Dimensions of Curation : Considering Competing Values for Intentional Exhibition Practices

This book present a model to help you to make sense of exhibitions your museum has curated. Whether implicit or intentional, decisions made about interpretive focus, curatorial power, and curatorial intent indelibly shape the resulting exhibition and determine who will be best served or disenfranchised by it

Exhibition making requires great effort and resources. Are your exhibitions attracting audiences and drawing them back to your museum? The Dimensions of Curation Competing Values Exhibition Model uses three axes to help you to make sense of exhibitions your museum has curated and think intentionally about future curatorial decisions. Whether implicit or intentional, decisions made about interpretive focus, curatorial power, and curatorial intent indelibly shape the resulting exhibition and determine who will be best served or disenfranchised by it. This book:Introduces competing values and organizational models that address them.Explains the three axes comprising the model and the eight types of exhibitions that result from various combinations of positions on the axes.Looks in depth at case studies of the eight different exhibition types.Provides candid observations about changing curatorial practices.Offers tools to help museums implement the model. Two sections of the book feature practice-based examples from museums in the US and internationally. The third section of the book concentrates on practical tools and considerations for the future of exhibition curation.