Curatorial theory as practice: A critical analysis of curatorial anthologies, symposia and case-study writing

This thesis aims to interrogate the effects that the main formats of curatorial theory have had on curating as a field. The context where my research sits is curating’s shift towards non-exhibitionary, collective forms of practice and the abandonment of authorial curating in favour of a more self-effacing, less hierarchical type of practitioner. The thesis explains how curating’s main formats of reflection (the anthology, the self-reported case study and the symposium) behave; and how they do so, through their enactment and circulation, in ways that might be at odds with certain strands of curating that have avowed a desire for horizontality. Because it has been those strands of curatorial practice that have also championed the production of theory as an expanded form of curating, my research’s aim has been to demystify the assumption that these formats, curating’s rhetorical production, are innocent or less hierarchical for being non-exhibitionary—or, more broadly, for being “discursive”, to use curating’s prevalent understanding of discursive practices as those where speech acts occupy a central role. While I show that these formats are not unproblematic, it has also been my intention to explain how they might have other repercussions that are not necessarily negative. These formats, as I elaborate in the conclusions, hold the field together, transform curatorial thinking into a body of knowable objects and generate a shared consciousness among practitioners. My critique draws on Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and Louis Althousser in order to operate with key concepts such as discourse, performativity and ideology, respectively, as well as on various scholars that have contributed to literary theory (Terry Eagleton, Stanley Fish, Mary Louise Pratt) and performance studies (Peggy Phelan and Philip Auslander) to further nuance my understanding of the different formats I have analysed. Key practitioners whose contributions to curatorial theory I have unpacked are Paul O’Neill, Beatrice von Bismarck, Irit Rogoff and Mick Wilson, among others. The introduction sets the scene and outlines the structure of the thesis as a programme of analysis. It also includes a breakdown of the methodology, positionality, scope and limitations of the thesis. The first chapter focuses on anthologies of curatorial theory and their relationship to ideas of programming and readership. The second chapter unpacks self-reported case studies as a primary writing strategy in curatorial thinking. The third chapter traces the various places where discursivity and rhetorical production appear vis-a-vis non-representation and community instantiation in the evolution of curatorial thinking. The fourth and last chapter interrogates the role of the live audience in the production of curatorial thinking

Architecture as a frail, literary object: Neurasthenia and the works of Geoffrey Scott and Bernard Berenson

This book considers the motives, ambitions, and malaprops of writing archi- tectural history during the early-1900s – a moment that coincided with the emergence of modernity. In reference to a series of eccentric Anglo-American cultural figures, it considers the relationships between architecture, human per- ception, disease, and frailty to provide original ideas regarding the writing of architectural history and the literary construction of architecture. Architecture is not typically associated with frailty. Indeed, one of the founding principles of architecture is that it should aspire to be stable, resilient, and indefatigable. In addition, architecture is also not typically thought of in terms of its literariness. Tracing this contradictoriness, this book considers architecture as a frail, literary object by examining the eccentric architectural criticism of Geoffrey Scott, author of The Architecture of Humanism (1914), together with the opportunistic connoisseurship of Bernard Berenson, the leading authority on the attribution of Italian Renaissance painting. Through a reading of their works, it interprets architecture as both “frail,” when viewed through the diffracted lens of nervous illness, and a form of “writing,” in which architecture assumes concrete form through literary description. This book will be of interest to academics, students, and researchers in architecture and architectural history

Designing conditions for ecological citizen(s): Design cases that enable(d) others

