Maya Malik

In what way did the CAS in Curating change your ideas about curating? What have you gained from any of these changes?

The CAS in Curating changed my ideas about curating by taking an honest and well-rounded approach to all the concepts. We were not allowed to put curation on an unhealthy pedestal and pretend it is without flaws. As someone who came from the social sciences, I was not aware of all the arguments, hardships and places where current scholars think the discipline as it is falls short. I learn about the good and bad within different forms of curation and how that can impact us and our future work. It was a wake-up call I desperately needed. I have gained more understanding of why people do what they do and feel the need to be so vocal. Sometimes I did not have the context to understand which theories and practices arose out of conflict and the dialectic. Learning some of these deep seeded ideological differences allows me to fully participate in the conversations today.

What is your position at the moment?

I am currently starting a doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin School of Education in the Curriculum Instruction program with a focus on Design, informal, and creative education (DICE). I hope to find space for both my love of theater and participatory curation with youth. I am also excited to find more opportunities to curate and create my own art.

What do you think “Curate your context“ means?

I think curate your context is a bit of an oxymoron. Curation is the art of delineation and adding context to art to facilitate a user experience. Curators are always contextualizing an artist’s work or pulling in surrounding information that complicates both work and artist alike. There is no curation without the interest or desire of the audience above simply viewing the art. Curators explain the “why” and “how” of a piece that truly brings it to life. Curation is contextualization. To curate = to contextualize. We are all curating our own and each other’s context as an exercise in storytelling.