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Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

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Autor	Wiadomość
Lidia Varbanova Dołączył: 15 Lis 2005	Poniedziałek 10 Grudzień 2007 10:31:20 pm Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create? Many of us who work in the field of curating realise the differences of who the curator is and what he/she actually does. These differences are shaped by the diverse economic, political, social and cultural context we live in, as well as by our own unique experiences, and the contributions of our audiences. Is the curator a: researcher, “translator”, educator, facilitator and mediator, agent, entertainer, diplomat, provocateur, manager of the artists, or...? Milena Placentile (http://www.shintai-z.com/) invites you to discuss: What leads and motivates us to work as curators and how we position ourselves among other professions in the arts field? What set of competences and knowledge we need in the changing world to be successful as curators?
Milena Placentile Dołączył: 16 Lip 2007	Wtorek 11 Grudzień 2007 5:13:29 am Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create? Thank you for this introduction, Lidia, and thank you for welcoming a public forum for conversations about curating. Greetings to all curators at LabforCulture.org! While browsing the pages of LabforCulture.org, I noticed the distinct absence of space for discussion about curatorship and curatorial practice. Given the popularity of curatorial training programs around the world, and the increasingly prevalent use of the term "curator" in mass media, it seemed like a good idea to add this category given that this site seeks to further multi-national cultural work in as wide a capacity as possible. It is true that live forums for practice-related discussion happen regularly, and this is especially true in the case of new-media curatorship and, more recently, in relationship to curatorial practices and education; however, it is rare that such events are truly international since the time and costs associated with travel are a hindrance. Thus, it appears that LabforCulture.org might be an interesting and well-suited place to hold a range of conversations about curating today, especially since many of us arrive at our work informed by different social, cultural, and critical experiences. The list of possible definitions for what a curator might be seems limitless... curator as researcher curator as translator curator as civil servant curator as gatekeeper, or as filter curator as educator curator as instigator of social change curator as facilitator, as mediator, or administrator curator as international superstar curator as a creator in her/his own right curator as academic curator as entertainer curator as agent curator as connoisseur curator as advocate curator as champion and defender curator as diplomat curator as entrepreneur curator as appraiser curator as provocateur curator as ... Our answers will certainly vary, and that is something quite interesting, in and of itself. Where do we each fit, and how have we made specific efforts to position ourselves in a particular way? What led us to develop a curatorial practice in the first place? What motivates us to carry on? * * * I know that we are all busy: we are pulled in multiple directions through competing obligations, not all of which are related to curating, or even to our careers. That stated, I hope that this space hosted at LabforCulture.org can be a 'low-pressure zone'... a space for conversations about curatorship that can be meaningful, reflective, and even 'slow'... an ongoing conversation across schedules, geography, and time zones, and with an acknowledgement of difference. So who is in? I am happy to start, but I'd first like to find out if others agree in the potential value of such a space for online discussion. Since this site so conveniently facilitates multiple conversations, I'm going to start a few threads and I encourage anyone to jump in at any time. If others have further questions that they would like to add, I hope they will go right ahead and start new threads. I look forward to our conversations! - Milena
karin gavassa Dołączył: 20 Gru 2007	Sobota 22 Grudzień 2007 2:19:24 pm Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create? Reflecting on the same issues, I organized two different panel discussions in Italy, one in Venice, during the last Biennale and the second in Turin in September, 2007. From both of them, with panelists from different countries such as South Africa, Croatia, Zimbabwe, China, what emerged was a curator basically as an independent fund raiser with the majority of his/her time engaged in the fund raising and few time for the research. They all look for an interstice among institutions and recognized galleries as a space for thinking and proposing fresh projects. Successful projects come out when doing networking with international curators and artists, going beyond the idea of the show closed in itself. Please also visit Net-work Lab 07 http://www.undo.net/cgi-bin/undo/pressrelease/pressrelease.pl?id=1181290609 Looking forward to hearing from you karin
Milena Placentile Dołączył: 16 Lip 2007	Piątek 25 Styczeń 2008 12:40:56 am Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create? Hello Karin, That is quite a diverse range of countries mentioned above, and to realize that we’re experiencing the same thing virtually everywhere is rather disheartening. There is more money on the planet that ever before in history, yet services and opportunities to facilitate the betterment of lives everywhere are disappearing at accelerating rates. The lack of means by which to fund social and cultural research through the arts, and to present related ideas in public space, is one such example. That said, the extent to which corporate agendas influence how governments disseminate public funds is undeniable, and I think growing realization of this connection is precisely why curators worldwide have become increasingly interested in political issues. Art – and especially well curated art – has the capacity to reach millions of people in different ways, including ways that stimulate a critical thinking about the world, and how we each live within it. I agree with you that successful projects arise when curators from around the work network. I think it’s also safe to say that international networking encourages solidarity because what begins in each of us as a sense about changing times becomes a definitive observation. Many of us are finding it increasingly difficult to do the work we want to do, or the work we believe needs to be done. By sharing information and resources, we’re in a better position to create a unified front and demonstrate to publics around the world what can happen when art and its related critical discourses are more widely available. I like what you’ve mentioned above about ideas going beyond the exhibition itself, and I think that is exactly what needs to happen more often. Maybe this simplifies the issue too much, but I think that when exhibitions address larger socially and politically relevant issues, people take more notice. They can more readily identify points of entry that have meaning to their lives, and they see that art is not merely some kind of “add-on”... it’s not decoration for the world, but a conversation about the world. Furthermore, if people really feel that exhibitions do more than merely display objects in a room, their support for it will increase. My concern about the state of arts funding in Canada is that it is not only shrinking, but also becoming more insular. I have a very particular and recent example in mind, but unfortunately it’s not something I feel that I can discuss publically. What I will say is that, all around the world, we need to band together and push for more and more flexible funding. The idea of community, which you’ve described above and in the link you provided, is so critical to furthering discourse and increasing the range of possible participants. We should be able to welcome more cultural practitioners to our countries to share ideas in open and public ways. We should facilitate networking so that we broaden our cultural and intellectual horizons, and I think that we should encourage more opportunities for international collaboration so that we can put a more ideas into action.

