CuratorsinContext.ca

Navigating the Curator-as-Artist Divide

by Ivan Jurakic

Date: 02 December 2005
Event: Toronto

Abstract

As the boundaries between artists, curators and critics increasingly collapse, curating as a practice stretches beyond the historical purview of custodian or 'gatekeeper', to take on a more generative function. A growing number of curators, myself included, began curating exhibitions as part of an experiential trajectory - an extension of studio-based practices, involvement in arts administration, and writing on behalf of other artists - as opposed to the more traditionally entrenched career paths of historical scholarship and museum studies. Consequently, the role of curator has come to occupy a deliberately less academic stance, often embodying a more participatory or hands-on function. As such, curators are no longer limited to being critical observers but increasingly are understood as instigators, subjective participants actively defining (or redefining) art and culture as-it-happens.

It is this hybrid context that informs my own practice as both an artist and curator. My practice evolved out of a do-it-yourself artist-run environment, where the onus was on the artist (individually and collectively), to function as administrator, installer, critic, grant writer, designer, activist and cheerleader. This career path, which encourages the role of the artist-curator and independent curator, has proliferated, yet despite the many creative overlaps the role of curator-as-artist remains problematic.

A perception persists that curators remain aloof to the concerns of artists, particularly local artists, instead perpetuating the hegemony of international art stars. For example, consider the uproar following the wake of Documenta 11, conceived by Artistic Director Okwui Enwezor as a series of platforms used to address the diversity of issues surrounding post-colonialism. Many artists and critics argued less about the merits of the artwork, than the politicized nature of the curatorial program, which many felt had become too polemic and didactic, featuring an estimated 600 plus hours of video. In reaction, Jens Hoffman asked a diverse group of cultural practitioners to respond to the provocative idea that: "The Next Documenta Should Be Curated By An Artist". The subsequent responses posted on the website (hosted at www.e-flux.com) and reprinted in the eponymous publication were by no means definitive, but did address growing concerns regarding the problematic role of curators who place their own agendas and authorship above that of the artists.

Contemporary curating is a form of cultural production, immaterial labour based in critique, a practice that increasingly exhibits an ability, and furthermore a desire, to expand into more experimental and collaborative models. As the interaction between curators, artists and practitioners in other specialized fields (architects, designers, scientists), becomes increasingly reflexive, curating can no longer be defined as a passive facilitator. The narrow definition of the curator as an individual responsible for the selection and placement of artworks in a gallery space is clearly too restrictive. Conversely, curators should not presume the creative right to appropriate or alter the authorship of another work, without credit, citation or the express permission of artist or author.

The difficulty lies in this complex synthesis of practice and theory, which must not only be applied to the increasingly fragmented means of production, presentation and dissemination of contemporary art, but also respectful of the creative autonomy and expectations of the artist. The 'job' of curating becomes a sophisticated form of intellectual gameplay, which posits the curator in a position sometimes parallel to that of conceptual artist. The challenge is to continually negotiate a balance between the desire for critical and creative authorship, the needs of artists as a constituency, and the struggle to develop new avenues and audiences.