Curatorial Dreams

Erica Lehrer, Shelley Ruth Butler

ISBN 10: 0773546839 / ISBN 13: 9780773546837

Published by McGill-Queen's University Press, CA, 2016

About this Item

What if museum critics were challenged to envision their own exhibitions? In Curatorial Dreams, fourteen authors from disciplines throughout the social sciences and humanities propose exhibitions inspired by their research and critical concerns to creatively put theory into practice. Pushing the boundaries of museology, this collection gives rare insight into the process of conceptualizing exhibitions. The contributors offer concrete, innovative projects, each designed for a specific setting in which to translate critical academic theory about society, culture, and history into accessible imagined exhibitions. Spanning Australia, Barbados, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States, the exhibitions are staged in museums, scientific institutions, art galleries, and everyday sites. Essays explore political and practical constraints, imaginative freedom, and experiment with critical, participatory, and socially relevant exhibition design. While the deconstructive critique of museums remains relevant, Curatorial Dreams charts new ground, proposing unique modes of engagement that enrich public scholarship and dialogue.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780773546837

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Curatorial Dreams
• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, CA
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773546839
• ISBN 13: 9780773546837
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 595 grams

About this title

Synopsis

What if museum critics were challenged to envision their own exhibitions? In Curatorial Dreams, fourteen authors from disciplines throughout the social sciences and humanities propose exhibitions inspired by their research and critical concerns to creatively put theory into practice. Pushing the boundaries of museology, this collection gives rare insight into the process of conceptualizing exhibitions. The contributors offer concrete, innovative projects, each designed for a specific setting in which to translate critical academic theory about society, culture, and history into accessible imagined exhibitions. Spanning Australia, Barbados, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States, the exhibitions are staged in museums, scientific institutions, art galleries, and everyday sites. Essays explore political and practical constraints, imaginative freedom, and experiment with critical, participatory, and socially relevant exhibition design. While the deconstructive critique of museums remains relevant, Curatorial Dreams charts new ground, proposing unique modes of engagement that enrich public scholarship and dialogue.

About the Author

Shelley Ruth Butler is a cultural anthropologist who teaches at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Erica Lehrer is Canada Research Chair in Museum and Heritage Studies at Concordia University.