Curating as practice and profession: an exploration and definition of a contemporary independent curator.
Abstract
(Research
Aim)
This
research
sets
out
to
explore
and
define
a
Contemporary
Independent
Curator
and
his/her
practice.
This
type
and
method
of
curating
activity
occurs
in
a
cultural
context
by
an
individual
who
practices
(mostly)
outwith
a
cultural
institution.
Independent
curators
can
be
described
in
essence
as
‘wild
spirits’
(Schumpeter
1952
p.
340)
and
this
research
considers
the
cultural
and
creative
values
and
opportunities
that
such
a
practitioner
can
bring
to
artists,
communities,
industry
and
audience
experiences
through
their
creative
ideas,
projects
and
activities.
The
acknowledged
changes
in
contemporary
art
practice,
the
broader
sites
for
exhibiting
artworks,
the
changing
nature
of
collaboration
between
artists
and
curators
and
the
development
of
the
broader
creative
and
professional
practice
of
the
curator
has
triggered
this
important
research.
(Research
Objectives)
My
objectives
in
this
research
are
to
make
explicit
the
implicit
tacit
knowledge
involved
in
the
practice
of
curating,
to
distinguish
between
forms
of
curating
that
are
institutionally
bounded
and
new
forms
that
seek
to
work
between
institutions,
to
characterise
the
practice
of
the
‘independent
curator’
drawing
on
historical
as
well
as
current
experiences
of
this
form
of
practice.
(Research
Methods)
Originating
from
an
enquiry
of
my
own
curatorial
practice,
this
research
journeys
through
essays
on
the
mapping
of
the
recent
histories
of
the
independent
curator
(Szeemann,
Obrist,
Higgs
–
these
curators
have
been
identified
as
pioneers
of
contemporary
curating
and
have
had
creative
and
experimental
practices
both
in
and
outwith
the
institution),
it
explores
the
metaphor
of
the
practice
of
the
independent
curator
as
a
cultural
midwife/cultural
intermediary,
in
an
attempt
to
capture
the
essence
of
curating.
It
analyses
findings
from
a
survey
of
current
independent
curators
based
in
Scotland
conducted
as
part
of
the
research.
(Research
Methods)
Although
this
practice
is
identified
as
an
individual
and
independent
one,
it
is
not
practiced
in
isolation
from
others;
therefore
the
social
and
field
theories
(thinking
tools)
of
Pierre
Bourdieu
are
adopted
as
the
key
theoretical
underpinning
for
the
research.
Bourdieu
is
selected
from
other
key
theorists
(eg.
Adorno)
because
he
traces
the
influence
of
a
person’s
power
and
capital
through
their
social,
cultural
and
professional
context.
Other
aspects
of
Bourdieu’s
work,
importantly
his
concern
with
class
and
education
in
the
appreciation
of
the
arts,
are
not
judged
to
be
relevant
to
this
research.
Bourdieu‘s
framing
of
the
individual’s
emergence
through
key
influences
(social,
cultural,
professional)
underpin
the
analysis
of
the
case
studies
of
the
historical
models
of
the
independent
curator
and
to
the
empirical
research conducted
with
active
independent
curators
in
Scotland
to
identify
whether
these
theories
are
still
valid
to
the
(local)
currency
of
the
practice,
or
that
the
practice
has
evolved
to
adopt
a
new
and
enhanced
approach
in
what
it
is
and
what
it
does.
This
research
will
benefit
and
enable
potential
curators
to
identify
the
specific
dispositions
of
the
practice
and
profession
of
an
independent
curator.
It
will
benefit
the
cultural
and
creative
industries
by
acknowledging
and
supporting
the
significant
creative,
cultural
and
economic
value
of
the
independent
curator.
It
will
also
benefit
audiences
of
art
in
making
explicit
the
experience,
integrity
and
consideration
undertaken
by
this
approach
to
curating.
This
research
will
also
be
of
interest
to
educators
and
students
of
art
and
culture
enabling
them
to
learn
from
the
critical
and
creative
decisions
involved.
The
research
is
situated
within
a
wider
academic
and
professional
discourse
on
the
role,
function
and
value
of
creative
practices,
including
contemporary
curating
within
business,
economy
and
society.