Curating Art Now: Changed Worlds, Uncertain Futures

Curating Art Now is a timely reflection on the practice of curating and the role of the art curator during a period of rapid change. Curating has a pivotal position in the art world: it is embedded in the identity and expertise of the museum and plays an ever-increasing role in the commercial art sector too. Current curatorial practice encompasses a wide range of activities, from the care of collections in museums to the presentation of large-scale contemporary biennials, and from collaboration with artists to presentations of work on digital platforms. Curating has grown substantially in the last decades, and in the early 2020s is undergoing a significant period of transition as it grapples with some fundamental questions. How diverse and inclusive is curating as a profession, and how does that inform the art and artists who come to prominence? How possible is it to conduct exploratory and inclusive curatorial work in the challenging economic climate of the early 2020s? What is the extent of a curator's autonomy within the various institutions and structures in which they work, and what power dynamics are at work between artists and curators? Finally, how might digital art and exhibition-making give way to hybrid forms of practice, and even challenge the face of traditional curating? Lilian Cameron's lively review addresses all of these issues, and considers the future landscape of curating in an uncertain world.