Week 6 Reflection

This week, we read “What is a curator?” and “Putting a Show Together” in Adrian George’s The Curator’s Handbook: Museums, Commercial Galleries, Independent Spaces, and it gave me a lot of insight into the nitty-gritty of our festival’s production. Prior to this reading, I had a certain idea of what a curator for a film festival is, or that the term “curator” is a very specific role within an organization. After reading about what makes someone a curator, I learned that ‘curator’ is actually a very broad term used to describe someone in charge of the creative side of an event or space. I wasn’t sure how the curatorship role would work in our festival, considering we weren’t necessarily curating any work to showcase—it’s all predetermined based on what the studios give us unless we decide to show other work created outside of the studios. As the week progressed, along with our festival production, it became clear to me how we were all acting as curators for our festival, whether we had a say in what work would be shown or not. We have all been actively contributing to the production of our festival, deciding on details that would make it a success. As stated in the reading, “Curators, working in a symbiotic relationship with artists, challenge perceptions and investigate what future culture may be and what it might look like” (George, 2015: pp 11). Given this, our team putting on a festival is an act of curatorship, contributing to the festival and exhibition world by putting on a great one led by students! More importantly, I believe we are challenging the way student work is perceived by society, the general public, and the media/film industry. There is this preconceived notion that student work is “just” student work, meaning it’s 1) mostly only for those in the realm of higher education, or 2) it isn’t worthy of greater attention because students are still learning, or it’s not held to a higher standard or respected. I think by putting on a festival showcasing media works, it allows students to have a greater sense of value and appreciation for their own creations and their peers. Knowing that their work will be exposed to the general public for value and appreciation is motivating, and breaking down those boundaries serves as a driving force towards creativity and a sense of community (Liu et al., 2023).

References

George, A 2015, The Curator’s Handbook : Museums, Commercial Galleries, Independent Spaces, Thames & Hudson, Limited, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [3 June 2024].

Liu Y, Ling M, and  Nechita F (2023) “Higher-Institution-Based Film Festivals as a Vehicle to Improve Student Production Quality and Form University–Industry Connections” Trends in Higher Education 2, no. 2: 340-362. https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu2020020