Slo Curating: Restitution, Archives, Access and Care | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 11, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2045-5836
  • E-ISSN: 2045-5844

Abstract

This article elaborates a theory of slo curating as a durational practice and methodology. It interrogates concepts such as provenance, chain of relation, collections and conservation that it establishes are part of a colonial episteme undergirding the museum and its exhibitionary practices. Starting from recent digitization projects of museum collections, I analyse artist-led curatorial projects, legal cases and requests for restitution by colonized and Indigenous peoples across the world that challenge long-standing imperial concepts that inform museum studies. Projects by the Rapa Nui, Iqbal Geoffrey, Julie Tolentino, Constantina Zavitsanos and سراب/Saraab (Shahana Rajani and Omer Wasim) are discussed alongside (2008–ongoing) and (2012–ongoing), foregrounding their alternative theoretical approaches to archives, access, labour, temporality and borders. Slo curating offers a set of curatorial practices and methods that are at the service of people instead of institutions.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jcs_00070_1
2022-12-29
2024-04-25
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Agence France-Presse ( 2018;), ‘ Easter Island Governor Begs British Museum to Return Moai: “You Have Our Soul”. ’, The Guardian, 20 November, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/20/easter-island-british-museum-return-moai-statue?CMP=fb_gu. Accessed 20 August 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Akcan, Esra. ( 2012), Architecture in Translation: Germany, Turkey and the Modern House, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Alvi, Asad. ( 2021;), ‘ Cinders. ’, tenderness kit , 21 April, https://www.tendernesskit.com/. Accessed 30 May 2022.
  4. Arika, Dublon,, Amalle, Herman,, Jerron, Lazard,, Carolyn, McArthur,, Park, Sheppard, Alice, and Zavitsanos, Constantina. ( 2019;), ‘ I wanna be with you everywhere. ’, Arika , https://arika.org.uk/programming/i-wanna-be-you-everywhere. Accessed 15 April 2022.
  5. BBC ( 2010;), ‘ Koh-i-Noor Diamond “Staying Put” in UK Says Cameron. ’, 29 July, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-10802469. Accessed 15 April 2022.
  6. Bhandar, Brenna. ( 2018), Colonial Lives of Property: Law, Land and Racial Regimes of Ownership, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Cobo, Leila. ( 2018;), ‘ Inside Cuba’s El Paquete: The Underground File Exchange That Makes or Breaks New Artists. ’, Billboard, 15 May, https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/cuba-el-paquete-file-exchange-8455249/. Accessed 31 May 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Crimp, Douglas. ( 1990), On the Museum’s Ruins, Cambridge, MA:: MIT Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Geoffrey, Iqbal. ( 2016;), e-mail to the author. , 7 March.
  10. Hall, Stuart. ( 2001;), ‘ Constituting an Archive. ’, Third Text, 15:54, pp. 8992.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Harney, Stefano, and Moten, Fred. ( 2013), The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study, New York:: Minor Compositions;.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Harris, Cheryl. ( 1993;), ‘ Whiteness as Property. ’, Harvard Law Review, 106:8, pp. 170791.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Hart, Tara. ( 2015;), ‘ How Do You Archive the Sky?. ’, Archive Journal, https://www.archivejournal.net/essays/how-do-you-archive-the-sky/#identifier_2_6121. Accessed 31 July 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Johnson v. M’Intosh ( 1823;), 21 U.S. 8 Wheat. . 543.
  15. Johnston, Megan. ( 2014;), ‘ Slow Curating: Rethinking and Extending Socially Engaged Art in the Context of Northern Ireland. ’, OnCurating, ‘After the Turn: Art Education Beyond the Museum’ , 24, December, https://www.on-curating.org/issue-24-reader/Slow_Curating_Re-thinking_and_Extending_Socially_Engaged_Art_in_the_Context_of_Northern_Ireland.html#.Y1Gqf-zMI-R. Accessed 31 July 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Kafer, Alison. ( 2013), Feminist, Queer, Crip, Bloomington:: Indiana University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Lepecki, André. ( 2010;), ‘ The Body as Archive: Will to Re-Enact and the Afterlives of Dances. ’, Dance Research Journal, 42:2, pp. 2848.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Louvre Collections ( 2022;), ‘ Home Page. ’, https://collections.louvre.fr/en/. Accessed 14 April 2022.
  19. Lowe, Lisa. ( 1996), Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Malraux, André. ( 1978), The Voices of Silence (trans. Stuart Gilbert.), Princeton:: Princeton University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Marx, Karl. ( [1867] 1976), Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, New York:: Penguin;.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Mezzadra, Sandro, and Neilson, Brett. ( 2013), Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Mignolo, Walter D.. ( 2000;), ‘ The Geopolitics of Knowledge and the Colonial Difference. ’, South Atlantic Quarterly, 101:1, pp. 5796.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Mills, Mara, and Sanchez, Rebecca. ( 2018/19;), ‘ Giving It Away: Constantina Zavitsanos on Disability, Debt, Dependency. ’, Art Papers, 42:4, https://www.artpapers.org/giving-it-away/. Accessed 15 April 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Mingus, Mia. ( 2017;), ‘ Access Intimacy, Interdependence and Disability Justice. ’, Leaving Evidence , 12 April, https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/access-intimacy-interdependence-and-disability-justice/. Accessed 30 May 2022.
