How can narrative itself continue to operate in contemporary curation and shape our understanding of power, gender, and viewing style?

In this week’s group discussion, we made clear the curatorial position of Ji jü Collective. Ji jü comes from “hermit crab,” which symbolizes the state of constantly changing shelter. This “non-belonging” curatorial condition keeps us in different cultures, systems, and public contexts, and also forces us to constantly reflect on our curatorial position and implied prejudice.

Combined with this week’s lecture, I began to think further: the core of curation is not just to choose works, but to choose how to construct narrative structure. The exhibition does not simply present facts or opinions but shapes the way the audience understands the world through space, text, and viewing logic.

Myth is usually regarded as a cultural heritage belonging to the past, but in the context of curation, it is more like a powerful narrative structure that is constantly repeated, rewritten, and activated. Many mythical characters and plots still profoundly affect our imagination of gender, morality, and violence. A concrete and practical example is the mythical image of Medusa.

In the traditional narrative, Medusa is often described as a “monster,” and her gaze is regarded as a dangerous force that needs to be eliminated. However, when this myth is relocated in the contemporary context, the image of Medusa can reflect the deep problems about gaze, gender power, and punishment mechanism. She is not a natural monster, but in the process of being stared at, judged, and mythologized, she is gradually shaped as a threat to order. Her “looking back” constitutes a reversal of the one-way power gaze to some extent. This turn also responded to my previous curatorial thinking path. As I discussed in the last few weeks, curation can be understood as a process of “translation” and “activation.” Myth is not a historical text that needs to be faithfully reproduced but a curatorial tool that can be retranslated into contemporary issues.

At the same time, this method is also closely related to curatorial ethics. In public exhibition space, mythical narration is not neutral cultural material but may continuously influence the cognitive structure of different audience groups. Curators must be aware of their potential violence and misreading risks while reactivating these narratives.