Curator
Katy Dammers curates exhibitions and performances across galleries, theatres, and site-specific venues to present research-driven group shows, experimental commissions, and interdisciplinary presentations.
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Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art: Curator 2022
Co-curation, with Charlie Clark, of the cabaret Behavioral Garments in collaboration with the exhibition Cinzia says…, the first major retrospective of artist and fashion designer Cinzia Ruggeri (1942–2019), a unique figure of Italian postmodernism who moved freely across disciplines.
In the spirit of Cinzia Ruggeri’s own fashion shows that she framed as theatrical events, the cabaret presented contemporary performance artists who responded to her work in a cabaret hosted by writer, performer, and artist, Charlie Wood. with performances from Amazí, Hollie Miller, Joseph June Bond, Mab George Sanders, Moina Moin, Paola Estrella, Pea B.ordep, and Wet Mess.
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Charlie Wood. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Joseph June Bond. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Moina Moin. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Pea B.ordep. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Mab George Sanders and Siris. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Paola Estrella. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Amazí. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Wet Mess. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Hollie Miller. Photo: Shinju Hitomi.
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Christ Church Neighborhood House: Curator 2021
Site-specific curatorial series entitled On Buried Ground in the Christ Church Burial Ground. In the wake of continued loss artists Emily Bate and Shayla-Vie Jenkins each presented new meditations in the graveyard. Each work, sited in one of the oldest resting places in Philadelphia, considered grief and communal gatherings of public healing. Bate and Jenkins each acknowledged the burial ground as a tender and troubled place that holds layers of the city’s history — casting it as a space that is ultimately as much about futures created together as it is the past.
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Shayla-Vie Jenkins. Photo: Vince Lattuca.
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Shayla-Vie Jenkins. Photo: Vince Lattuca.
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Shayla-Vie Jenkins. Photo: Vince Lattuca.
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Emily Bate. Photo: Vince Lattuca.
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Emily Bate. Photo: Vince Lattuca.
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Emily Bate. Photo: Vince Lattuca.
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FringeArts: Artistic Producer 2018-2020
Dammers co-curated the annual international Fringe Festival and organized year-round programs including the Get Pegged cabaret series with John Jarboe and the Bearded Ladies, the Hand to Hand circus festival, and a commissioning series for Philadelphia-based artists across theatre and performance.
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John Jarboe: Get Pegged Cabaret at La Peg.
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Moor Mother: Circuit City. Photo: Joanna Austin.
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Mariana Arteaga: Úumbal: Nomadic Choreography for Inhabitants. Photo: Joanna Austin.
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Kaneza Schaal and Christopher Myers: CARTOGRAPHY. Photo: elmanstudio.
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Circadium: Hand to Hand Circus Festival.
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Alex Tatarsky: SIGN FELT: Nothing to Show. Photo: Sam Taffel.
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Pig Iron Theatre and Mimi Lien: Superterranean. Photo: Emma Lee.
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The Appointment: Lighting Rod Special. Photo: Joanna Austin.
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Swim Pony: TrailOff, 2020.
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Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker: Fase. Photo: Anne van Aerschot.
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The Kitchen: Assistant Curator + Archive Manager: 2014-2018
Dammers co-curated exhibitions and performances at The Kitchen in both gallery and theatrical spaces. Also working as Archive Manager for The Kitchen, she cataloged and prepared their paper collection for acquisition by The Getty Institute, and integrated archival material into contemporary exhibition and performance programming.
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Tere O'Connor, The Goodbye Studios. Photo: Paula Court.
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Rirkrit Tirivanija, I <3 John Giorno. Photo: Jason Mandella
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Joan Jonas, They Come to Us Without a Word. Photo: Paula Court
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Charles Atlas, the past is here, the futures are coming. Photo: Jason Mandella.
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Julius Eastman: Predicated. Organized with Tiona Nekkia McClodden. Photo: Jason Mandella.
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Paulina Olowska and Katy Pyle. Slavic Goddesses. Photo: Paula Court