ABSTRACT
The role of the curator has been discussed within the art world for decades, as curating has turned into an independent professional and theoretical field related specifically to the conception and organization of exhibitions. The contours of a new conception of the role of exhibitions and curating are emerging, as theorists and practitioners start to talk about exhibitions as research, rather than the dissemination of research. This chapter argues that distraction is a prerequisite for engaging researchers in collaborations that go beyond their regular disciplinary perspectives that allow for researchers to be influenced by other perspectives. It considers the concept of the curator to specify not simply a particular role in the making of the exhibition, but a role in cultivating alternative ways of making knowledge within a research institution. The chapter focuses on the making of COLLAPSE – Human Being in an Unpredictable World that opened at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo in May 2017.
