Task 2: Week 2: Curatorial Issues
Key Words:
- Definition of Curator
- Curators In Context
- Curators Responsibilities
- Education and Training
- Technology and Society
- Meaning of Art
- Definition of Artwork
- Display of Artworks
- References
Definition of Curator
A curator (from Latin: curare meaning "take care") is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution (e.g., gallery, museum, library or archive) is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material. The object of a traditional curator's concern necessarily involves tangible objects of some sort, whether it be artwork, collectibles, historic items or scientific collections.
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| Figure 1: Curator With Psalter - Exhibition curator Graham Hogg with a book of psalms. (Source: National Library of Scotland) |
Curators In Context
Historically, the role of a curator was based on the dominant concerns of a collecting institution such as a museum. The curator functioned as a keeper, or a custodian, personally responsible for the acquisition, classification, and safeguarding of objects that formed the museum's collection.
Consider Xandra Eden's tongue-in-cheek definition of the curator: "The curator: a well-educated, stuffy sort, dedicated to the meticulous observation and care of our prized artifacts." (CIC Banff, 2:03)
In its current usage, the term has shifted considerably, and continues to do so. Curator is one of the most regularly-used terms in contemporary art, but little consensus or clarity exists on its definition.
As Xandra Eden says, "Now the term 'curator' is being used a lot more often...you see it a lot more, often appearing on exhibition invitations and title walls." (CIC Banff, 13:31)
Why is there so little consensus on what constitutes a curator - or, perhaps more tellingly, what does the contemporary curator do that makes their role difficult to pin down and define? In its broadest terms, the curator is an active producer of meaning. In the context of an exhibition, that meaning can be produced through their bringing together of works of art, or artists, and their development of a framework or a context through which those works can be viewed.
Paul Couillard suggests that as a curator, "I provide a context for the work that's shown, through thematic structures, through formal structures, etc." (CIC Toronto, 5:14).
Another way to conceive of the curator is as a catalyst, whose actions - the selection and interpretation of artists and artworks - initiate a dialogue between the audience, artist, and institution.
Stuart Reid states that "in terms of contemporary art, [the curator] bring(s) artists and art and audiences together, starting off a chain reaction of question and response, really initiating dialogue." (CIC Banff, 2:59)
Curators Responsibilities
This notion of the curator as a catalyst for dialogue can be directly connected to the significant social and relational components of a curator's function. The historical definition of a curator as a "keeper" or "custodian" implies a solitary, singular function, but the contemporary curator often must act as an intermediary between a number of diverse groups.
Melanie O'Brian details an "in-exhaustive list of the relationships and responsibilities that curators have are to the following: artists, audiences, institutions, funders, collectors, dealers, writers, press, publishers, technicians, photographers, editors, and other curators." (CIC Banff, 7:15)
In smaller organizations, a curator may have sole responsibility for acquisitions and even collections care. The curator will make decisions regarding what objects to take, oversee their potential and documentations, conduct research based on the collection and history that provides proper packaging of art for transportation, and shares that research with the public and community through exhibitions and publications. In very small volunteer-based museums, such as local historical societies, a curator may be the only paid staff member.
In larger institutions, the curator's primary function is as a subject specialist, with the expectation that he or she will conduct original research on objects and guide the organization in its collecting. Such institutions can have multiple curators, each assigned to a specific collecting area (e.g., Curator of Ancient Art, Curator of Prints and Drawings, etc.) and often operating under the direction of a head curator. In such organizations, the physical care of the collection may be overseen by museum collections managers or museum conservators, and documentation and administrative matters (such as insurance and loans) are handled by a museum registrar.
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| Figure 2: Kathy Maher executive director and curator at the Barnum Museum examines an empty mummy casket at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. (Source: <www.allartnews.com>) |
Education and Training
Curators generally hold a higher academic degree in their subject, typically a Doctor of Philosophy or a master's degree in subjects such as history, history of art, archaeology, anthropology, or classics. Curators are also expected to have contributed to their academic field, for example, by delivering public talks, publishing articles or presenting at specialist academic conferences. It is important that curators have knowledge of the current collecting market for their area of expertise, and are aware of current ethical practices and laws that may impact their organisation's collecting.
Recently, the increased complexity of many museums and cultural organisations has prompted the emergence of professional programs in fields such as public history, museum studies, arts management, and curating/curatorial practice. In 1992, the Royal College of Art established an MA course co-funded by the Royal College of Art and the Arts Council of Great Britain, the first in Britain to specialize in curating with a particular focus on contemporary art.
