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© Anne-Marie Ninacs, 2005. Used by permission
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Towards more ethical curatorial practices
by Anne-Marie Ninacs
Date: 16 July 2005
Event: Banff
Anne-Marie Ninacs
Anne-Marie Ninacs is curator of contemporary art and, since 2002, curator of the collection of loaned art of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. Previously, she was curator of the Musée d’art de Joliette, in addition to her responsibilities as curator, researcher and freelance editor. In this capacity, she contributed to The Art of Betty Goodwin, an exhibit presented at the Art Gallery Of Ontario in 1998. With Patrice Loubier, she was also responsible for Les commensaux, a special program at the Centre des arts actuels SKOL de Montréal (2000-2001). In addition, she organized the exhibit Alain Paiement : Le monde en chantier for La Galerie de l’UQAM, also in Montreal (2002). At the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, in addition to the exhibits Avancer dans le brouillard and Ils causent des sytèmes presented in the past year, Anne-Marie is credited with the following exhibits: Massimo Guerrera : Darboral, L'emploi du temps, Diane Borsato : Le projet Tic and Rita Letendre : Aux couleurs du jour. This April, l’Université du Québec à Montréal awarded her the Prix Reconnaissance in the field of the arts, in recognition of her deep commitment to the Quebec arts scene.
Abstract
One of the most stubborn assumptions surrounding the work of the exhibit curator - at least from the audience's standpoint - is the question of objectivity, of the authority of his/her judgement. Indeed, the role of objectivity in the presentation of art is still a key component of the museum worker's code of ethics. Yet, in the field of contemporary art, we continue to observe an increased subjectivity on the part of curators as they conceive and prepare exhibits, a trend culminating with the ultimately subjective title of "artist-curator" and the narcissism of many globe-trotting "star curators". For many curators, however, this subjectivity is a means of approaching the preparation of exhibits as a true intellectual, and even artistic, practice. This need not take place at the expense of the scientific nature of their initiatives, as curatorial work is grounded in knowledge while following intuition, in an attempt to shed light on underlying connexions between worlds that may, at first glance, appear foreign to one another. Curating thus becomes a manner of drawing a meaning from such connexions while seeking to find one's own essence, and of translating this process in words and, more importantly, in the experience of forms in space. Too often, indeed, we tend to forget that the specific language of the curator is forged in the work of art's relation to space. To define this new approach, I would suggest that we replace the traditional role of the curator, who, when putting together an exhibit, reveals what he/she already knows, with a new role: that of the curator who, from one exhibit to the next, reveals what he/she is seeking to understand.
Yet, there is a commonly accepted notion, in the art and museum world, that no curatorial gesture is purely objective. This, in turn, raises a number of questions. Now working outside of institutions in their capacity as "independents", how do curators set the parameters of this newfound subjectivity? How do they reconcile it with the authority and responsibility bestowed upon them? Still often trained on the job, how do curators choose the criteria on which to base their work ethic? And should this ethic, which stems from their professional thought processes, extend to their professional community as a whole? Is there an intellectual integrity that is specific to curators, common rules dictating not only their research, but also the presentation of works in the exhibit space and the preparation of the exhibit catalogue? How could we conceive of such conventions when the works themselves force us to constantly question - and even reinvent - conventions? These are, to me, essential questions surrounding this emerging field, questions which need to be addressed in any attempt to define the role of curator.