What Makes a Great Exhibition?

by Paula Marincola (editor), Glenn Adamson (Contributor), Paola Antonelli (Contributor)

Rising attendance at museums, along with increased press coverage in the age of the international biennial and the ‘blockbuster’ exhibition, has translated into a growing interest in how exhibitions are made. The new curatorial studies programmes springing up across Europe and North America often deal with theoretical issues, yet one of the central questions of curating frequently remains What makes an exhibition great? In this book, fourteen essays by active curators and historians address the issue head-on.Focusing on the curation of contemporary art in North America and Europe, What Makes a Great Exhibition? includes essays by the prolific curator Robert Storr on the meaning of ‘exhibition’ and ‘exhibition-maker’; Studio Museum in Harlem director Thelma Golden writes on ethnically specific exhibitions; Dia Foundation curator Lynne Cooke shows how to firmly ground rarified aims; Iwona Blazwick details a century of trailblazing at London’s Whitechapel Art Gallery, where she is director; and curator Carlos Basualdo reflects on the need to establish a meaningful critical context for international biennials. Other writers address such issues as the labelling of exhibits, group exhibitions, exhibiting design, video and craft, as well as the way a venue’s architecture can influence the exhibitions it houses. What Makes a Great Exhibition? contains carefully considered answers to numerous questions of practice even as it raises more questions about exhibition-making today.Stimulating thought about how curatorial objectives mesh with on-the-ground practicalities, this book is vital reading for arts professionals, students of art and curatorial studies, art historians, practising artists and anyone curious about exhibition-making today.

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction, Museums

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2007

Reviews

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posted on my book blog.

This book is a collection of essays by a myriad of professionals in the field, selected and edited by Paula Marincola of the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative. As a student of Museum and Curatorial Studies, it caught my eye at the bookstore, and surely enough, less than a month later, in class, we started studying a couple of the essays included.

Theoretically, the essays attempt to tackle the extremely vague and open question that lends itself to the title of the book, and in order to do so, the editor sent a list of questions to the contributors for them to work as they saw fit (this list is available to the reader in the form of a bookmark, besides being part of the cover's original design). However, I found that a lot of the essays didn't actually attempt to answer that question, and instead explored other themes related to curating; that wasn't a problem to me, since they were still interesting and informative, it just feels a bit strange to be told that the book will be something and then find out it's different (if only slightly).

The essays themselves were of mixed relevance and quality. A few of them were in need of revision, with errors in grammar and phrase construction (English isn't my first language and yet I still noticed them), but overall the quality was excellent, and a few of them explored issues and details of exhibition making that I haven't seen explored elsewhere. Ingrid Schaffner's essay on wall text, and Robert Storr's "Show and Tell", were particularly useful.

A great resource for students and professionals.

[Inês Ariana Pita · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐

[Cynthia Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read this because of a college class. Some of the works were interesting, but most weren't. I'm not an art major, nor do I have a deep understanding of art (which I'm sure plays a role) so a fair amount of the articles in the book were either tedious or I didn't fully understand what I was reading.

Note* I had to read this for a class titled Curatorial Studies.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of essays by curators, art historians and museum directors about what they believe makes an exhibition "great".

Highlights so far include Mary Jane Jacob's "Making Space for Art," and Ralph Rugoff's "You talking to me? On curating group shows that give you a chance to join the group"

[Amalie]

Found it mentioned in «thinking contemporary curating» by Terry Smith