Curating Under Pressure International Perspectives on Negotiating Conflict and Upholding Integrity

List of figures

List o fplates

Notes on contributors

Introduction

Acknowledgments

1 Rethinking the curator’s remit

2 Much ado about nothing: policing of controversial art in the UK

Julia Farrington

3 Curating contemporary art in Doha, Qatar: anticipated "conversations,"

undesirable Controversies and state self-censorship

4 No names, no titles, no further explanations

5 Lady disrupted: self-censorship and the processes of feminist curating in

South Africa

Candice Allison

6 Bishan project: efforts to build a utopian community under authoritarian rule

7 Navigating Censorship: a case from Palestine

8 Truth or dare? Curatorial practice and artistic freedom of expression in

Turkey

Özge Ersoy

9 The complexity of taking curatorial risks: case studies from East Asia

10 Negotiating self-censorship in the representation of Colombian armed conflict

11 Experimental curatorship in Russia: beyond contemporary art institutions

12 From Carbon Sink to WASTE LAND: a case study in navigating controversy

Susan Moldenhauer

13 The bigger picture: rethinking curatorial approaches to photographs of

childhood

14 Smart tactics: towards an adaptive curatorial practice

Svetlana Mintcheva

Biography

Janet Marstine is Honorary Associate Professor (retired) at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, UK. She writes and consults on diverse aspects of museum ethics with a particular interest in supporting the agency of practitioners to make informed ethical decisions. She sat on the Ethics Committee of the UK’s Museums Association from 2014 to 2019, helping to move their approach from one of policing to empowering.

Svetlana Mintcheva is the director of programs at the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), an alliance of US national non-profit organizations. She is the founding director of NCAC’s Arts Advocacy Program, a 20-year-old unique national initiative devoted to the arts and free expression. Dr. Mintcheva frequently speaks and writes on emerging trends in censorship.

"I don’t think it’s possible to underestimate the book’s contribution. The issues it raises are timely, indeed urgent. Finding ways to negotiate self-censorship is imperative, especially in today’s political climate." – Alan Wallach, Ralph H. Wark Professor of Art History, The College of William and Mary, USA

"This invaluable book is destined to become a must read for curators as the profession comes to terms with the challenges posed by social media which is being used to amplify pressure on galleries and museums to respond to certain community concerns. How to balance an appropriate response to the rise in activism while adhering to vital principles of free speech has become a key question for curators. This book bravely confronts the unpalatable truth of self-censorship and offers practical guidance." – Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney

"An important collection that warns of the pressures facing artists and curators worldwide to self-censor and of the treacherous political water they have to negotiate. A book that is both worrying and hopeful." – Kenan Malik, Independent Author and Broadcaster, UK

"In an age of protest when neutrality is both a persistent institutional desire, as well as an impossibility, how does curatorial work ethically navigate such territory? Curating Under Pressure thoughtfully takes on the conundrum of contemporary curatorial work via case studies from a diversity of geographies and ideological frameworks. It deftly maps the pitfalls as well as the masterful ways in which curatorial work can contribute to civic and social discourse at a time when art plays a crucial role in societies' calls for change. An essential read." – Laura Raicovich, Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, USA

"Curating under Pressure: International Perspectives on Negotiating Conflict and Upholding Integrity is a timely and relevant book that addresses issues of censorship and artistic expression through the experiences of curators from around the world." - Martha Tanner