Curating Art & Anthropology by the Ethnographic Terminalia Collective
The Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media
An Art and Anthropology Colloquium
University of Colorado, Boulder in the College of Media, Communication, and Information
Invited Workshop: “Curating Art & Anthropology by the Ethnographic Terminalia Collective”
October 5-6, 2017
Workshop Facilitators: Fiona P. McDonald and Craig Campbell, two of the five founding members of the Ethnographic Terminalia Collective (ETC)
Thanks to Daniel Boord and the Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media for their invitation to lead this workshop.
Description:
This workshop was aimed to think through the possibilities for curating and creating anthropological knowledge in public spaces. In an active workshop environment, members of the Ethnographic Terminalia relayed through anecdote our experience of curating works at the intersections of anthropology and art since 2009. This workshop was open to everyone regardless of whether or not they identified as a visual anthropologist. The point of the in-workshop exercise was to explore what happens to your work and ideas when they are put into a gallery environment in conversation with a group of other works. To participate fully participants were invited to bring in research that was completed and work collaboratively in groups re-imagine it in the context of a gallery exhibition. In this workshop, we worked through a notional exhibition that included everyone’s work. That meant needed negotiating space (sonic, physical, social, etc.) within the UCB Art Museum.
In preparation for this workshop participants were asked to read provided materials, reference a floor plan of the UCB Art Museum, and prepare a 500-1,000 word summary of their primary research, fieldwork, or data set. List out the types of data sets they have (visual, audio, material objects, etc). Additionally, they were asked to write up to 500 words about WHY and how they would like to exhibit their work. To complete this preparatory work, they were asked to think about answering questions such as: (1) What gap does it fill?; (2) Who would you want to see your exhibition?; (3) Where would you like to exhibit?; (4) Is exhibition the right solution to translating your research to new publics?
The intended outcomes of this workshop were to: (1) raise awareness of the way anthropology and art come together through curatorial projects; (2) create a generative space to play with curatorial ideas for imaginative projects; and (3) provide constructive feedback on projects participants may wish to bring to life in the form of an exhibition.
Workshop Handouts and Preparation Materials:
“Ethnographic Terminalia––After the Bureau of Memories: Reflections at the Intersections of Archives, Art, and Anthropology”. Adami, E. and Ferrini, A. Eds. Mnemoscape Vol. 2. March 2015.
“Function and Form: The Ethnographic Terminalia Collective Between Art and Anthropology” in Collaborative Analytics. Ed. George Marcus and Dominic Boyer. Cornell University Press, 2018.
Schedule for the Thursday workshop:
- 2:00-2:15pm: Introductions
- Outline workshop objectives and timing
- 2:15-3:00pm: Going over logistics and needs of each project (shared document we hand out)
- 3:00pm: Walk over to UCBoulder Art Museum for a site visit
- Meet with Hope Clarke Saska (Curator) (at 3:15pm) and Stephen Martonis (Exhibition Manager)
- 3:45pm: Return to workshop room (Hale 450)
- 4:00-4:45pm: Working through logistics and workshopping the projects onto the art museum floor plan
- 4:45-5:00pm: Wrap-up
Photographs courtesy Eric Coombs, Daniel Boord, and Fiona McDonald.