Ecological Citizenship is a means for anyone to enable place-based transition(s) to more sustainable and preferable futures. In isolation, Design cannot, and will not, solve climate challenges. Design (as a practice) does, however, offer opportunities to; leverage economies, unite communities and/or cross-disciplinary propositions, present preferable futures, provide strategic leverage points or interventions and most importantly… create conditions for citizens and/or civic organisations to enact sustainable changes. In contemporary times, there is a constant tension between ‘designing’ or ‘creating solutions’ as opposed to honing the skills that catalyse or uplift others. ‘Design Futures’ can play a role in this, as a powerful pillar of the ‘not yet’, but also by presenting tangible possibilities for others to comprehend and contribute to – more specifically “Preferable Futures” ie. those that we would choose, and also positively engage with, rather than, eg. speculative ‘science-fiction’ (Voros, J., 2008). Designing the Conditions for Ecological Citizens presents a series of cases to; borrow from, expand on, or critique. Authors are humble and see this as a set of learnings/methods to build-on, crossing design practices and theory. Furthermore, these strategic perspectives unpack ‘where’ to intervene and ‘what’ leverage points to support. These are not easy ways to ‘design’, but open opportunities beyond traditional capitalist models seeking profit over planet. Notably Ezio Manzini comments on the importance of “designing the conditions”, as we are in a new age of materiality including; communities, policy, social innovations, place-based scenarios, regeneration and the realms of the ‘not yet’ that Design Futures offers (2020; Fry, 2009). This particular work has a UK-specific focus, due to its UKRI funding remit but delivers parallel lessons worthy of scale, cascade or scaffolding. We do not know the readers' culture, origins, processes or situations (nor assume to do so) but we believe there is fertile soil within this design space that can be appropriated. Ecological Citizen(s) | Ecological Citizen(s) (EC), is an approach (and network) to create agency and foster sustainable actions within contemporary times (Phillips, et al., 2023). Ecological Citizenship is a design-led approach intent on catalysing/inspiring/invoking a ‘citizen relationship’ with our natural world. We focus on citizenship as a practice ie. something that is “claimed, enacted and performed” (Arruda, et.al., 2020). It concerns the agency to mutually benefit others and the planet through sustainable means. The definition of Ecological Citizenship is “accessible activities and skills which establish sustainable practice(s) and/or address ecological inequalities. Unsustainable practices (and consequences) are not constrained to individual countries, single industries, or discrete societies” (Phillips, et al., 2025). Examples are often altruistic in approach and execution, but are financially viable, often scalable, presenting citizen(s) with sustainable alternatives, choices and autonomy. EC values build conditions for others and the planet, intent on creating a digitally sustainable society. Authors foreground that sustainable practices are the duty of brands and corporations, but are often differed solely to the general population. For many of this population, volunteering or ‘altruistic acts’ are out of reach due to their financial circumstances. Authors also emphasise that this approach is not a silver bullet, that not everything has to be scaleable, that some propositions work just in one setting, and that this is completely acceptable. We should not need to wait for top-down interventions and can instead look at more distributed means, nor should we replace basic rights that municipalities should create. We have long become disconnected from our natural worlds and our efforts must be to; preserve, cultivate, regenerate and protect them. Designer as Social Entrepreneur | The Design Council (UK) identified the developing roles in designers; as Designer and Maker, Systems Thinker, Leader & Storyteller, Connector and Convener (2021). The role that slips through the frame is the designer as Social Entrepreneur ie. someone who establishes an enterprise with the aim of solving social problems or effecting social change. Ecological Citizen(s) must work “with” people and not design “for” them. The role of the designer as Social Entrepreneur builds on a cross-disciplinary space that nurtures transition over time (but not as a bolt-on), often by leading the place-based / culture-based actions of ourselves. Designers can be ‘catalysts’, creating the conditions for ecological citizenship, sustainable design, and also social-or research-design-led entrepreneurs. Noted father of ‘transition towns’, Rob Hopkins, leverages Design Futures through ‘What if?’ provocations, as they “help us to unlock the imagination. The question simply begins to open the door, creating a crack through which we might push and rush to the other side. It is an invitation” (Hopkins, 2019). Hopkins does not speak of lone discipline design practices identifying ‘product, digital and service design’ and being connected through the materiality of ‘social entrepreneurship’, ie. uplifting the communities and society around us. It has also long been contested how to initiate these activities – the Authors believe it is cultural/contextual and can start with; funding, collaboration(s), or some other… but it must start with; the alignment of mutual benefits, the intention of more sustainable worlds, be non-exploitative and ‘designing for exit’ before the work has begun. Designer as Chef Designers can create conditions of change, from stock materials, menus to working with what grows within our surrounding natural environment. These elements shape the scales of things we make… their intent is to nurture people. And he came to me one day and he asked me, he said, “Thomas, do you know why cooks cook?” And I’m like okay, I’m trying to think. He said, “We cook to nurture people.” I know people call me a chef, but our trade is cooking… You’re nurturing yourself. You’re nurturing the team you’re cooking for. You’re gonna be nurturing our guests. We’re even nurturing our farmers, our fishermen, our foragers, our gardeners, who are bringing us all these wonderful ingredients (Storer, C., et al., 2022). Design Futures offers the space for propositions of the ‘not yet’. Authors see a parallel practice with the role of a ‘chef’, in seeking to work with local materials, learn about produce, create speciality dishes, learn novel techniques and always be searching for new (sustainable) flavours. Chefs rely on teams with varied expertise, all culminating in a parallel objective. Chefs might even be courageous and publish their recipes for others to build-off or prepare, akin to Enzo Mari’s Autoprogettazione (1974). This bravery to navigate conventional systems and Intellectual Property gives propositions a life of their own, outside of the designer’s (or researcher’s) control. Finally, chefs align with Meadow’s intervention points (2015) as they are constantly looking for new places, tools, and perspectives through which to intervene and have impact. Examples (included in the chapter) overarch; education schemes in UK prisons, novel mental health/social venues, communal garden creation (in respite care), new businesses, approaches to research and contemporary examples from the territory. This embodies the perfect mix of; leveraging social entrepreneurship, citizen(s) and treating new opportunities with a ‘materiality’, to create conditions for Ecological Citizen(s). In summary, authors cover; What is Ecological Citizenship?, Designer as Social Entrepreneur, Design Futures, Designer as Chef, and territory coalescence. We unpack how to look for, collect and make use of signals as a material in Design Futures, testing and trying combinations that nurture the abductive reasoning process. Share project examples, strategic insights and methods for their conception, sustainment and deployment. We openly navigate how we ‘can’ design instances, conditions and perspectives enabling citizen(s) to build proposals