Technology and Society
In the same way that a museum curator may acquire objects of relevance or an art curator may select or interpret a work of art, the injection of technology and impact of social media into every aspect of our society has seen the emergence of technology curators; someone who is able to disentangle the science and logic of a particular technology and apply it to real world situations and society, whether for social change or commercial advantage.
The first UK Wired Conference had a test lab, where an independent curator selected technology that showcased radical technology advancements and their impact on society, such as the ability to design and "print" real world objects using 3D printers (such as a fully working violin) or the ability to model and represent accurate interactive medical and molecular models in Stereoscopic 3D. MLOVE, a Con-festival started in 2010, celebrated the disruption of the perception of what a tech conference should be, using a radically more interactive format that drew on a variety of influences outside of the traditional world of technology, including religion, micro-banking for developing countries and interactive art installations/workshops such as the Future Cube and a giant interactive video projection.
Meaning of Art
Art is a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities; this compendium focuses primarily on the visual arts, which includes the creation of images or objects in fields including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and other visual media.
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| Figure 3: Montage of faces from different types of art (2009). |
Artwork may refer to:
- A work of art in the visual arts
- A piece of conceptual art
- In publishing, printing and advertising, any visual as opposed to textual material, usually in the context of preparing for printing, including:
- Cover art, the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book, magazine, comic book, product package, video game, DVD, CD, videotape, or esp. album art
- Illustration the original imagery that was used as a basis for illustration
- Artwork (graphic arts) a drawing used in various processes to transfer an image onto a substrate
- Photomask, an opaque plate with holes or transparencies that allow light to shine through in a defined pattern, commonly used in photolithography
Definition of Artwork
A work of art in the visual arts is a physical two- or three- dimensional object that is professionally determined or other wise considered to fulfill a primarily independent aesthetic function. A singular art object is often seen in the context of a larger art movement or artistic era, such as: a genre, aesthetic convention, culture, or regional-national distinction.[3] It can also be seen as an item within an artist's "body of work" or oeuvre. The term is commonly used by: museum and cultural heritage curators, the interested public, the art patron-private art collector community, and art galleries.
Display of Artwork
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| Figure 4: Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world. |
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| Figure 5: Venus de Milo edited (2008). It was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of Louis XVIII. |
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| Figure 6: Psyche revived Louvre MR1777. Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, donated in 1824. |
Wikipedia. 2014. Curator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curator. [Accessed 09 June 14].
Darryl Bank. 2008. Curators In Context. [ONLINE] Available at: http://curatorsincontext.wikispaces.com/Curator. [Accessed 09 June 14].
Wikipedia. 2014. Art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art. [Accessed 09 June 14].
Wikipedia. 2013. Artwork - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artwork. [Accessed 09 June 14].
Wikipedia. 2014. Work of Art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_of_art. [Accessed 09 June 14].
National Library of Scotland (2008). Curator with psalter [online]. Available from: <http://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/printing/pop-ups/curator-with-psalter>. [Accessed 09 June 2014].
All Art News, (2010), Kathy Maher executive director and curator at the Barnum Museum examines an empty mummy casket [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.allartnews.com/hunt-for-bird-mummy-in-connecticut-comes-up-empty/kathy-maher-executive-director-and-curator-at-the-barnum-museum-examines-an-empty-mummy-casket/ [Accessed 09 June 14].
de Muynck, M.
Montage of faces from different types of art. Clockwise from upper left: a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh; an African Chokwe statue; detail from the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli; and a Japanese Shisa lion.
In-text: (de Muynck, 2009)
Bibliography: de Muynck, M. (2009). Montage of faces from different types of art. Clockwise from upper left: a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh; an African Chokwe statue; detail from the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli; and a Japanese Shisa lion.. [image] Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Art-portrait-collage_2.jpg [Accessed 9 Jun. 2014].
Author died more than 100 years ago public domain images, (1800), Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci [ONLINE]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa#mediaviewer/File:Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg [Accessed 09 June 14].
Unknown - Chosovi, (2008), Venus de Milo edited [ONLINE]. Available at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_de_Milo_edited.jpg [Accessed 09 June 14].
Jastrow, (2007), "Psyche revived Louvre MR1777" by Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757–1822) [ONLINE]. Available at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Psyche_revived_Louvre_MR1777.jpg [Accessed 09 June 14].
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