Makers' Tale

Makers’ Tale was a research collaborative project between UCA and Salisbury Arts Centre in association with Salisbury Cathedral. The curatorial intention was to highlight the persistence of craft knowledge as well as innovation and experimentation within the context of modern creative practice and investigates co-operation and disciplinary crossovers. In the face of the global pandemic, the delivery of the physical exhibition was postponed, however, Makers’ Tale will be delivered in a virtual format, in May 2020, and will be part of Salisbury 2020 City on the Move digital celebrations. This move to a digital adaptation of the initial program, allowed a triple theme of movement in ideas, movement in engineering/technology and physical movement. Following the digital adaptation, the exhibition was installed at Salisbury Arts Centre in October 2021

The rise of the citizen curator : participation as curation on the web

From jazz clubs to cheese plates, the term curation has become a signifier of the growing need to organise and prioritise the seemingly endless possibilities of the digital sphere. The issue addressed here is in the associated meanings of the word curation and what it means to be a curator by examining the experience of the curatorial within a discrete context: the Irish curatorial landscape. The word curation comes from the Latin curare, to care for, and has long been associated with the professional duties of those selected as custodians for objects and knowledge deemed to be important to communities, nations, countries or even the world. However, as objects move from being purely physical to the digital, and knowledge changes from being transmitted through similarly physical media to digital formats that can be set free on the Web, what it means to curate has also changed. Curators are no longer necessarily identified as employed within museums or galleries; the word is now also applied to those who engage with and aid in the management and presentation of digital assets online. Curators have emerged in the online space much like their forerunners, bloggers or citizen journalists. We are now seeing the rise of citizen curators on the Web, which has not created these individually motivated curators, but has made their curatorial activities visible. Citizen journalists no longer need to have a printing press or publishing house to communicate with their audience; similarly, citizen curators do not need a private cabinet of curiosities or a job in a museum to allow them to curate or exhibit to an audience.The aims of this research are threefold: to examine the current terminology related to curation by those who identify as curators or engage in curation in Ireland; to define what it means to be a curator or a citizen curator within the Irish context; and to investigate the changing nature of exhibition spaces contained in the Irish context in light of the Web and digital spaces. The study will take the form of an autoethnography, exploiting my unique position within the museum and open knowledge community in Ireland to examine current understandings of curation and the phenomenon of the citizen curator. The focus will be on my work within Wikimedia Community Ireland (WCI), a branch of the Wikimedia Foundation which promotes the use of Wikipedia in Ireland in education, culture, and open knowledge. As an autoethnographer, I can act as an intermediary, part way between those working in cultural organisations and the public involved in knowledge building projects. The study will look at how those engaged in curation articulate the work they do by means of interviews and participant observation. These sources will allow for the development of a spectrum of curatorial practice.The spectrum will arise from the participants’ (both citizen curators and those working in Irish cultural institutions) own understanding and definitions of curation and what it means to curate. In placing these definitions of curation within a spectrum that takes in broader understandings of curatorial practice, the newer forms of digital curation, and a picture of how the citizen curator relates to these methods, will emerge. The disruptive effect which the digital, and in particular the concept of the Long Tail, has brought to bear upon understanding of the assembling, storing, and using of collections will be examined. It will answer many of the issues surrounding the discipline-specific definitions of curation and the curator while informing their relationship with each other. By drawing out curation into a spectrum, what unfolds is the movement of curation from a traditional and closed system of learnt practices, to one which is formed around more open and accessible conventions of curation. In identifying the citizen curator, their role in the larger curatorial debate can be acknowledged and better incorporated into the multitude of online curated projects. This hinges on the emergence of the Do It With Others ethos which pervades both online and offline creative communities, and it redefines curation from a solitary practice, to one which is demarcated by its participatory nature

Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa

In May 2012 Curate Africa - an ongoing project centered on photography and curation in Africa - was pre-launched at the University of Cape Town (UCT) within the University's Africa Month Celebrations. The project aimed- conceptually and visually - to re-imagine, re-image and re-envision Africa from within Africa and through the lenses of Africans. While this research began as an examination of Curate Africa, the project became a heuristic device through which I began exploring how UCT, on a day-to-day basis, negotiated and continues to negotiate its African identity. In this respect, this dissertation illustrates how Curate Africa and its project leaders - who are also academics within the University - problematised the study and representation of Africa through the intentions of their project, through their individual scholarly pursuits - where they attempt to reimagine the study of Africa(ns) and through the tight scholarly networks that they formed through their scholarly inclinations. Furthermore, this dissertation offers an historical account of the African Studies at UCT as well as an ethnographic account of how the developments and debates around the formation of the "New School" (2012) and around UCT's Afropolitan ambition unfolded within the University and affected those operating in the departments concerned. The principle argument within this dissertation is that projects, however flexible and decolonial in intention, cannot escape being projections of the project leaders' imaginings. Furthermore, projections and ideas of Africa (Mudimbe, 1994) are shaped by perceiving Africa from particular vantage points and within particular contexts laden with histories and complex presents. Perceptions of what "Africa" means and in the case of this research what postcolonial African Studies means continue to be debated from different vantage points within UCT. By and large, this ethnography therefore articulates the scale and challenges of knowledge production centred on the continent in general but, more specifically, the complexities embedded in knowledge production that seeks to be decolonial in its very nature

