Curation

M.Raj, Associate Professor,

Darrang College

According to the New World Encyclopedia, a curator is a person “who manages, administers, or organizes a collection for

exhibition—at a museum, library, archive, zoo, and others”

A museum curator (from Latin: cura meaning “care”) is the custodian of the collections of a museum and is responsible for their management.

Museums Explained (2003) define curation as “a process of identification and organization of artworks in

order to further knowledge.”

All types of museums require at least one curator. Large museums may employ several curators that each

specialize in a certain field.

Defi

nitio

ns

Jobs

of a

cu

rato

r

Curators decide how the pieces should be displayed and the order in which they appear

They select works for permanent display as well as works for special temporary exhibitions.

It is the museum curators who are ultimately accountable for the safety of their display pieces

To direct the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections.To authenticate, evaluate, and categorize the specimens in a

collection.To negotiate and authorize the purchase, sale, exchange, or loan

of collections.To oversee and help conduct the institution's research projects and related educational programs.

To augment fund raising and promotion, which may include

the writing and reviewing of grant proposals, journal articles, and publicity

materials, as well as attendance at Meetings, conventions, and civic events.

Man

agem

ent o

f M

useu

m

Conservation and collection management of natural history collections is an ever evolving science.

Most collections that exist in museums around the world have taken hundreds of years to accumulate, involving

hundreds and thousands of man-hours of field work

But they no longer bear any resemblance to what they were at the time of sampling.

This is basically because the parameters for the management and care of natural history collections have

expanded dramatically in the recent years

Docu

men

tati

on

Each specimen is assigned a unique number or identifier, and marked or labeled with the number

Documentation involves

• Record of the unique number of the specimen

Location of the specimen

• Its condition, history & scientific value

Transactions affecting the specimen

Transaction may involve accessioning, cataloging, loaning, sampling, analysis, treatment, etc

Acce

ss

This basically includes providing and promoting access

to the use of specimens and their associated data for the visitors to the museum and visitor supervision and care.

Visitors include

researchers and students from museums or universities

school and other groups

film crews

artists or photographers

hobbyistsgeneral public

All visitors are required to notify the museum in advance of an intended visit.

Students from museums or universities require a letter of introduction from their supervisor

Groups are limited to 10 -15 individuals as it is difficult to monitor their activities if the group is larger

Loan

s Specimens may be given on loan for research, education, exhibition

Loans constitute the primary method of access for the majority of the specimens

Specimens on loan are at greater risk of loss or damaged because they are no longer under the control

for management

Curatorial management endeavors to reduce the level of risks by developing policies and procedures for

approving loans and for specifying acceptable methods and materials during use to minimize deterioration.

Prev

entiv

e Co

nser

vatio

n Preventive conservation or preventive care involves actions

taken to minimize or eliminate

chemical, physical or biological deterioration in collections

Agents of deterioration

direct physical forces (such as shock, vibration)

fire water

radiation (including both ultraviolet radiation and visible light)

incorrect temperatureincorrect relative humidity

The role of preventive care is to avoid, block, or minimize the agents of deterioration.

It helps prolong the item’s existence

Treatment may consist of stabilization and/or restoration.

Pest

Co

ntro

l A constant war is waged against pests in

museums. Where there is a collection of dead animal material, there will

always be insects to consume and destroy it.

It is achieved by Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM uses a variety of techniques to prevent and solve pest problems using

pesticides only as a last resort.

This is done by following a strict regime of avoiding the introduction of pests to the collections,

preventing them, identifying them,

assessing the problems, solving the problems and

reviewing procedures.

It is an ongoing process learning and development.

Emer

genc

y Pr

epar

edne

ss

Ultimately no collection is immune from emergencies which may strike in the form of fires, floods, volcanic eruptions etc.

Once neglected or handled inappropriately, an emergency can go out of control and become a disaster and a curatorial

nightmare.

The goals of emergency preparedness for natural history collections include

to identify, anticipate, and avoid preventable emergenciesto mitigate damage when an emergency occurs so that

disaster is avoided or minimized to recover from disasters as quickly and professionally as

possible so that no human life is lost and minimal collection damage and loss occurs

All museums now-a-days have their own Museum Collection Emergency Operation Plan (MCEOP)

Deac

cess

ions

Sometimes for a variety of reasons a museum may want to

remove a specimen permanently from its collection as a part of standard management practice. This is called deaccession.

When an institution needs to deaccess specimens from the collections, there must be mechanisms for decision making

in place that address legal issues, ethical concerns and professional standards.

Deaccession can be a sensitive activity and sound deaccession policies helps anticipate and address

concerns.