Sheena Wagstaff and Shanay Jhaveri

Creativity and Tradition: In conversation with dunhill and Frieze Masters

When dunhill started collaborating with Frieze Masters on its award-winning content programme Frieze Masters Talks in 2023, it was the start of a three-year partnership forged from a foundation of shared principles and ideals. Since it was founded in 2012, the London art fair has embodied a singular, world-renowned view on the relationship between the old and the new – in this case, art across the ages. And it has always fostered thought leadership within the world of sophisticated design and creative culture. So, in the spirit of common philosophy and togetherness, we decided to set up a rather stylish dunhill lounge at the fair in Regent’s Park as a venue for the 2024 Frieze Masters Talks.

Hosted by Sheena Wagstaff, who is the creative advisor of Frieze Masters and has held positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Tate, and Shanay Jhaveri – the editor of visual arts at the Barbican – this year’s theme is The Creative Mind, and spans six talks featuring Iranian-German visual artist Nairy Baghramian, American conceptual artist Glenn Ligon, and English conceptual artist Jeremy Deller. The idea: to explore the notion of creativity, past and present, from various disciplinary angles and cultural contexts, in a sophisticated setting.

Before the fair began on 9 October (‘Frieze Masters Talks in collaboration with dunhill’ will run daily until 13 October 2024) we met Sheena and Shanay to discuss the old and the new, how creativity influences us today, and how well-crafted objects – whether it be in the realms of art or clothing – are everlasting.

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Hi Sheena and Shanay, so what inspired you to do these talks?

Sheena Wagstaff: The word ‘talks’ suggests someone talking to someone else. I was more interested in a conversation. It occurred to me to invite Shanay who would come from a different viewpoint. Conversations are more egalitarian.

What influenced your approach?

Sheena Wagstaff: I worked at the Met as the chair for modern and contemporary art. I established the foundation of modern and contemporary art within the context of 6000 years of historical material. Before that I was chief curator at Tate Modern. I’ve commissioned huge amounts of artists, all of whom are living. Art of the past has a completely different resonance if you understand it as art of the present. We are inviting cultural thought leaders across different disciplines who can reinvigorate what history stands for in relation to what we’re facing now as human beings.

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Innovating ideas of the past for present challenges is something we can relate to. Shanay, what do you bring to these conversations?

Shanay Jhaveri: What most excited me was initiating intergenerational conversations. The Barbican is a multi-artform centre. Film, theatre, music. That cross-disciplinary mode of working is something we tried to bring.

Sheena Wagstaff: In one of our sessions we have Glenn Lowry who is the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He is in conversation with Nairy Baghramian an Iranian artist who lives in Berlin, and Julian Rose an architectural historian. The three of them are not going to be talking about museums or art or even architecture directly, but all of those aspects from a spatial intelligence point of view. We’re sharing a different way into the things that affect us now.

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What does creativity mean to you both?

Sheena Wagstaff: It’s what anyone does when they’re creating something from nothing. Frieze Masters is a London-initiated project, created 12 years ago. It was born at a time when London was an economic centre. The creative industries were thriving. We are very keen to recapture some of that great creative thinking, focussing on tradition and innovation. It’s what dunhill and Frieze Masters stands for. It’s an important message for the whole world…When you’re in the presence of someone truly creative you feel as if you’ve had insight into a different way of looking at the world but also into the core of what makes people human.

Shanay Jhaveri: We live in very fraught times. Hearing the perspective of cultural leaders, artists, writers, museum directors on topics beyond just their work is a way of providing insight and also helps other people articulate what they’re experiencing.

Sheena Wagstaff: Curators and designers come and go. The object in the institution, museum or collection will remain. That’s an unbelievably important fact. It’s about the past going through into the future. That’s what the fair can do and that’s what you’re trying to do.

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