What is a curator?

The word ‘curator’ originates from the Latin cura, which means to care. Curators are employed to take care of collections. Some curators however don’t have collections to care for; instead, they work with artists and ideas to make exhibitions.

Curated exhibitions are held in galleries and museums, but they can also be displayed in a range of locations such as local council buildings, hospitals, universities, public spaces, retail and hospitality venues and even in disused shop fronts or residential houses.

Cura is also related to the word ‘curiosity’ and curators also have a responsibility to their curious audiences. Curators spend time researching works of art and reinterpreting these works for their audiences.

Today, curators, along with artists, are storytellers in their own right. Curators make decisions about which works of art should be displayed and how they should be seen. They also decide on the themes and ideas to be experienced by the audience.

Discover and explore

When visiting a gallery, consider how an exhibition or display of works has been curated. Make a list of the different ways in which works of art have been displayed at the gallery. What might be some of the reasons for works of art to be displayed differently? How does the display change the way you view or interpret the work? Back in the classroom, create an exhibition that considers the display techniques you have learnt during your visit to the gallery. How could you create your own frames or plinths? How might you group certain works?

Create

Create an online platform for presenting student works of art. Consider online safety and discuss with students the benefits and limitations of presenting works of art online. Students could curate their own page or theme (an online exhibition), developed from works of art created throughout the year.

Select five works of art to present as a hypothetical exhibition. You might like to curate an exhibition based on a colour, a texture, your favourite things, pattern, women, light and shadow or humour. Photograph your selections. The possibilities are endless! Can you guess which theme unites the works of art below? Hint: there is more than one potential answer!