[F4A] Museum practices

As a curator working in a contemporary art museum, my job usually entails talking to experts in other fields in order to enrich our exhibitions. The conversations are usually amicable, but this time around, I’m struggling to connect with our guest. We invited Dr. L, a psychoanalyst, to study how desire, memory, and repression shape exhibition-making. We expected the usual response that we get from other academics, but Dr. L has been uncooperative at best. Nothing seems to spark his interest. The usual objects and artworks that others are passionate about seem incredibly dull for him.

That is, until the moment I bring up the fact that we have a small collection of fertility idols from different cultures. After taking them out of their cases, we examine their strange beauty, but we can’t agree on what will be shown in the exhibit. We challenge each other: the psychoanalyst reads into the curator’s choices; the curator dissects the analyst’s methods, test ingthe limits of control, authority, and vulnerability.

After a particularly tiring discussion , I close my notebook and ask: “Before we continue, I need to know: what do you believe a curator reveals unintentionally every time they arrange a room?”

— Hey, there. Looking for a fun chat around the topics that interest me. We can follow this prompt or build another. My limits are the usual. I like active participation and enthusiastic responses. I prefer Reddit chat. Write me a message telling me about yourself