The vital role of museum curators

The vital role of museum curators

By Chandra Johan

JAKARTA (JP): Following developments in other fields over the
past 10 years, the world of visual arts also has grown
significantly, both on the business side as well as in the
discourse surrounding this world. The striking development in the
business side of the visual arts is shown in the number of
galleries which continue to open and the never-ending exhibitions
in art centers, galleries, cultural parks, hotels and office
buildings.

Along with these developments, this field of art affords the
opportunity for art theoreticians and observer to become
curators. Long before the term curator became popular, they were
present in museums, assuming functional roles in the management
of collections.

However, curators at this time were unappreciated by the art
world, including academics.

In the past few years, as curators have been expected to play
a more important role in art events, the profession has gained a
newfound respect. Unfortunately, seemingly anyone can become a
curator, even if they do not know what to do or what their
responsibilities are. Art dealers, gallery owners and even the
organizers of arts events feel less credible if they do not have
a curator. It is small wonder that when these people hire
curators with good reputations, they tend to promote the curator
more than the artist.

There are always art dealers or gallery owners who do not
realize the kind of "animal" curators usually are. Out of
ignorance, a gallery in Central Jakarta put an advertisement in a
well-known newspaper for a curator. After the advertisement had
run for a long time, the gallery had received only one
application. By chance the applicant was a graduate from an art
school in the United States.

However, the curator merely was put on "display" by the
gallery -- they advertised the fact they had a curator who
graduated from abroad. The work he did was not that of an actual
curator. Also, this person was somebody looking for a job not
somebody who loved this work, not to mention not knowing anything
about the situation of art in Indonesia. As a result the gallery
collapsed, although, of course, there were other factors behind
its fall.

This story is only one of many which need no further
elaboration. This story also shows that most of society does not
know about the existence and work of curators.

Generally, the formal work of a curator in a museum includes:
identifying, interpreting, classifying and describing
collections; preparing concepts and materials for temporary
exhibitions and occasionally remodeling exhibitions;
investigating the range of collections for data purposes,
information and scientific and popular writing; giving speeches
and guidance to students and visitors.

Those are the general requirements of a museum curator whose
role is more educative and administrative, and thus is generally
called an "information specialist".

However, with current developments in the world of visual
arts, especially the development and growth of institutions like
art centers and alternative spaces, the general role of museum
curators can serve as a theoretical base, while the rest depends
on the quality and individual insight of a curator in absorbing
developments in the art world.

A good curator generally is an expert with a specific
capability. In developed countries like Europe or America, a
curator is not considered good if he does not know the works of
the art masters of the world. Take Rembrandt's Night Watch, for
example. A good curator will know the actual title of this
painting is Kompi Kapten Frans Banning Cocq and Letnan Willem van
Ruytenburch. They will be able to prove this is the correct title
by pointing to evidence, including the chemical change in a layer
of varnish in the painting which caused the surface to blacken
(the painting actually shows a daylight scene). So the title
Night Watch is erroneous.

Not only do good curators remember and know every object in
paintings, but they also can recall the smallest of details. Not
only do they know that this painting shows Captain Cocq, van
Ruytenburch, troops with spears and ancient rifles, the banner
bearer, a girl dressed in white and a drummer, they also know the
nuances of the painting's color and texture, even the black spot
on the drum.

This is why it is not easy to become a curator and why the
profession deserves praise and respect. A museum curator in
Australia receives a standard salary of between $32,000 and
$60,000 per month. A curator in a gallery in Jakarta who
graduated from abroad was paid Rp 1,500,000 a month and quit
after three months.

In fact, Indonesia does not have curator who specialize in
certain subjects or periods, like Julie Ewington, who is an
expert in Australian Art, or Claire Stouling, who is an expert in
European modern art of the l950s and l960s. The curators in
Indonesia, who are few in number and young, are usually
"generalists". Some broadly study Indonesian modern art, but
nobody thoroughly researches certain periods of the movement.

The late Sanento Yuliman is an example of a rare curator and
art critic. He thoroughly research the artist Persagi (and
Sudjojono) and proved Sudjono's modernism through the visual
aspects of his paintings, and compared these aspects with the
ideas of his time.

Jim Supangkat, one of the country's independent curators,
seems to be trying to focus his attention on contemporary
Indonesian art. Beside Jim, we have Amir Sidharta (the curator of
Museum Pelita Harapan), Hendro Wiyanto (independent curator),
Rizki Zaelani and Asmujo Irianto (curators of Sumardja Gallery),
Tubagus Andre (Nasional Gallery), Merwan Yusuf (Istiqlal
Gallery), Asikin Hasan (Lontar Gallery), Suwarno Wisetrotomo
(independent curator), Maman Noor (independent curator) and a few
others who have focused their attention on the art of the
profession.

Although these curators did not study specific periods of art
in-depth -- because this kind of study does not exist in art
academies in Indonesia -- they continue to expand their
experience and educate themselves by attending workshops
organized by foundations and art institutions. In the future, the
roles these curators play will be vital to the growth of the
Indonesian art world.