Short Abstract:

A lot has been said about “The Artist as Ethnographer/ The Ethnographer as Artist". But “The Anthropologist as Curator/the curator as anthropologist " hasn’t received the same attention. We invite anthropologists with experience in curating to think together about the “Anthropologist as curator”.

Long Abstract:

A lot has been said about “The Artist as Ethnographer/ The Ethnographer as Artist" in the last few decades. But the question of “The Anthropologist as Curator/the curator as anthropologist " hasn't received the same attention. In spite of that fact, many anthropologists have worked as curators or have organised exhibits, not just in traditional ethnographic museums, but also in contemporary art settings. There is a lot of work on the Anthropology of museums, but less on how the practice of Anthropology can be understood as a form of curating. On the other hand, curators in the last decades have reached great pre-eminence in the art world, becoming leading figures in art discourse. Many of them have approached Anthropology as a central inspiration of their work, including the last two artistic directors of the Kassel Documenta.

This roundtable proposes to open a conversation on the “Anthropologist as Curator/The Curator as Anthropologist” drawing from the experiences of anthropologists who have worked as curators, and curators working with Anthropology.