[Nayttelyposti] It's all Mediating - International conference on curating and education in the exhibition context 30.-31.5.2012

[Erja Salo]

It’s all Mediating – outlining and incorporating the roles of education and
curating


International conference on curating and education in the exhibition context



30-31 May, 2012



Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland


The conference focuses on the two core functions of museums: the exhibiting
of the content (art or other cultural material) and the educational
activities directed to audiences. The functions are as old as the museum
institution itself, but as the result of the professionalisation of the
museum field, they are now the responsibility of specialised professional
staff. ’Curator’ and ’educator’ are both relatively new titles in museums
(‘museum’ here referring to museums and galleries or any other venues
presenting art and culture), and in many countries, Finland included, the
professional education for these occupations is young or yet to be
established.



The conference looks at how the professional field is outlined at present:
How do these aspects – the responsibility to foster and present the content
of the museum, and the responsibility for its audiences and visitors –
relate to each other? What is the division of labour between curators and
educators? What kind of interests and values guide their work? What are the
current models and what would be the ideal ways of organizing their
relations and collaboration?



The focus is also on the individual level of how the specialists incorporate
their roles: What are the specific skills of a curator or an educator? How
(and why?) do we develop a professional identity? While the specialisation
has brought focus and quality to the practice, have the fields also drifted
apart from each other? What is gained and lost?



On a wider scale, museums work under economic, social and political
pressures, and the expectations of the various stakeholders – artists,
academia, funders, politicians, sponsors, audiences, managers... can be
manifold and even mutually contradictory. How do these demands affect the
work of curators and educators?



Organizers:

The Finnish Association for Museum Education Pedaali,

The Finnish Society for Curators, SKY

CuMMA, Aalto University



in association with Finnish Museums Association, Museum of Contemporary Art
Kiasma, Helsinki Art Museum, The Finnish Museum of Photography, National
Museum of Finland, Pori Art Museum, Rauma Art Museum.



For more information email: toimisto at pedaali.fi