Museum Digitisations and Emerging Curatorial Agencies Online

This open access book explores the multiple forms of curatorial agencies that develop when museum collection digitisations, narratives and new research findings circulate online. Focusing on Viking Age objects, it tracks the effects of antagonistic debates on discussion forums and the consequences of search engines, personalisation, and machine learning on American-based online platforms. Furthermore, it considers eco-systemic processes comprising computation, rare-earth minerals, electrical currents and data centres and cables as novel forms of curatorial actions. Thus, it explores curatorial agency as social constructivist, semiotic, algorithmic, and material. This book is of interest to scholars and students in the fields of museum studies, cultural heritage and media studies. It also appeals to museum practitioners concerned with curatorial innovation at the intersection of humanist interpretations and new materialist and more-than-human frameworks

Designing for Cross-Device Interactions

Driven by technological advancements, we now own and operate an ever-growing number of digital devices, leading to an increased amount of digital data we produce, use, and maintain. However, while there is a substantial increase in computing power and availability of devices and data, many tasks we conduct with our devices are not well connected across multiple devices. We conduct our tasks sequentially instead of in parallel, while collaborative work across multiple devices is cumbersome to set up or simply not possible. To address these limitations, this thesis is concerned with cross-device computing. In particular it aims to conceptualise, prototype, and study interactions in cross-device computing. This thesis contributes to the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)—and more specifically to the area of cross-device computing—in three ways: first, this work conceptualises previous work through a taxonomy of cross-device computing resulting in an in-depth understanding of the field, that identifies underexplored research areas, enabling the transfer of key insights into the design of interaction techniques. Second, three case studies were conducted that show how cross-device interactions can support curation work as well as augment users’ existing devices for individual and collaborative work. These case studies incorporate novel interaction techniques for supporting cross-device work. Third, through studying cross-device interactions and group collaboration, this thesis provides insights into how researchers can understand and evaluate multi- and cross-device interactions for individual and collaborative work. We provide a visualization and querying tool that facilitates interaction analysis of spatial measures and video recordings to facilitate such evaluations of cross-device work. Overall, the work in this thesis advances the field of cross-device computing with its taxonomy guiding research directions, novel interaction techniques and case studies demonstrating cross-device interactions for curation, and insights into and tools for effective evaluation of cross-device systems

Museum Digitisations and Emerging Curatorial Agencies Online

This open access book explores the multiple forms of curatorial agencies that develop when museum collection digitisations, narratives and new research findings circulate online. Focusing on Viking Age objects, it tracks the effects of antagonistic debates on discussion forums and the consequences of search engines, personalisation, and machine learning on American-based online platforms. Furthermore, it considers eco-systemic processes comprising computation, rare-earth minerals, electrical currents and data centres and cables as novel forms of curatorial actions. Thus, it explores curatorial agency as social constructivist, semiotic, algorithmic, and material. This book is of interest to scholars and students in the fields of museum studies, cultural heritage and media studies. It also appeals to museum practitioners concerned with curatorial innovation at the intersection of humanist interpretations and new materialist and more-than-human frameworks

Software curating : the politics of curating in/as (an) Open System(s)

