Curatopia: Museums and the Future of Curatorship - Paperback

by Philipp Schorch (Editor), Conal McCarthy (Editor)

Curatopia explores how curating globally is being (re)conceptualised through engagement with indigenous people in the Pacific and collections and exhibitions in Euro-American institutions.

Front Jacket

'This provocative and timely volume provides a series of critical reflections on the future of curatorial practice. It maps out new futures for museums and collections, acknowledging that these cross-cultural institutions can only be made relevant by engaging them collaboratively and dialogically.' Rodney Harrison, Professor of Heritage Studies, University College London What is the future of curatorship? Is there a vision for an ideal model, a 'curatopia', whether in the form of a utopia or dystopia? Or is there a plurality of approaches, amounting to a curatorial heterotopia? Addressing these questions through 'the figure of the curator', this volume provides an insightful perspective on the current state of curatorship. It reviews the different models operating in various museums, galleries and cultural organisations around the world and discusses emerging concerns, challenges and opportunities. At the core of the book is an exploration of the ways in which the mutual, asymmetrical relations underpinning global, scientific entanglements of the past can be transformed into more reciprocal, symmetrical forms of cross-cultural curatorship in the present. As the contributors argue, this is the most effective way for curatorial practice to remain meaningful. International in scope, the volume covers three broad regions: Europe, North America and the Pacific. The contributors, leading and emerging scholars and practitioners in their respective fields, have all worked in and with universities and museums, meaning that they are ideally positioned to enrich the dialogue between academia and the professional museum world.

Back Jacket

'This provocative and timely volume provides a series of critical reflections on the future of curatorial practice. It maps out new futures for museums and collections, acknowledging that these cross-cultural institutions can only be made relevant by engaging them collaboratively and dialogically.'
Rodney Harrison, Professor of Heritage Studies, University College London

What is the future of curatorship? Is there a vision for an ideal model, a 'curatopia', whether in the form of a utopia or dystopia? Or is there a plurality of approaches, amounting to a curatorial heterotopia?

Addressing these questions through 'the figure of the curator', this volume provides an insightful perspective on the current state of curatorship. It reviews the different models operating in various museums, galleries and cultural organisations around the world and discusses emerging concerns, challenges and opportunities. At the core of the book is an exploration of the ways in which the mutual, asymmetrical relations underpinning global, scientific entanglements of the past can be transformed into more reciprocal, symmetrical forms of cross-cultural curatorship in the present. As the contributors argue, this is the most effective way for curatorial practice to remain meaningful.

International in scope, the volume covers three broad regions: Europe, North America and the Pacific. The contributors, leading and emerging scholars and practitioners in their respective fields, have all worked in and with universities and museums, meaning that they are ideally positioned to enrich the dialogue between academia and the professional museum world.

Author Biography

Philipp Schorch is Professor of Museum Anthropology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany
Conal McCarthy is Professor and Director of the Museum and Heritage Studies Programme at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand