89. Tehmina Goskar Critically Engages with Curation, Wherever It Happens
Welcome to Museum Archipelago in Your Inbox, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Museum Archipelago, your audio guide to the rocky landscape of museums, is hosted by me, Ian Elsner.
Dr. Tehmina Goskar, director of the Curatorial Research Centre, co-founded MuseumHour with Sophie Ballinger in October 2014. The weekly peer-to-peer chat on Twitter “holds space for debate” for museum people all around the world.
This month, Goskar officially steps back from her role at MuseumHour. This episode serves as both an “exit interview” for Goskar’s MusuemHour work and a chance to highlight other projects that she has founded based on her curatorial philosophy.
In this episode, Goskar discusses founding the Curatorial Research Centre, democratizing culture through her Citizen Curators program (in association with the Cornwall Museums Partnership), and how over six years of MuseumHour conversations have shaped her work.
“What is a curator? I boil it down to a curator is 50% knowledge generator and 50% communicator. And wrapped around that equation is the very heart of the word curate, which means to care for.” - Tehmina Goskar
Gallery Continues ⏭️
The last time Museum Archipelago covered curatorial work was back in October 2019, when we spoke with independent curator Elena Gonzales about her book, Exhibitions for Social Justice. In this episode, Gonzales takes us on a tour of some of the main themes of the book, examining the strategies of museum institutions from the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia to the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.
Archipelago at the Movies🍿How to Steal a Million (1966)
It's night at the museum. But it's not 2006, it's not New York City, and there's no Ben Stiller. It's 1966, and it's Paris, and Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole have snuck into a broom closet at the fictional Kléber-Lafayette Museum. They’re here to steal the Cellini Venus statuette, worth 1 million dollars.
The night guards fan out, looking for any stragglers or hideaways in the empty gallery. The paintings and statues look out on empty rooms. At midnight, the cleaners come through, cleaning every stone column and marble tile. The high tech security system protecting the Cellini Venus keeps its blue eyes open in an unblinking stare.
And only Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole know that the Cellini Venus statuette is fake.
Today on Archipelago at the Movies, Rebecca Reibstein joins me to discuss 1966's surprisingly prescient heist comedy, How to Steal a Million.