Code ecologies: Integrating cultural legitimacy analysis in sustainability transitions

A persistent challenge in sustainability transitions is the uneven uptake of interventions such as renewable energy projects, conservation measures and rewilding initiatives. These often encounter resistance that cannot be explained by economics, technical feasibility or governance arrangements alone. Instead, they hinge on questions of legitimacy and cultural alignment. Existing frameworks, including socio-ecological systems (SES) and cultural ecosystem services (CES), recognise human dimensions yet miss the symbolic dynamics through which interventions are interpreted, accepted or contested. Symbolic codes are patterned systems of meaning expressed through aesthetics, aspirational values and common practices in a particular context, which influence whether interventions are embraced, negotiated or resisted. This paper advances the Symbolic Ecology Framework (SEF), a conceptual framework for integrating symbolic codes as cultural variables in socio-ecological analysis. This conceptual contribution: (1) establishes theoretical premises for treating symbolic codes as cultural variables in socio-ecological analysis; (2) specifies six attributes (salience, valence, resonance, legitimacy, diachronic status, place-binding) drawn from cultural analysis and environmental research for systematic code assessment; and (3) proposes their aggregation into a Symbolic Alignment Index (SAI) for legitimacy alignment diagnostic purposes. An illustrative case study application to renewable energy siting demonstrates the framework's analytical logic. Finally, the empirical research agenda required to operationalise SEF is outlined, including protocol standardisation, validation studies and cross-context calibration

Flight as method: A sick women exchange in material encounters, and the time it takes to care

Following Johanna Hedva’s ‘Sick Woman Theory’ (2016/2022), this co-authored, epistolary essay theorizes and practises the letter-like ‘flight’ as an affective, attentive writerly form and intimate historical encounter, which makes possible new readings – speculative, slow, suspended – of the careworn lives, works, and representations of two ‘sick women’ subjects: Liliana Amon (writer, actress, portrait sitter, 1892–1939) and Cookie Mueller (writer, actress, portrait sitter, 1949–1989). Through a series of flights exchanged – which evolve across non-linear, murmuring timelines; projections through the air, eye, mind; through time and space – we bring archival research on and with Amon and Mueller’s sickened lives, works, and materials into cross-historical correspondence, tracing scenes and relations across the medical and non-medical that are both care-less and full-of-care. This is proposed as a queer-feminist research method that draws its reparative effects from looking, waiting and writing. In correspondence with our subjects’ own living, making and writing of belatedness, our flights seek to register and revitalize the possibilities of temporally deviant care – beside mothering beside sickness beside writing. In our shared flights, we dare to look at them as the mother and not-quite mother; to wait with them and the pressure-points for thought that they pose; and to do so in the endurance, remembrance, belatedness and ongoing goodbyes of our writing-as-flight, which in turn revitalizes the complexities of our sick women subjects’ creativities and cares

Qui Xiaofei

Painting is one of the oldest art forms, with roots in prehistoric caves, ancient Roman villas, and Renaissance portraiture. Today, a new generation of artists experiment, innovate, and breathe new life into this enduring medium. From immersive exhibitions with massive wall paintings to quiet, minuscule compositions, Vitamin P4: New Perspectives in Painting brings together 108 artists from 44 countries, showcasing the best contemporary painters around the world. Nominated by high-profile art experts including museum directors, curators, historians, and critics, the featured artists range from established names to emerging stars. Each artist is represented by richly illustrated pages of their work, both individual paintings and exhibition views, as well as informative texts, giving readers an inclusive overview of their practice. Exciting, inspiring, and essential to followers of contemporary art, this new iteration of Phaidon’s renowned Vitamin P books offers the definitive guide to the medium of painting today

Hacking legal systems for good: Unpacking barriers and opportunities for ecological citizen(s)