The thesis examines how Information technologies have changed the practice of curating. It proposes an Interdisciplinary approach that directly links curating (often understood as an activity of artistic programming), computing (the activity of computer programming) and a relatively recent Interest In software art (in which programming Is understood as artistic practice). Although there Is much contemporary critical work and practice that Is described as art-oriented programming or software art, the thesis aims to explore a perceived gap In discussions around software curating. Curators working with online technologies are presented with the challenge of how to respond to new artistic forms that Involve programming: for Instance program-objects that display dynamic and transformative properties, and that are distributed over socio-technological networks. Although there are many examples of social platforms and highly relevant examples of online 'art platforms', these still largely operate In display mode replicating more conventional models of curating and the operations of art Institutions In general. The tendency Is for these curatorial online systems to concentrate on the display of executed code and pay less attention to source code. New sensibilities are required that simultaneously reflect the significance of source code as art, and software not as a production tool or a display platform but as cultural practice that Is analogous to curating. What Is distinctive about the thesis Is that It speculates on a curatorial model that emphasises the analogy to programming. Consequently, the thesis argues for online software systems that display properties of curating but reprocess established definitions by deliberately collapsing firm distinctions between the fields of programming, artistic practice and curatorial practice. To consider these Issues, the thesis brings together a number of Inter-related fields of critical Inquiry and situates curating In the context of theories of immateriality, a critical discourse around software art practice, and an understanding of open systems. The key Issue for the thesis becomes how power relations, control and agency are expressed In new curatorial forms that Involve programming and networks; In other words, the thesis Is concerned with the politics of curating In/as (an) open system(s). Indeed, curating Itself can be described In terms of open systems, Implying a state In which there Is continuous Interaction with the soclo-technological environment. The system Is opened up to communicative processes that Involve producers/users and to divergent exchanges that take place and that disrupt established social relations of production and distribution. Thus, and Importantly for an understanding of the power relations Involved, software opens up curating to dynamic possibilities and transformations beyond the usual Institutional model (analogous to the model of production associated with the industrial factory) Into the context of networks (and what Is referred to by the Autonomists as the 'social factory'). The suggestion Is that the curatorial process Is now closely Integrated with the dynamic soclo-technological networks and with software that Is not simply used to curate but demonstrates the activity of curatIng In Itself Consequently, the thesis offers an expanded description of curating with respect to software In which agency Is reconstituted to Include alternative dynamics of networks. The curatorial model Is not only theorlsed but also deployed In the production of experimental software for curating source code (kurator) that forms the practical part of the doctoral research. in addition to a written thesis and software, two further projects produced during the registration period 2002-2008 are Included in support of the overall thesis: a conference CuratIng, Immaterlafity, Systems (CIS) (Tate Modern, London 2005) and an edited book Curating immateriality: The Work of The Curator In the Age of Network Systems (CI) (Autonomedia, New York 2006). The kurator software Is a further development of the conference and subsequent book, and offers an online, user-moderated curatorial system for further public modification. In so doing, the argument Is that the curatorial process Is demonstrably a collective and distributed executable that displays machinic agency. This Is what Is referred to in the thesis as software curating.Faculty of Technology and Faculty of Arts, University of Plymouth

Towards a Professional Learning Dialogue in Mexican Contemporary Art Museums

Dialogue is a tool that can be used to promote learning experiences amongst audiences in contemporary art museums, in particular due to the potential difficulty of interpreting this type of art. This study argues that when dialogue between the museum and audience promotes balanced opportunities to express ideas and information, the museum can also learn. The museum can share the learning findings about audiences with the rest of the staff members through a professional dialogue, which may impact, creating positive change on future museum practice, in order to facilitate exhibitions, programmes and activities better targeted to audiences. The research explores the concept of learning dialogue using interviews, content analysis, and a theoretical framework related to learning and dialogue in museums. The study also analyses the role of learning and education, and their context in contemporary art museum practice in Mexico, using critical texts and practical evidence from interviews with educators, curators and directors. The thesis investigates, in particular, the case study of the Enlaces programme at the University Museum of Contemporary Art (MuAC). This is a learning activity where the Enlaces participants, who are university students, receive training about the specialist knowledge required to understand contemporary art. The participants aim to create further dialogue with audiences with the purpose of provoking questions, reflection and understanding of MuAC’s contemporary artworks and exhibitions. Findings from the Enlaces participants’ interviews reveal a learning dialogue with audiences, resulting in a model that considers the interaction of three categories of dialogue: visual internal, content and participatory dialogues. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that the interactions between the Enlaces participants and MuAC staff stimulate peer dialogue, professional dialogue and limited dialogue. The analysis of findings results in a model for professional learning dialogue based on the interaction between three key areas: communication, recognition and teamwork. The research proposes an optimal scenario where there is professional and audience learning dialogue taking place, these then feedback to the museum cyclically, allowing audiences to contribute and influence the organisation

Makers' Tale

This joint presentation between a curator and a ceramic artist, accompanied by audio-visual materials, investigates contemporary approaches to craft knowledge through the lens of collaboration. The paper considers Makers’ Tale exhibition part of the Salisbury International Arts Festival 2020 (SIAF 2020), at Salisbury Arts Centre part of Wiltshire Creative. The main theme of SIAF 2020 is movement, inspired by the octocentenary of the relocation of Salisbury Cathedral from its original and no longer suitable site to its current iconic position. Makers’ Tale is the result of collaboration between University for the Creative Arts and Wiltshire Creative in association with Salisbury Cathedral. The Cathedral has witnessed a continuum of learning and the passing on of craft skills for the last 800 years. The creative enquiry into the legacy and current practice of the Cathedral Works Department is a pivotal component of the project. Sennett (2008) expresses the importance of transferring the knowledge of skilled practice, while Harrod suggests that craft is dependent on knowledge that is ‘tacit, practical or embodied’ (Harrod 2018:15). The modern crossovers from the areas of music, new technologies, and interactive sound installation are used to integrate craft knowledge into an innovative, lived or embedded experience for audiences