Welcome to the Fold: Introducing Chetana

EDITION 2: INTERVIEW WITH DR CHETANA ANDARY

“The best thing about placemaking is bringing that inherent creativity and desire for belonging to life and supporting the processes to sustain it.”

— Chetana

The Fourfold team is growing and we’re very excited to introduce you to Dr Chetana Andary. Chetana joins us with a wealth of knowledge in the field of art and the public realm with demonstrated achievements in visionary creative city policy, public art, organisational leadership, and stakeholder engagement. We sat down with Chetana to find out more about her wide-ranging experience in the arts, cultural and urban design sector.

Welcome Chetana! Can you tell us a little bit about the path you took to get into placemaking?

It’s been a very circuitous one! Originally I trained as an artist in jewellery then sculpture. I’ve since worked as a Designer, Director of an Australian-wide public art consultancy, Public Art Policy Officer, Place Manager at South Bank Corporation, the CEO of Artisan, an art, craft, and design organisation and Senior Principal Public Art Middle East for UAP.

Today people don’t expect to stay in one job for life but to grow, extend and adapt our skills, passion and commitment, and that’s why the journey is so interesting!

You’ve completed a PhD entitled ‘Curating place: Public art and city identity’! Can you tell us more about your educational background?

I often refer to my career as a type of ‘body building’! No, not the buff body type but instead the metaphorical body! It’s taken a lot of heavy lifting to transition from a jewellery designer with designs worn on the body to place sculptures in the public to the building of cities through aesthetic interventions.

I believe my own mixed cultural background has informed my deep and abiding interest in the notion of identity –  from the way we visually present ourselves, both culturally and creatively, to the way a city shapes its identity through soft and hard infrastructure.

I have a Bachelor of Design, a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, and a Doctor of Creative Industries. My doctoral thesis Curating Place – Public Art and City Identity brings theory into practice for city making urban design through the lens of curating, place-making, and brand-marketing.

What does a typical day look like for you?

There isn’t a typical day! I have just returned from 3 weeks in Saudi Arabia where I presented a Public Art Masterclass and Thought Leadership Seminar to then work with Fourfold on a collaborative place activation plan for an ambitious and proactive stakeholder group!

What motivates you to be a placemaker?

What we do, who we do it with, and where we do it, are three decisions we will all make in our lives.

Research has shown that the reasons why people don’t leave a place are linked to their attachment to their community and the beauty of the environment. These factors are more important in determining happiness with a location, than economic factors.

As placemakers, we know that attracting people to a place is just the beginning, it is the engagement with each other that builds community. The best thing about placemaking is bringing that inherent creativity and desire for belonging to life and supporting the processes to sustain it.

Has there been one pivotal moment that has changed the direction of your career path?

My first Public Art commission as an artist challenged me to look beyond my own personal expression to that of a public place – its history, context, and usage; the environment from the ground to the sky; its spirit, culture, and soul; and the aspirations, future, and potential. When you put the word ‘public’ in front of ‘art’ you change its meaning. ‘Public’ is people. 

What are you most excited about in your new role at Fourfold?

Working in a small, passionate, and clever team elevates the agility, and the ability, to do things differently. Each project is exciting. Each opportunity is a new possibility. To make a difference is, I believe, what we all truly aspire to and what sustains us. I’m overjoyed about this new chapter in my career!