CURATORSHIP (VCL 665)

Prof. Dr. Muliyadi Mahamood Department of Visual Culture Faculty of Art and Design UiTM Shah Alam 03-5544 4103, 017-284 0593 muliyadi2004@yahoo.com;yadi@salam.uitm.edu.my

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course aims to introduce students with basic principles, approaches and strategies in art curatorship, as well as expose them to traditional and alternative practices in curatorship.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will also discuss curatorship in relation to artists, public spaces, museums, galleries, larger urban settings, physical and virtual spaces. At the end of the course, students should be able to understand basic principles, approaches and strategies in art curatorship.

COURSE OUTCOMES
The students should be able to: Understand basic principles and approaches in art curatorship. Understand strategies in art curatorship. Write a curatorial essay on a chosen theme for an art exhibition.

SYLLABUS CONTENT
Introduction to Art Curatorship Basic Principles of Art Curatorship Basic Approaches in Art Curatorship Strategies in Art Curatorship Art and Design Curatorship as a Creative Practice Planning and Managing an Art Exhibition Issues in Art Curatorship Writing a Curatorial Essay

 Teaching Method: Lecture and Tutorial. Evaluation: Course Work/Assignment/ Presentation : 40% Final Examination : 60% Total : 100%

References
Lord, B. and Lord, G.D., 2002. The Manual of Museum Exhibitions. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press. DAlleva, A., 2010. How to Write Art History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Lord, B. and Lord, G.D., 2002. The Manual of Museum Exhibitions. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.

DAlleva, A., 2010. How to Write Art History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

CURATORSHIP
Museum curatorship is concerned with all aspects of the development, study, preservation and interpretation of a museums collection.
(Lord, B. and Lord, G.D., 2002. The Manual of Museum Exhibitions. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, p.345).

CURATORSHIP
The curatorial role in the development of exhibitions is more specific: while it is true that all of these concerns are part of the curatorial role in exhibition development, the primary objective is focused on just one of these roles, that of interpretation (ibid).

CURATORSHIP
In the exhibition development process all of the curators other considerations are directed towards facilitating the presentation and interpretation of the collections that are to be shown in the exhibitions (ibid).

CURATOR
The Chambers Dictionary defines curator as the person who has the charge of anything: a superintendent, especially of a museum; a person appointed by law as a guardian of something.

CURATOR
The word curator comes from the Latin curare, meaning to care for, have charge for, or to cure.

CURATOR
A curator (from Latin: curare meaning care) is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution (e.g. gallery, museum, library or archive) is a content specialist responsible for an institutions collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material.

Curator
The object of a traditional curators concern necessarily involves tangible objects of some sort, whether it be inter alia artwork, collectibles, historic items or scientific collections.

Abdullah Ariff, 1948. Coconut Plantation-Dawn, water color, 38x56cm.

Mohd Hoessein Enas, 1959. Woman Pounding Paddy, Ht. 58.7cm.

Ponirin Amin, 1990. Surah Yasin, wood print and silk screen, 56x76cm.

Curator
Curator administer museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, nature centers, and historic sites. The museum director often is a curator. Curators direct the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections, including negotiating and authorizing the purchase, sale, exchange, or loan of collections.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Curator
Curators are also responsible for authenticating, evaluating, and categorizing the specimens in a collection. Curators often oversee and help conduct the institutions research projects and related educational programs. Today, an increasing part of a curators duties involves fundraising and promotion, which may include the writing and reviewing of grant proposals, journal articles, and publicity materials, as well as attendance at meetings, conventions, and civic events.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Curator
Most curators specialize in a particular field, such as botany, art, or history. Those working in large institutions may be highly specialized. A large national history museum, for example, would employ separate curators for its collections of birds, fishes, insects, and mammals.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Curator
Some curators maintain their collections, others do research, and others perform administrative tasks. In small institutions with only one or a few curators, one curator may be responsible for a number of tasks, from maintaining collections to directing the affairs of the museum.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Archivists, Curators, and Conservators

Archivists, Curators, and Conservators work for museums, governments, zoos, colleges and universities, corporations, and other institutions that require experts to preserve important records and artifacts. These workers preserve important objects and documents, including works of art, transcripts of meetings, photographs, coins and stamps, and historic objects.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Archivists and Curators

