WEEK4 EXHIBITION MAKING AND CURATORIAL ETHICS
Reflections on the Dr Gabrielle Barkess-Kerr Curator’s Lecture on Ethics
I learned that curatorial ethics is a changing field. Curators must balance artistic goals, institutional rules, and ethical duties. The lecture showed examples of these challenges. Olafur Eliasson’s Green Light project was criticized for using refugee labor. Ernesto Neto’s work with the Huni Kuin people risked turning Indigenous traditions into a show. The Tate Modern delayed Philip Guston’s exhibition, which raised questions about censorship and curatorial choices.
The lecture also talked about bigger problems. Many artists work for free. Some exhibitions are not accessible to everyone. Few ethnic minorities work in UK curatorial roles. Political and financial pressures also affect curators. Alistair Hudson lost his job because of a pro-Palestinian program. Nan Goldin protested against Sackler family funding. These examples show how curators deal with power and hard decisions.
The lecture introduced ideas to handle these issues. Care-based curating, from Elke Krasny and Lara Perry, focuses on responsibility in relationships. George Vasey says curators should depend on each other, not act alone. Miha Štrukelj says curators should stop and think about power differences. Jean-Paul Martinon’s Curating as Ethics questions old rules and suggests a new way that works for a global world.
Reflections on Essential Reading
1. Core Arguments
Maura Reilly (Curatorial Activism)
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Ethics as Action: Reilly frames curating as a tool for activism, challenging systemic exclusion (gender, race, sexuality) through exhibitions that correct dominant art historical narratives.
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Data-Driven Accountability: Uses statistics (e.g., gender representation in exhibitions) to expose inequities, advocating for institutional transparency (e.g., Guerrilla Girls’ interventions).
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Institutional Critique + Collaboration: Pushes for reform within mainstream museums (e.g., Tate Modern’s gender-balanced rehangs) while supporting alternative spaces (e.g., Studio Museum in Harlem).
Jean-Paul Martinon (Curating As Ethics)
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Philosophical Ethics: Reinterprets curating through Heidegger’s “fourfold” (das Geviert), positioning it as “midwifery”—birthing ethical practice in a decentralized, post-institutional landscape.
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Beyond Binary Ethics: Rejects prescriptive moral codes, emphasizing “excess of thought” to disrupt the hegemony of God/capital. Curating becomes an “ordered clutter” that mirrors life’s contradictions.
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Curating as Event: Defines exhibitions as spatiotemporal encounters where mortals (finitude) and gods (excess) collide, demanding ethical improvisation rather than rigid frameworks.
2. Professional Contexts & Frameworks
Reilly
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Background: Art historian and curator, grounded in feminist and postcolonial theory.
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Context: Responds to #MeToo, BLM, and art market inequities (e.g., MoMA’s 1984 male-dominated survey).
Martinon
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Background: Philosopher/theorist engaging Heidegger, Nancy, and digital culture.
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Context: Critiques “content curation” (social media algorithms) and the loss of institutional anchors, proposing ethics as a “sentry” against neoliberal homogenization.
3. Commonalities & Divergences
Shared Ground
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Anti-Hegemonic: Both challenge white male dominance in art, though Reilly targets systemic bias, while Martinon deconstructs its metaphysical roots.
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Ethics as Praxis: Reilly’s “curatorial correctives” and Martinon’s “midwifery” both demand active intervention over passive reflection.
Key Differences
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Method: Reilly employs empirical data; Martinon deploys ontological concepts (e.g., finitude, the fourfold).
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Audience: Reilly addresses practitioners/activists; Martinon speaks to philosophers and interdisciplinary scholars.
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Institutional Stance: Reilly works within systems to reform them; Martinon questions institutional legitimacy itself.
References
Martinon, Jean-Paul. Curating as Ethics. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, 2020.
Reilly, Maura. Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating. London: Thames & Hudson, 2018.
“Week 4 Curatorial Ethics Lecture.” Accessed February 8, 2025. https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Week+4+Curatorial+Ethics+Lecture/1_b4ahn1wg.
(https://arterritory.com/en/visual_arts/articles/19426-an_uncomfortable_green_light/)
