Things in Contemporary Curating

ENGELSK:
Through close readings of key exhibitions, ‘Things in Contemporary Curating’ develops a new aesthetic, an ‘aesthetics of the thing’. Here the word ‘thing’ is understood in its original meaning, namely as an object, a form of political gathering, and a topic. It encompasses exhibitions that use democratic meetings as a curatorial approach, and asks, If the exhibition space were a space for democratic gatherings, how would it look? The roots of this contemporary tendency is traced back, through an international historical gaze, to the organisation of exhibitions as alliance and solidarity-shaping events in the postwar era. Nelund shows how this development found its way into European and North American exhibition practices from the 1990s on, and is now integrated in places such as Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin and MoMA in New York. The book offers ethnographic journeys into exhibitions such as Home Works Forum in Beirut, The Anthropocene Project in Berlin, Parliament of Bodies during Documenta 14, and Tricia Hersey’s The Nap Ministry in Atlanta. Via these participatory experiences, it becomes clear that the exhibitions shine by making space for differences and disagreements, and Nelund therefore appeals to the reader to ask, In spite of differences, what can we do together that we can’t do alone? And how?

DANSK:
Via nærlæsninger af nøgleudstillinger udvikler ‘Things in Contemporary Curating’ en ny æstetik, en ‘aestehtics of the thing’. Her forstås ordet ‘ting’ i sin originale betydning, nemlig som både et objekt, en politisk samlingsform og et emne. Det indbefatter udstillinger, der bruger demokratiske mødeformer som et kuratorisk greb og spørger: Hvis udstillingsrummet var et rum for demokratiske samlinger, hvordan ville det så se ud? Med et internationalt historisk blik spores rødderne til denne samtidige tendens tilbage til organisering af udstillinger som alliance- og solidaritetsskabende i efterkrigstiden. Nelund viser, hvordan denne udvikling finder vej ind i europæisk og nordamerikansk udstillingspraksis fra 1990’erne og nu integreres på steder som Haus der Kulturen der Welt i Berlin og MoMA i New York. Bogen byder på etnografiske rejser ind i udstillinger som Home Works Forum i Beirut, The Anthropocene Project i Berlin, Parliament of Bodies under Documenta 14 og Tricia Herseys The Nap Ministry i Atlanta. Via disse deltagerbaserede oplevelser bliver det tydeligt, at udstillingerne glimrer ved at rumme forskelligheder og uenigheder og Nelund appellerer derfor læseren til at spørge: Til trods for forskelligheder, hvad er det vi kan gøre sammen, som vi ikke kan gøre alene? Og hvordan?