It is popularly held that the word curate has its origins in the Latin word cura for “to care.” To curate is to care, to hold works and to place them in dialogue, generating meaning through the arrangement of objects, ideas, places, references, and more. It can also hold a sense of “to cure,” as if to heal, or in this moment, to amend. Examining curation as a method for what it means to care for and about art, as well as expressing care through art, this class invites students to develop their own curatorial approaches based on a study and critique of current and historical models of curation.
Considering curation as an active process, each week we will examine a series of curatorial studies and the development of global curatorial practices since the nineteenth century. We will also attend to recent alternative curatorial approaches which query how we encounter and engage with works of art, ranging from global biennials to more localized social practices. Special attention will be paid to models of curation as prompts for dialogue and community building.
- Instructor: Padma Maitland