Archivists and Curators plan and oversee the arrangement, cataloguing, and exhibition of collections. They also maintain collection with technicians and conservators. They acquire and preserve important documents and other valuable items for permanent storage or display. They also describe, catalogue, and analyze, valuable objects for the benefit of researchers and the public.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Archivists and Curators

Archivists and Curators may coordinate educational and public outreach programs, such as tours, workshops, lectures, and classes, and may work with the boards of institutions to administer plans and policies. They also may research topics or items relevant to their collections.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Archivists and Curators

Although some duties of Archivists and Curators are similar, the types of items they deal with differ: archivists mainly handle records and documents that are retained because their importance and potential value, while curators usually handle objects with cultural, biological, or historical significance, such as sculptures, textiles, and paintings.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Conservators
Conservators manage, care for, preserve, treat, and document works of art, artifacts, and specimens-work that may require substantial historical, scientific, and archaeological research. They use x rays, chemical testing, microscopes, special lights, and other laboratory equipment and techniques to examine objects and determine their condition and the appropriate method for preserving them.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Conservators
Conservators document their findings and treat items to minimize their deterioration or to restore them to their original state. Conservators usually specialize in a particular material or group of objects, such as documents and books, paintings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, or architectural material. (United States Department of Labor,
Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Conservators
In addition to their conservation work, conservators participate in outreach programs, research topics in their area of specialty, and write articles for scholarly journals. They may be employed by museums or work on a freelance basis.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

CURATOR
IN CONTEMPORATY ART, THE TITLE CURATOR IS GIVEN TO A PERSON WHO SELECTS AND OFTEN INTERPRETS WORKS OF ART. IN ADDITION TO SELECTING WORKS, THE CURATOR OFTEN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WRITING LABELS, CATALOG ESSAYS, AND OTHER SUPPORTING CONTENT FOR THE EXHIBITION.

CURATOR
Such curators may be permanent staff members, be guest curators from an affiliated organization or university, or be freelance curators working on a consultant basis.

Hashim Hassan, Ancaman (1988).

Pameran Solo Hashim Hassan, Titian Nusantara, Galeri NST, 2012.

Guest Curators
Syed Ahmad Jamal T.K. Sabapathy Redza Piyadasa Zakaria Ali Dzul Haimi Md Zain Muliyadi Mahamood Zainol Abidin Ahmad Sharif

Freelance Curators
Nur Hanim Khairuddin (YKP) Private Galleries: Permanent, Guest and Freelance Curators (RA Gallery, AP Gallery, Artcase Galleries, etc).

Permanent Curators
Wairah Marzuki (BSLN/Director BSLN) Sharifah Fatimah Zubir (BSLN) Rohana Abdullah (BSVN) Badrol Hisham Mohd Tahir (Galeri Petronas/BSVN) Ratna Siti Akbari (Galeri Petronas)

CURATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Within the world of museums and galleries today, the responsibilities of curatorship fall into two main areas:

CURATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
The care and research of a specific collection: understanding the collection and keeping up to date with new developments that might alter that understanding: writing about the collection: locating the whereabouts of new material (or relate to its wider understanding): adding to the collection: preserving it for a new generation

CURATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Its display and interpretation

CURATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
In smaller organizations, a curator may have sole responsibility for the acquisition and care of objects. The curator will make decisions regarding what objects to collect, oversee their care and documentation, conduct research based on the collection, provide proper packaging or art for transport, and share that research with the public and scholarly community through exhibitions and publications.

CURATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
In a very small volunteer-based museums, such as local historical societies, a curator may be the only paid staff member.

CURATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
IN LARGER INSTITUTIONS, THE CURATORS FUNCTION IS AS A SUBJECT SPECIALIST, WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT HE OR SHE WILL CONDUCT ORIGINAL RESEARCH ON OBJECTS AND GUIDE THE ORGANIZATION IN ITS COLLECTING.

CURATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
LARGER INSTITUTIONS CAN HAVE MULTIPLE CURATORS, EACH ASSIGNED TO A SPECIFIC COLLECTING AREA (e.g. CURATOR OF ANCIENT ART, CURATOR OF PRINTS AND DRAWINGS, etc) AND OFTEN OPERATING UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A HEAD CURATOR.

Education and Training

Curators generally hold a higher academic degree in their subject, such as history, history of art, archaeology, anthropology, or classics.

Education and Training

Curators are also expected to have contributed to their academic field, for example, by delivering public talks, publishing articles or presenting at specialist academic conferences.

Education and Training

It is important that curators have knowledge of the current collecting market for their area of expertise, and are aware of current ethical practices and laws that may impact their organizations collecting.

Education and Training

Curatorial positions often require knowledge in a number of fields. For historic and artistic conservation, courses in chemistry, physics, and art are desirable. Like archivists, curators need computer skills and the ability to work with electronic databases. Many curators are responsible for posting information on the internet, so they also need to be familiar with digital imaging, scanning technology, and copyright law.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

Curators
Curators must be flexible because of their wide variety of duties, including the design and presentation of exhibits. In small museums, curators need manual dexterity to build exhibits or restore objects. Leadership ability and business skills are important for museum directors, while marketing skills are valuable in increasing museum attendance and fundraising.
(United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
Museums are important because they serve to remind us of who we are and what our place is in the world
(Davis, 2007: 53 in Carnegie, E. Museums in Society or Society as a Museum?, 2010: 231).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
Secara umum, muzium adalah sebuah institusi yang mengumpul, mendokumentasi, memulihara, memperaga serta mentafsir bukti-bukti material dan informasi berkaitannya untuk faedah awam (American Association of Museum, 1984 dalam
Muliyadi Mahamood, 2008: 71).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
Koleksi dan bahan peragaan dapat dimanfaatkan oleh pengunjung muzium atau galeri dengan mudah sebagai suatu cara menyalurkan pendidikan menerusi pengalaman yang ditimba mereka daripada proses pengamatan dan penghayatan
(Smith, 1989 dalam Muliyadi Mahamood, 2008: 71).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
Muzium dan peragaannya perlu digunakan oleh masyarakat. Kiranya peranan pendidikan tidak ditekankan, muzium dan galeri akan menjadi institusi yang tidak berfaedah. Bukan sahaja dipulihara, karya-karya seni seharusnya dikaji dan diperkatakan
(Smith, 1989 dalam Muliyadi Mahamood, 2008: 71).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
Muzium memainkan peranannya dengan melibatkan masyarakat dalam aktivitiaktiviti yang berorientasikan pendidikan. Jelasnya, muzium dan galeri perlu didekatkan kepada masyarakat dan begitulah sebaliknya (Marcouse, 1973; Smith, 1989;
Greenhaigh, 1989; Zain Azraai, 1990; American Association of Museums, 1992; The Museum and Gallerie Commission Great Britain, 1993; Muliyadi, 1993; Greenhill, 1994).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
Muzium mestilah mudah dan boleh dikunjungi, difahami, dihayati dan disenangi semua. Proses integrasi muzium dengan kehidupan seharian perlu dilakukan serta diperluaskan menerusi aktiviti-aktiviti kebudayaan dan pendidikan. Justeru, muzium dan galeri seni menjadi suatu ruang atau media pendidikan yang bersifat formal dan informal
(Marcouse, 1973 dalam Muliyadi Mahamood, 2008: 72).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
Muzium dan galeri perlulah mesra pengguna, bukan sebagai suatu istana yang terpisah daripada masyarakat. Muzium dan galeri harus menjadi tempat yang disenangi umum
(Zain Azraai, 1990 dalam Muliyadi Mahamood, 2008: 72).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
MUSEUMS TODAY OFTEN EXIST IN MORE THAN ONE FORM THE REAL AND THE VIRTUAL
(Beall-Fofana, B.A., 2007).

MUSEUM/GALLERY
The real form refers to the physical building, its location, and the objects contained within. But understanding the role and contribution of the virtual museum-websites sponsored by the museum-is also useful. Both types of museums are important resources, and each provide specific opportunities to experience and study art.
(Beall-Fofana, B.A., 2007).

 Thank you.

EXHIBITIONS