Autor

Wiadomość

Lidia Varbanova

Dołączył:
15 Lis 2005

Poniedziałek 10 Grudzień 2007 10:31:20 pm

Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Many of us who work in the field of curating realise the differences of who the curator is and what he/she actually does. These differences are shaped by the diverse economic, political, social and cultural context we live in, as well as by our own unique experiences, and the contributions of our audiences. Is the curator a: researcher, “translator”, educator, facilitator and mediator, agent, entertainer, diplomat, provocateur, manager of the artists, or...?
Milena Placentile (http://www.shintai-z.com/) invites you to discuss: What leads and motivates us to work as curators and how we position ourselves among other professions in the arts field? What set of competences and knowledge we need in the changing world to be successful as curators?

Milena Placentile

Dołączył:
16 Lip 2007

Wtorek 11 Grudzień 2007 5:13:29 am

Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Thank you for this introduction, Lidia, and thank you for welcoming a public forum for conversations about curating.

Greetings to all curators at LabforCulture.org!

While browsing the pages of LabforCulture.org, I noticed the distinct absence of space for discussion about curatorship and curatorial practice. Given the popularity of curatorial training programs around the world, and the increasingly prevalent use of the term "curator" in mass media, it seemed like a good idea to add this category given that this site seeks to further multi-national cultural work in as wide a capacity as possible.

It is true that live forums for practice-related discussion happen regularly, and this is especially true in the case of new-media curatorship and, more recently, in relationship to curatorial practices and education; however, it is rare that such events are truly international since the time and costs associated with travel are a hindrance. Thus, it appears that LabforCulture.org might be an interesting and well-suited place to hold a range of conversations about curating today, especially since many of us arrive at our work informed by different social, cultural, and critical experiences.

The list of possible definitions for what a curator might be seems limitless...

curator as researcher
curator as translator
curator as civil servant
curator as gatekeeper, or as filter
curator as educator
curator as instigator of social change
curator as facilitator, as mediator, or administrator
curator as international superstar
curator as a creator in her/his own right
curator as academic
curator as entertainer
curator as agent
curator as connoisseur
curator as advocate
curator as champion and defender
curator as diplomat
curator as entrepreneur
curator as appraiser
curator as provocateur
curator as ...

