A curating collective’s guide to curating a collection
Preparation Therapy for the Aspiring Curator
How to remain sane when collectively curating a collection
Below we present a composition of advisory points, derived from our experience of curating Partial Presence, an exhibition presented with the Zabludowicz collection as a part of Testing Ground 2015. Partial Presence was an exhibition that involved ten student curators from The CASS and Goldsmiths MA Curating, who together were given the opportunity to work with the vast Zabludowicz Collection of contemporary artworks. We had three months to plan and execute the project and through this experience we have learned more than we could have anticipated.
Beware of artist abandonment
Consider equally the content and context of a work
Avoid forgetting its pre-collection history
A thumbnail leaves a lot to the imagination
Never over-estimate/underestimate the scale/aesthetic quality of a
collection work
Read details
Look closely
Measure
Do not develop emotional attachments to the work
It is not yours
Taste is always involved
Accept it
Don’t over-conceptualise
Or do… but don’t expect every conceptual detail to translate fluently
to your audience, nor should it
A concept is a tool (sometimes)
Don’t predict outcomes
Question them
A collected artwork is a collected artwork
All are equally precious
Come prepared to alter your value system accordingly
Some artists are
Very picky/demanding
How shall I put it? … Indecisive?
Neurotic
Chill
Allocate speaking time
When your time is up, it’s up
Prioritise things realistically
Don’t question yourself too much
The collective voice can easily and unnecessarily overpower the
individual
But allow yourself to be questioned and don’t take it to heart
Think about the collective good, rather than individual preferences
Keep an open mind
Abandoning one idea means space is made for another
There is not sufficient room for egos or selves in the curatorial collective
It’s about cooperation not competition
Develop a talent for reading and responding to emails daily
What you thought were petty issues are no longer petty issues
Remember, this is a collective project
Don’t take too much or too little responsibility
Your conduct affects a lot of people
It’s not only about you
Know your strengths weaknesses (and other people’s)
There is always more work to be done than you think there is
Don’t settle too comfortably into relaxation.
Conduct yourself knowing that you will meet again professionally
The show is not over when they say it’s over
Written by Eilidh McCormick, Anna Viani and Emma Warburton, three students of the MA Curating the Contemporary course at London Metropolitan University and the Whitechapel Gallery
Eilidh McCormick graduated from Grays School of Art with a first class honours degree in Sculpture in 2014. Having moved here from Scotland to study she is also working as an Intern at the Cynthia Corbett Gallery with the Young Masters Art Prize.
Emma Warburton graduated with a BFA in Painting and Drawing from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Having resided in Asia for the past four years, she is now studying in London, while simultaneously maintaining an art practice involving small site-interventions in the city.
Anna Viani graduated in Performing Art Management at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy. After a short working experience in Austria, she moved to London to continue her studies in Curating. In 2012 she co-founded the curatorial collective Something Human with which she collaborated until December 2013.
All images courtesy of Emma Warburton
CuratingtheContemporary (CtC) 