The FICA Virtual Reading Group hosted weekly sessions that presented readings, generated conversations and was a platform to share critical insights through a selection of curated texts. Begun in April, during the period of the nationwide lockdown, the Virtual Reading Group attempted to extend the work that FICA does in our physical space at the FICA Reading Room. In order to continue the act of reading and thinking collectively during this unprecedented time of increased social atomisation, the Virtual Reading Group invited people to participate in what eventually grew to be collective grounds for continuing conversations. The main intention behind the Virtual Reading Group was to try and find ways of speaking around the present situation and the inherited anxieties therein, to address systems and methods of meaning-making within and outside the institutional art sphere.

The discussions were initially conducted on Instagram Live, which was used as a platform to coalesce an interactive base through a simple presentation format, inviting questions from viewers tuning in to listen. After three sessions with the latter format, there arose a need for a more intimate space of reflection and personal interaction, to further allow reader-listeners to participate and contribute more openly and actively. The Virtual Reading Group chose to shift first to Zoom, and then eventually moved to Google Meet to ensure uninterrupted sessions. This shift to the video group chat form has been interesting in itself, and it enabled reader-listeners to stake an ownership of sorts to the space.

The first 10 sessions of the Virtual Reading Group were structured around a single text that was circulated to reader-listeners who wished to participate. The texts were chosen keeping in mind the relevance of contemporary socio-political, cultural themes, and the ways in which they were interpreted, analysed, represented, complicated and activated through art and visual culture. The texts for each session were also in conversation with each other - picking off from certain points to develop further new reflective tangents. Apart from the usual curated session, the Virtual Reading Group introduced two new formats to the weekly sessions: The ‘Reading With…’ sessions and the Virtual Reading Playlists. These added to possible ways of exploring and reading texts in order to build a critical collectivity, and brought layered dimensions to dialogues in the virtual space.

Though currently maintaining a hiatus from regular virtual sessions, the team has revived the Virtual Reading Group through an Instagram account continue conversing and dialoguing with our readers. Follow us at @ficareadinggroup for updates, reading lists, spotlights from our collection and more!

Team-led Curated Sessions

The ‘Reading with…’ Sessions

The Virtual Reading Playlists