Online Meeting with Frances – Clarifying and Re-focusing
Online Meeting with Frances – Clarifying and Re-focusing
On April 16th, our group had a really helpful online session with Frances. As deadlines are approaching, this meeting gave us a valuable opportunity to ask questions and clarify uncertainties about both our individual curatorial proposals and the final reflective text.
Frances began by reminding us of the importance of analytical thinking in our critical reflection. It’s not just about summarising what we’ve done, but about positioning our work in relation to curatorial theory and broader cultural discourse. This helped me realize I need to push my writing further—not just describing my exhibition concept, but also analysing what it means to curate such a project in the age of AI and how it connects to or departs from existing curatorial models.
We also discussed the tone and format of the final PDF proposal. Frances emphasised that this document should be practical and professional, as if it were being submitted to a gallery director—not written for a tutor. That was a helpful shift in mindset for me. It reminded me to think more about the audience of my proposal and how to communicate my ideas clearly and convincingly, not academically.
Another key takeaway was how important it is to integrate the curatorial text smoothly—combining theme, artist selection, and conceptual framing—rather than breaking them into separate “academic” categories. This aligns with what we’ve seen in many professional exhibition pamphlets and helped me reimagine how to write the intro text for my own project.
Personally, I found the Q&A part of the session most useful. Frances was incredibly patient in addressing our concerns—especially around citation, structure, and whether we were “doing too much.” She reassured us that focus and clarity are more important than scale or complexity. That gave me the confidence to refine my project further and feel less overwhelmed by trying to include too many components.
In the end, the session felt like a much-needed anchor. It reminded me that this course is not just about finishing assignments, but about thinking critically, creatively, and professionally as an emerging curator. Thanks again to Frances for her support and clarity!
