The Othering Museum: A Case for Non-Selective Curation

Preface: What Is This Book, Who Is It for and Why?
	What Is This Book, and Who Is It For?
	References
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Author
List of Figures
Part I: An Introduction and Theoretical Underpinnings
	Chapter 1: Introduction: Setting Out the Parameters
		I Will ‘Language’: Key Definitions
		References
	Chapter 2: Why Is This Book Called The Othering Museum?
		The Vulnerable Other?
		How Is Othering Connected to Power Exchanges and an Ownership Shift?
		Ownership Shifts to Them and Us
		References
	Chapter 3: Addressing Cognitive Dissonance in Museums
		Language and Power
		Where Was the Language Coming From? And Why?
		A Genealogical Shift as Museums Attempt to Solve the Binary Problem, 2011–2019?
			A Critical Shift Post–Whose Cake Is It Anyway? 2011–2018
			2012–2013 Repurposing as Providers of ‘Cultural Right’
			2014 Our Museum Embeds
			2015 a Need to ‘Future Proof’ Museums
			2016/2017 Well-Meaning and Well on Their Way, but with Professional Dissonance
			2018, a Move to ‘Sharing Objectives’
		References
	Chapter 4: The Activist Museum, a New ‘Identity’ Through Language?
		bell hooks’ Radical Openness, as Key to Activist Spaces
		Duties to Serve, Governance, Decision-Making and Security
		Museums: Ships Built on Discourse
		References
	Chapter 5: Truth, Power, Participation and Discourse
		Space and Power: Providing Ownership of Spaces and Places to Make Decisions
		Hegelian Positions of Human and Unhuman Unfree
		Is the Museum Participant Oppressed as Unhuman/Unfree to Make Decisions?
		Duty of Care and Religiosity
		References
	Chapter 6: Power and Identity
		Identity Signifies: The Language of Us and Them and Why It Is Important in the Identification of Who Is Positioned Where
		Globalisation of Cultural Institutions
		The Essentialist Argument
		Identity Cannot Be Fixed into Representations
		References
	Chapter 7: Bordieuan [Dis]positions: Locations of Responsibility
		A Friction Between Heteronomous Fields of Decision-Making and Autonomous
		The Language of the Funder
		References
	Chapter 8: From Language to Languaging: From Site of Power to Sites of Openness
		Co-curation: From One Voice to Many
		Polyvocality or a Cacophony: Strained Resistance to Co-curation
		Feminist Underpinnings of the ‘Poetic’
		Communities of Resistance’ (hooks, 1989): With, for or by as Co-curation Using Theatre and Community Arts Methods
		Applied Theatre Positionings
		Shared Goals as a Sense of Community
		Differences in the Distribution of Power
		Community Development and the Targeting of the Poor
		Community Arts as a Specialism
		References
	Chapter 9: A Profound Edge (hooks, 1989): Theatre as Participatory Activism
		References
	Chapter 10: Transitioning Participant Fear: Oppressions and Symbolic Power
		Bourdieu and the Symbolic Power of Language
		When Symbolic Power Becomes Violence
		References
Part II: Moving from Selective Curation to Non – Selective Curation
	Chapter 11: CurioUS and the Intercultural Project
		CurioUS Learning Programme: Training or Learning
		Us and Them Paternalisms as ‘Othering’
		To Assume: Makes an ASS of ‘You and Me’
			Observation One: A Denigrating Culture of Celebration
			Observation Two: Trigger Warnings and Censorship as a ‘Duty of Care’
		The Volunteer Events Team: The Museum Had Time, We Had Money, but ‘We’ also Experienced Harmful Power
		Developing a Co-curated Community Event
		Auto-ethnographic Observations. Different Responsibilities
			Observation One. Mutiny on the Participatory Boat
			Observation Two: Duty of Care or Symbolic Violence?
		Conclusions to Case Study One: Moving Theory into Enquiry
		References
	Chapter 12: Case Study Two, Bricks and Mortar
		Bricks and Mortar, Experiences of Co-curation as Non-selective
		Auto-ethnographic Observations: Different Stages
			Observation One. Kiri’s Room: Duty of Care or Symbolic Violence
			Observation Two. Dylan and Caroline’s Room: Fear of Radical Openness for Their ‘Presence Is Disruption’
		References
	Chapter 13: The Frontstage Power of Non-selective Curation
		Findings One: Non-selective Curation—‘My Words, My Space’
			Ownership over the Space: My Room!
		Findings Two: Operational Othering Due to Heteronymous Responsibility
			Ownership over the Process: My Story!
		Findings Three: ‘Who’s the Boss of Me?’—Ambiguity in Power
		Findings Four: Therapeutic Value in Creative Freedom
		Conclusion. Findings from Case Study Two, Bricks and Mortar
		References
	Chapter 14: Case Study Three, Museums Made Dark
		Professional Participant Experiences of Power
			Findings One. The Novelty of Creative Freedom
			Findings Two. Equality in Decision-Making: ‘My Space’?
			Findings Three. My Words, My Room: An Equal a Partner or ‘Curated’?
			Findings Five: A Rigidity—Process Cannot Elicit a ‘Yes’
			Findings Six: A Fluidity in Non-selective Curation Works in Opposition to the Definitive Cookie Cutter
			Findings Seven: A Lack of Time and Being in Different ‘Worlds’
			Findings Eight: A Lack of Respect—But Who Was Boss?
		References
	Chapter 15: Findings from the Development Phase of NSC: Two ‘Back Stages’, How Power Performs on Different Pages by Skirting the Margins
		Duty of Care Supersedes Transparency: Performing as Paternalistic Power
		Reputational Risk Performing as Us and Them Power
		Auto-ethnographic Observations: Different Worlds
			Observation One. Museum Mitigations: Duty of Care to Protect Participants from Risk
			Observation Two. Whose Project Is It Anyway?
			Observation Three. ‘Just Doing It!’: Decisions Made that Should Not Be Made
		Conclusion to the Case Studies
		The Use of Theatre as a Methodology
		Non-selective Curation Can Help Break Down the ‘Us and Them’ Binary
		References
	Chapter 16: Conclusion: Transitioning from Selective to Non-selective Implementations for NSC
		A Summary of the Case Studies: How the Findings Were Deducted over Three Stages
			Case Study One, CurioUS and the Volunteer Events Team
			Case Study Two, Bricks and Mortar
			Case Study Three, Museums Made Dark
		Duty of Care Performing as a Culture of Celebration Is Symbolic Violence
		Duty of Care Performing as a Culture of Silence Is Symbolic Violence
		Why Is Implementing NSC Important: Othering Is Endemic in the Museum?
		There Is a Resistance to Transitional Openness
		References
	Chapter 17: The Development of NSC
		Non-selective Curation: A Method
		The Happy Administrative Error
		An Example of Non-selective Curation (Michelle’s Story, from Bricks and Mortar)
		How to Do Non-selective Curation
		Key Competencies of the NSC Curator
		References
The Workbook
	Workbook
		Becoming the Non-selective Curator
	Week One: (Self-Exploration) Locating Yourself into Your World
	Week Two: (Self-Discovery) Making Connections Between You and Your World
	Week Three:
	Week Four: (Your Practice) Putting Your Learning into Practice
	Workshop Suggestions with Participants (to Prepare the Participants in NSC before the Co-curatorial Phase)
		Exploration
		Discovery
		Reflection
		Practice
	Closing Thoughts
		Potential Future Research in NSC
	References
Index