Description
Book SynopsisThe New Curator: Exhibiting Architecture and Design examines the challenges inherent in exhibiting design ideas. Traditionally, exhibitions of architecture and design have predominantly focused on displaying finished outcomes or communicating a work through representation.
In this ground-breaking new book, Fleur Watson unveils the emergence of the new curator'. Instead of exhibiting finished works or artefacts, the rise of performative curation' provides a space where experimental methods for encountering design ideas are being tested. Here, the role of the curator is not that of custodian' or expert' but with the intent to create a shared space of encounter with audiences.
To illustrate this phenomenon, the book explores a diverse, international range of exhibitions. Divided into six themes, a series of project profiles are contextualized through conversations with influential curators and cultural producers such as Paola Antonelli, Kayoko Ota, Mi
Trade Review
“At a time of unprecedented interest in design and architecture, experimenting with new approaches to curation is more important than ever. In this timely and incisive book, Fleur Watson deftly maps the terrain while enabling design and architecture curators from all over the world to describe their practices in their own words.”
Alice Rawsthorn, author of Design as an Attitude
“If the traditional curator squirrels away and the acknowledged curator beavers away, well, Fleur Watson is a veritable sniffer dog who knows just when, where and how to pounce. The book is cosmopolitan and fearless in amassing both evidence and anecdote to suggest that curating is a creative as well as a coercive activity. In particular her sensitivity to place, context and appropriate action is fascinating.”
Sir Peter Cook, Architect, CRAB Studio, co-founder of Archigram
Table of ContentsForeword: Deyan Sudjic Introduction: Fleur Watson 1. Design as Exhibit: (Curator as Space-maker) 2. The Prosthetic: (Curator as Interloper) 3. The Mediator of Process / Research: (Curator as Translator) 4. The Hybrid to the Digital: (Curator as Speculator) 5. The Advocate/Activist: (Curator as Agent) 6. The Event as Performance: (Curator as Dramaturge) Conclusion: The New Curator: Towards a Specialised Practice Afterword: Professor Leon van Schaik AO Selected Bibliography Credits and Acknowledgements Index
