Five Lectures on Curatorship

A first-hand discussion of the history of curating, drawing on the experience of organizing exhibitions in Russia.

Five Lectures on Curatorship by Viktor Misiano is the first Russian-language study of curatorial theory and practice, a unique opportunity for a Russian readership to examine the history of curatorship and exhibitions, complemented by cases from the author’s professional experience. By joining the international discourse on curatorial practices, Misiano projects its key concepts onto the Russian scene, and highlights the relationships between the local artistic system and diverse global processes, including political and social trends and events.

The book presents a series of lectures that Misiano gave at the Moscow-based UNIC Institute, in which he covered fundamental notions in curatorial practice, the history of curatorship, the artistic system in Moscow, its current standing in the global context, and important ethical aspects. An emphasis on the relational, two-way nature of curatorial practices underlies the lectures, as Misiano provides a thorough analysis of his profession, its function and lifestyle.

Offering a solid theoretical base for those interested in understanding curatorship, Misiano refers to seminal works on the history and sociology of art, as well as his own extensive curatorial experiences – both local and international – and speaks about curatorship as part of a larger artistic system. He guides his readers into the realm of contemporary art and candidly reveals its mechanics. Curatorship is presented as a living body of knowledge, volatile and increasingly rich.