022 – 2023

Felixe Laing is the current curatorial intern, beginning her research project in July 2022. She is running her project Chez Derriere over the course of 2023 at the Parnell Project Space.

Chez Derriere, in its literal French translation, describes ‘a place of business or home at the behind’. The name refers to its physical location in the back of Parnell but also as a space for experimentation and emerging practice. The name Chez Derriere also references Felixe’s family history of her parents as restaurateurs.

Through Chez Derriere, Felixe is exploring the role of the ‘host’ in the context of hospitality in relation to the role of the curator in contemporary art - thinking about how to host and care for audiences, artists and ideas within exhibition making and alternative event based curatorial models.

Felixe also sees Chez Derriere as a space for play; shifting focus away from resolved outcomes and centering playful research, performance and participation.

Chez Derriere’s programme has a workshop and participatory focus, including a Play workshop series. This three-part series saw artist Jordan Davey-Emms lead the alter-ego portrait workshop Headshot kitchen, Isabella Dampney invite participants to play the board game CA$HFLOW and Samantha Cheng asked people to make a temporary exhibition on a train from Newmarket to Mt Albert in Passengers. Felixe worked with artist Cindy Huang to host The practice of eating together over one evening, which was the first inquiry into food as material in the space. Felixe also led an eight-month workshop-based art writing programme which aimed to foster peer mentorship and professional development with a group of 14 writers. The resulting publication, Snacks, will be published in November 2023.

Felixe has curated three exhibitions at Chez Derriere; Uma Tuffnell: showstopper, A net woven from my own hair by Naarm Melbourne-based artist Jacqueline Stojanović, which was accompanied by a commissioned publication of the same name, and the group exhibition Rumpus, with Jordan Davey-Emms, Isabella Dampney and Samantha Cheng. Rumpus was the conclusion to the collaborative inquiry through the Play workshop series into what is playful practice, showcasing three exciting, bold and comical commissions.

Chez Derriere has been a site where the hospitality and food within the gallery space has been carefully considered. As a continuation of her exploration of the role of the host in the gallery space, at the end of November 2023 Felixe will reimagine Chez Derriere as an operational art restaurant across three nights (Nov 30, Dec 1 & 2) in collaboration with emerging local and international artists, food writers and researchers.

Felixe Laing is a curator and writer and has worked across the arts sector in Aotearoa, recently at The Dowse Art Museum where she developed a five-part speaker series for their 50th anniversary programme. She has written for a variety of Aotearoa publications, including for Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, The Art Paper and Vernacular. She graduated with a BFA (Hons) from Elam School of Fine Arts UoA in 2016 and a Master of Museum and Heritage Practice from Victoria University of Wellington (Distinction) in 2021.