  26. Mingus, Mia. ( 2011;), ‘ Access Intimacy: The Missing Link. ’, Leaving Evidence , 5 May, https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/access-intimacy-the-missing-link/. Accessed 30 May 2021.
  27. Mitchell, Timothy. ( 2004;), ‘ Orientalism and the Exhibitionary Order. ’, in Donald Preziosi, and Claire Farago. (eds), Grasping the World, London:: Routledge;, pp. 44261.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Moten, Fred. ( 2003), In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition, Minneapolis:: University of Minnesota Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Moten, Fred. ( 2014), The Feel Trio, Berkeley:: Small Press Distribution;.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Nottage, Nia,, Shanks, Gwyneth, and Wu, Simon. ( 2019), Always, Already, Haunting, ‘Disss-co’, Haunt, New York:: The Kitchen;.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Qato, Mezna. (@meznaqato) ( 2020;), ‘ Return is a structure, not an event. ’, Twitter , 14 May, https://twitter.com/meznaqato/status/1261036613750177799. Accessed 20 August 2021.
  32. Rabbat, Nasser. ( 2012;), ‘ The New Islamic Art Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ’, Artforum, 50:5, https://www.artforum.com/print/201201/the-new-islamic-art-galleries-at-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-29813. Accessed 20 August 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Rajani, Shayan. ( 2021;), ‘ Hand Soap. ’, tenderness kit , 12 April, https://www.tendernesskit.com/. Accessed 30 May 2022.
  34. Russell, Marta, and Malhotra, Ravi. ( 2002;), ‘ Capitalism and Disability. ’, in Colin Leys, and Leo Panitch. (eds), Socialist Register 2002: A World of Contradictions, London:: Merlin Press;, pp. 21128.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Said, Edward. ( 1978), Orientalism, New York:: Pantheon;.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Sakai, Naoki. ( 1997), Translation and Subjectivity: On Japan and Cultural Nationalism, Minneapolis:: University of Minnesota Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Sakai, Naoki. ( 2010;), ‘ Translation and the Figure of Border: Toward the Apprehension of Translation as a Social Action. ’, Profession, pp. 2534.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Saraab (Shahana Rajani and Omer Wasim) ( 2021), tenderness kit , https://www.tendernesskit.com/. Accessed 30 May 2022.
  39. Sarr, Felwine, and Savoy, Bénédicte. ( 2018), The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics (trans. Drew S. Burk.), http://restitutionreport2018.com/sarr_savoy_en.pdf. Accessed 30 May 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Shalem, Avinoam. ( 2012;), ‘ What Do We Mean When We Say “Islamic Art?” A Plea for a Critical Rewriting of the History of the Arts of Islam. ’, Journal of Art Historiography, 6, pp. 118.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Shirazi, Sadia. ( 2013;), ‘ On Exhibition Without Objects – Flatness, File Size and Hard Drives. ’, Independent Curators International Research Journal, 30 September, https://old2013.curatorsintl.org/research/on-exhibition-without-objects-flatness-file-size-and-hard-drives. Accessed 30 May 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Shirazi, Sadia. ( 2019;), ‘ Critics’ Picks: Constantina Zavitsanos. ’, Art Forum, 8 October, https://www.artforum.com/picks/constantina-zavitsanos-80996. Accessed 30 May 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Shirazi, Sadia. ( 2021), Against Art History, March Meeting Papers , Sharjah:: Sharjah Art Foundation;.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Simpson, Audra. ( 2014), Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders of Settler States, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Spielberg, Steven. ( 1981), Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, USA:: Lucasfilm Ltd;.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Tolentino, Julie. ( 2022;), telephone interview with the author. , 19 April.
  47. Wasim, Omer. ( 2021;), ‘ beginnings. ’, tenderness kit , 12 April, https://www.tendernesskit.com/. Accessed 30 May 2022.
  48. Watlington, Emily. ( 2019;), ‘ Constantina Zavitsanos Addresses Debt and Dependency with Lasers and Holograms. ’, Art in America, 3 September, https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/constantina-zavitsanos-participant-uses-lasers-rethink-debt-63647/. Accessed 30 May 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Yap, Emily. ( 2021;), ‘ You Can Now Access the Louvre’s Entire Collection Online for Free. ’, Options , 5 April, https://www.optionstheedge.com/topic/culture/you-can-now-access-louvres-entire-collection-online-free#:~:text=%22For%20the%20first%20time%2C%20anyone,click%20away!%22%20he%20added. Accessed 15 April 2022.
  50. Zavitsanos, Constantina. ( 2022;), telephone interview with the author. , 28 April.
  51. Shirazi, Sadia. ( 2022;), ‘ Slo Curating: Restitution, Archives, Access and Care. ’, Journal of Curatorial Studies, 11:2, pp. 20833, https://doi.org/10.1386/jcs_00070_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jcs_00070_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/jcs_00070_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error