Zekun’s blog chronicles the development of a continuous and thought-provoking curatorial project. She takes a cartoon character as her starting point and expands it to encompass traditional Chinese religious Taoist thought. Through the yin and yang diagram, she explores the duality of human identity, resulting in a captivating curatorial concept.
In her blog, Zekun recounts the challenges she faced in preparing the project, such as finding the right balance between the exhibits showcasing the two identity relationships in the exhibition. As the project progressed, she discovered better works and methods of interpreting the concept of “dual identity,” moving beyond a simplistic representation using the yin and yang diagram. This process not only entailed reflection but also deepened her understanding of the subject matter. For instance, her final curatorial work, Spring Tide, is a film that explores the emotional turmoil of a traditional Chinese family’s matriarch juggling multiple identities, as both a mother and a daughter. Zekun’s blog explains the rationale behind her selection and reflections, serving as a source of inspiration for my own curation.
Zekun’s blog also documents her curatorial learning process, which helped me to discover many details that I had missed in the classroom. For example, her focus on “The Cursed Share,” an exhibition with colonial and anti-colonial themes, enlightened me to details that I had overlooked in the “Currency of Destiny” exhibition. Each piece in the exhibition offers an explanation of the character, posing the question, “What is my name? What is my name now? What have I done? What am I doing now?” These four phrases embody the changing identities before and after colonization. Zekun’s recordings provided me with diverse perspectives, prompting me to revisit and review my learning. Moreover, she contributed her unique ideas on the layout of the venue and exhibits, establishing a connection between what she learned about the exhibition space and her own curation. Her added perspective made for great classroom documentation and reflection.
Nevertehless, I believe that there are some aspects of Zekun’s blog that could benefit from further development.
Firstly, while Zekun’s blog offers a comprehensive documentation of her curatorial project, it appears to lack a thorough examination of relevant scholarly literature. For example, in her 500-800 word curatorial essay, she introduces the theme of “dual identity” and the works selected for the exhibition. However, she does not provide any scholarly sources to substantiate her choice of theme or to explore the research value of the concept. It would be useful for Zekun to identify existing research on the topic of dual identity and critically engage with this literature to generate deeper insights into the theme.
Secondly, Zekun’s curatorial perspective is intriguing, but it could benefit from a more diversity analysis of the subject matter. Research shows that the concept of dual identity is often associated with the topic of immigration, where the complex interplay between social identities creates a diverse range of identities or dual identities (Verkuyten et al., 2019). In contrast, Zekun’s focus on “dual identity” emphasizes social attributes rather than immigration status. To provide a more nuanced and insightful perspective on this topic, Zekun could expand her analysis beyond social attributes and consider alternative interpretations of dual identity.
Finally, Zekun’s choice of “Spring Tide” as one of the curatorial works is intriguing, but it raises questions about the copyright of the film and the reasoning behind its selection. A deeper analysis of the reasons for selecting this specific work would be helpful to make the curatorial concept more convincing and academically rigorous.
In conclusion , Zekun’s blog provides a valuable account of the progress of her curatorial project, highlighting the evolution of her ideas and reflections on the process. I also appreciate the interactive aspect of the exhibition that Zekun has planned, and I look forward to participating in this event. However, to enhance the academic value of the curatorial concept. I suggest that Zekun engage more critically with the scholarly literature, expand her analysis beyond social attributes, and provide a more detailed rationale for the selection of specific works of art.
Reference:
1.Verkuyten, M., Maliepaard, M., & Martinovic, B. (2019). Dual identity: Conceptualization, measurement, and implications. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(2), 139-145.
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