Our answers will certainly vary, and that is something quite interesting, in and of itself. Where do we each fit, and how have we made specific efforts to position ourselves in a particular way? What led us to develop a curatorial practice in the first place? What motivates us to carry on?

* * *

I know that we are all busy: we are pulled in multiple directions through competing obligations, not all of which are related to curating, or even to our careers. That stated, I hope that this space hosted at LabforCulture.org can be a 'low-pressure zone'... a space for conversations about curatorship that can be meaningful, reflective, and even 'slow'... an ongoing conversation across schedules, geography, and time zones, and with an acknowledgement of difference.

So who is in? I am happy to start, but I'd first like to find out if others agree in the potential value of such a space for online discussion.

Since this site so conveniently facilitates multiple conversations, I'm going to start a few threads and I encourage anyone to jump in at any time. If others have further questions that they would like to add, I hope they will go right ahead and start new threads.

I look forward to our conversations!
- Milena

karin gavassa

Dołączył:
20 Gru 2007

Sobota 22 Grudzień 2007 2:19:24 pm

Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Reflecting on the same issues, I organized two different panel discussions in Italy, one in Venice, during the last Biennale and the second in Turin in September, 2007.
From both of them, with panelists from different countries such as South Africa, Croatia, Zimbabwe, China, what emerged was a curator basically as an independent fund raiser with the majority of his/her time engaged in the fund raising and few time for the research. They all look for an interstice among institutions and recognized galleries as a space for thinking and proposing fresh projects. Successful projects come out when doing networking with international curators and artists, going beyond the idea of the show closed in itself.
Please also visit Net-work Lab 07
http://www.undo.net/cgi-bin/undo/pressrelease/pressrelease.pl?id=1181290609

Looking forward to hearing from you
karin

Milena Placentile

Dołączył:
16 Lip 2007

Piątek 25 Styczeń 2008 12:40:56 am

Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Hello Karin,

That is quite a diverse range of countries mentioned above, and to realize that we’re experiencing the same thing virtually everywhere is rather disheartening.

There is more money on the planet that ever before in history, yet services and opportunities to facilitate the betterment of lives everywhere are disappearing at accelerating rates. The lack of means by which to fund social and cultural research through the arts, and to present related ideas in public space, is one such example. That said, the extent to which corporate agendas influence how governments disseminate public funds is undeniable, and I think growing realization of this connection is precisely why curators worldwide have become increasingly interested in political issues. Art – and especially well curated art – has the capacity to reach millions of people in different ways, including ways that stimulate a critical thinking about the world, and how we each live within it.

I agree with you that successful projects arise when curators from around the work network. I think it’s also safe to say that international networking encourages solidarity because what begins in each of us as a sense about changing times becomes a definitive observation. Many of us are finding it increasingly difficult to do the work we want to do, or the work we believe needs to be done. By sharing information and resources, we’re in a better position to create a unified front and demonstrate to publics around the world what can happen when art and its related critical discourses are more widely available.

I like what you’ve mentioned above about ideas going beyond the exhibition itself, and I think that is exactly what needs to happen more often. Maybe this simplifies the issue too much, but I think that when exhibitions address larger socially and politically relevant issues, people take more notice. They can more readily identify points of entry that have meaning to their lives, and they see that art is not merely some kind of “add-on”... it’s not decoration for the world, but a conversation about the world. Furthermore, if people really feel that exhibitions do more than merely display objects in a room, their support for it will increase.

My concern about the state of arts funding in Canada is that it is not only shrinking, but also becoming more insular. I have a very particular and recent example in mind, but unfortunately it’s not something I feel that I can discuss publically. What I will say is that, all around the world, we need to band together and push for more and more flexible funding. The idea of community, which you’ve described above and in the link you provided, is so critical to furthering discourse and increasing the range of possible participants. We should be able to welcome more cultural practitioners to our countries to share ideas in open and public ways. We should facilitate networking so that we broaden our cultural and intellectual horizons, and I think that we should encourage more opportunities for international collaboration so that we can put a more ideas into action.

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Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?

Re:Who is the "curator"? What motivates curators to work and create?