TYPES OF CURATORIAL STRATEGIES IN CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ART: AUTONOMY, MEDIATION, CO-AUTHORSHIP
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/facs-2025-1-40Keywords:
curator, contemporary art, fine arts, curatorial strategies, Venice Biennale, DocumentaAbstract
The purpose of the article is to study the typology of curatorial strategies in contemporary Western art. The author considers the main role orientations of an art curator, in particular: autonomy, mediation and co-authorship. The research methodology is based on the method of comparative analysis, which was used to study key phenomena in the formation and development of curatorial strategies. The method of typology and historical-chronological analysis was of great importance. Scientific novelty. The study defines and substantiates the typology of curatorial practices; three main directions are identified in which the functions and roles of curatorship developed during the second half of the 20th – early 21st centuries. Conclusions. The curatorial strategy of autonomy is characterized by the fulfillment of an independent artistic role and is a reflection of the function of authorial individualization. In Western European and American art, the autonomous status of the curator is a tool for combining works of art and audiences into a common model of an exhibition, project or event. The curatorial strategy of mediation is the most widespread in the practices of the first half of the 20th century, especially in the field of museum curatorship. During the second half of the 20th – early 21st centuries. the managerial functions of the art mediator acquired a more pronounced substantive component aimed at attracting new audiences and forming new spaces. The function of establishing an artistic hierarchy gained significant importance. The curatorial strategy of co-authorship arises in the wake of the so-called curatorial turn of the 1960s. The opportunity to speak on behalf of the artist forms a new role for the artist-curator, who from now on owns a personal “territory” of artistic production.
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