Going independent...

Indra Khanna
Curator
Khanna's first project was FlyPitch, a groundbreaking series of installations in Brixton Market last summer. Over the course of 13 weeks, an international mix of artists showed their work on stalls, rubbing shoulders with plantain and yam sellers, and the general public. Someone asked, "Does this mean something or is it just art?"' she recalls.

Why Brixton Market? 'It was cheap and I wanted to remove the obstacles that stop people going to galleries. For a lot of people, the feeling persists that galleries aren't for them. If you think about it, it's an unnerving environment if you're not used to it: an intimidating white space, nowhere to sit, people wonder where should they stand, are you allowed to talk?'

Khanna, now 43, worked as a painter and printmaker for 10 years and it struck her, when visiting exhibitions, that she could probably do as good a job if not better. So she looked for jobs in arts administration and curating but got nowhere. Her partner, Hew Locke, an award-winning painter, suggested she do a curating course to improve her chances. 'I decided rather than training to curate and paying for it, I would just jump in and spend the money on funding my own project. I realised I couldn't wait for someone to discover me.'

Khanna's next project, funded by the Arts Council, is called the Garden of Earthly Delights and you will be able to find it this summer in the walled garden in Brockwell Park, Brixton. 'I am inspired by places which have their own atmosphere and I wanted to do something bigger than FlyPitch this time. You have to expand or what's the point?'

More here on other creative people outside the mainstream.