We are in a time of transition that demands diverse approaches and regenerative pilot work to disrupt damaging trajectories. The reality of climate change, the need for sustainable practices, and the key social contributions from interested organisations should be normalised, or even legislatively mandated. Yet in the UK, the ongoing housing crisis leaves little room for altruistic approaches by residents, organisations, or citizens. Housing for Good (HfG) is a design-led charity concept that makes volunteering and community development more accessible. It presents citizen-led, place-based actions framed through in-progress legal terms. At the time of writing, 131,140 households in England were in temporary accommodation, a 12-percent rise from the previous year, with 169,050 children among them. At the same time, volunteering is declining, with recruitment becoming harder, and wider community engagement being constrained by time and finances. Citizens clearly have the will to act, but are limited by capacity and circumstance. Against this backdrop, the paper asks: how can legal contracts be re-designed to ‘fail-to-safe’, defaulting to security and mutual benefit when stress-tested? Three guiding questions frame our inquiry: (1) which legal instruments best support housing for the public good; (2) how can contractual clauses embed social and ecological safeguards; and (3) how can design methods translate complex legal language into accessible, enforceable agreements? We position design as a practice with a duty of care that extends beyond financial gain, one that mitigates harm, empowers others, enables accessible reform, and supports regenerative futures. This work directly aligns with the conference track offering new ways to explore; how design can foster spatial justice, care, and resilience and, secondly, the position of the Housing for Good proposition rethinks the notion of dwelling in response to crisis, migration, and systemic inequality… Work navigates systems creation and provides place-based responses for resilience. Overall the HfG proposition can be translated into different fields; opening-up territories of place-based entrepreneurship for the benefit of Ecological Citizen(s). We draw on Ecological Citizenship as a framework for rediscovery, helping communities navigate sustainable origins and forge new pathways. The Ecological Citizen(s) Network+ aims to catalyse transitions by providing autonomy and accessibility to initiate sustainable conditions. Here, legal prototyping becomes a vehicle for Ecological Citizenship, embedding rights, duties, and community benefit into housing governance. Methodologically, our work combines design workshops, legal design, and iterative prototyping. The methodology treats legislation as simultaneously speculative and practical. Our approach includes legal prototyping, stress-testing agreements against breakdown scenarios, multi-stakeholder translation workshops, and algorithmic drafting utilising legal-AI tools to ensure clarity, modularity and public accessibility. Co-design with solicitors and community practitioners, speculative mapping of legal futures, and prototyping of template contracts position designers not only as artefact-makers but as policy mediators. While our focus is UK-based due to funding, the framework is internationally relevant. Contributions include: Housing for Good’s ‘mark’ development and barriers we encountered in the legalese, on the pathway to creating repeatable legal assets. We conclude that legislative systems can be ‘hacked for good’ through open, accessible, community anchored design processes, offering designers a role in reshaping housing, law, and social justice

The contribution of design to inclusive policy making in China: An example of designing policy to improve museum inclusivity for visually impaired visitors

This PhD study investigates how design can support inclusive policymaking in China, using the development of museum policies for visually impaired visitors as a practical example. This example was selected because visually impaired individuals face notable barriers when accessing museums. As public service institutions, museums hold both a duty and an opportunity to address this exclusion through inclusive policy efforts. The research draws on both design research and policy studies, applying them to the topic of inclusive museums within the Chinese context. The aim is to understand the value and limitations of using design to enhance inclusivity in policymaking, and to assess the relevance of design-led policymaking in China. Globally, ideas such as ‘collaborative governance’ and ‘design for policy’ reflect a growing trend towards involving citizens in policymaking to better meet societal needs. However, a gap remains in the literature when this is viewed through the lens of design. In countries like China, where the population is ageing and the number of people with disabilities is the highest in the world, there is limited research on how to include people with diverse abilities—such as visual impairments—within collaborative policy processes. The development of policies to make museums more inclusive offers a timely and relevant opportunity to examine this issue. Despite some interest in innovative approaches, design has received little attention from Chinese policymakers and policy researchers. As a result, the role that design could play in promoting inclusive policymaking remains underexplored. This study uses a qualitative approach named ‘Participatory Action Research through Design’. It involves a practice-based research process structured into three phases: ‘Scoping’, ‘Designing’, and ‘Learning’. Each phase has a distinct goal, with outcomes informing the next phase of the research. The work was carried out in collaboration with a Chinese policy team involved in related policies, along with visually impaired experts and museum professionals. The process aimed to examine how design, and the role of the designer, could be applied in the Chinese context to identify policy opportunities and to promote an inclusive, collaborative method of developing policy ideas with relevant stakeholders. Findings show that while the application of design for policy in China faces some challenges, it is possible to use design to support inclusive change in policymaking. When supported by a society-centred design approach and effective leadership, design can help promote inclusivity at every stage—from raising awareness to shaping outcomes. These insights were used to create an ‘Inclusive Policy Design Framework’, which demonstrates how design can help enable more inclusive forms of collaborative governance across different contexts. This research contributes to knowledge about how design can help shape inclusive policymaking, ensuring that citizens with diverse abilities are involved meaningfully and their needs considered. It also offers a specific example of how a designer can support inclusive transformation in policy work, by creating enabling environments—even when working within challenging constraints