Curating the Contemporary is a unique and useful book, which provides an exploration of new curatorial developments that have impacted not only on museum practice, but also across international creative industries. In the twenty-first century, the traditional role of the curator as connoisseur has been challenged by a new generation of curators, who might be described as 'facilitators of experience'. The term curating now describes the production of cultural and creative outputs, ranging from exhibitions to art festivals, conferences or film programming. The book showcases these new directions across four parts, each containing informative explanations and case studies of curating practice, based on a decade of pioneer work. Each part explores the key changes contemporary curatorial practice has brought about across contemporary shopping environments, public spaces, health centres, cultural programmes, as well as museums and galleries. Curating The Contemporary combines an overview of this cultural transition, bringing together a unique and experienced insight into theory, which is illustrated by practice.

Author Biography

Catherine McDermott is Professor in the School of Communication Design at Kingston University, UK. She heads the School of Design Masters programme at Kingston University and is an advisory board member of New Design Magazine, the Design Journal and part of the Design Council's Advisory Group Biennial.