Institutional Engagement and the Growing Role of Ethics in Contemporary Curatorial Practice

Abstract

In recent years, generating social impact through less conventional curatorial practices has become a primary target and a remit among contemporary and modern art museums in Europe. These particular curatorial practices have involved three characteristics: formulating a new narrative for collection display; involving artists, designers and architects in the creation of these curatorial narratives; and developing forms of institutional engagement with the public. Modern and contemporary art museums are increasingly rethinking the potential role of exhibitions and public programming initiatives to engage substantively with the audience, formulating curatorial research questions that hold an ethical drive. The paper examines and analyses how, in the past few years, ethics has had a strong influence on curatorial practices, leading to new forms of institutional engagement that have fostered social impact. Recently, museum ethics have been reconsidered in the light of more dynamic museum programming, which has ensured the opportunity for all—from artists to the public—to engage with the work of the museum. This paper analyses the influence of ethics on curatorial practice and the features characterising curatorial ethics as a form of institutional engagement shaping either curatorial practice, research questions or research methodologies. Specifically, it investigates Tate Liverpool's curatorial initiatives that have demonstrated how, through different forms of institutional engagement, the museum produces social impact while achieving a new ethical role.