Last spring I saw the project of the International Curating Management Education 2006-2007 class, at Stockholm University, and the term “jester of all trades” was imprinted well in my mind as the role of the curator; the “scapegoat”, as I like to call it on other instances. Nonetheless, both terms bare a sarcastic characteristic to their imagery. Is the actual title a joke…? Is it a fabrication of some preceding people in the art arena, who merely wanted to justify their somewhat unimportant roles? And is this “filling in the gaps” role an unimportant one, really? Being the tack which hold a bridge in place and in one piece, might indicate a small size but a vital role being carried out…
From my perspective on this, the role of the curator in rather big institutions or organisations, in the near future, will be more accurately defined in nature: space/venue curator, curator of programme, curator of educational programme, curator of administration, and so on.
And as the cultural industry grows, there will be more money invested in cultural productions and commodities, making funds easier to be found by freelance curators, where they will set up offices (curatorial teams and enterprises with stable revenue and funds) allowing the freelancers to concentrate on what they wish.
