We’ve curated this specially for you …

Everyone is a curator these days. It’s a common complaint of many curators - including me - that the word is both mis- and over-used, employed largely to mean simply selecting anything from a playlist to a menu. Particular ire is often directed to ‘The Curator’ Pork Puffs when spotted in supermarkets, but this at least is a play on words.

Spending lots of my time over recent months feeding a small baby has been a bonus in giving me time to listen to podcasts and audiobooks. I’ve made my way through a lot of detective novels. But I’ve also tried to keep my hand in by listening to podcasts on art and collecting, and I’ve been struck by various discussions about the nature of curating.

The Art Newspaper runs a podcast called ‘A Brush with …’ from which I’ve enjoyed learning more about a range of artists. In his interview, Jeremy Deller discussed the idea of curators versus simply ‘selectors’ and suggested that for him curators start with a plan, where selectors don’t. I like this differentiation based on a sense of intention.

I am a big fan of the Inigo House (many hours spent lusting after houses I will never afford) so have also taken the opportunity to start listening to their ‘Homing in’ podcast. I particularly enjoyed a discussion with curator and writer Glenn Adamson, which considered the word curating. Adamson introduced the well-known history of the word ‘curator’ as founded in the Latin for ‘to care’ (curare) and argued that this has too readily come to be conceived of as specialists dispensing knowledge. Instead putting objects authentically in a space for visitors is the essence of care.

For me, a key point that I often make in careers talks is that I have always seen curating as being rooted in collections. It is knowledge, care and sharing of those out of which the exhibitions, publications, social media posts, talks etc spring, which are popularly more linked to the idea of ‘curating’.

Ultimately, I’ve come to realise that the spread of ‘curating’ is an opportunity to advocate for our roles and our collections, building on the ideas and engagement that the word has already created. Glenn Adamson talked compellingly about how we ‘hold the hands of objects’ for the next generation. Indeed, we are holding the hand and nurturing the very idea of curating for the future. That speaks to me as a new mum.

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Back in 2015 I reviewed a book that considered some of these ideas for the Museums Journal: ‘Curationism: How Curating took over the Art World and Everything Else’ by David Balzer.