It’s all Mediating: Outlining and Incorporating the Roles of Curating and Education in the Exhibition Context brings together thinkers and practitioners in the fields of exhibition curating and gallery education from different corners of Europe.The publication explores the two core functions of museums: exhibiting of the content and educational activities directed to audiences. These areas of activity – both committed to “mediating” between art and its audience – have existed since the birth of the public museum, but, as the result of professionalisation and specialisation of the museum field, they have developed into separate professions and have become the responsibility of specialised staff. “Curator” and “educator” are both relatively new titles in museums, and, in many countries, the professional education for these occupations is young or yet to be established.The volume sets out to encourage dialogue between the sectors. It discusses how the professional field is outlined at present: How do these aspects relate to each other? What is the division of labour between curators and educators and what are the models of collaboration? What kind of interests and values guide their work? It further examines how the specialists incorporate their roles: How are professional identities built? While specialisation has brought focus and quality to the practice, have the fields drifted too far apart from each other?The book is a source of information and insights for anyone working in curating and education, including both practitioners as well as researchers of these fields. With its international span, the book serves the interests of students in the fast growing fields of curatorial studies, museum education, and museology in different parts of Europe. The issues tackled in the book have pertinence also for cultural policy study and research.It’s all Mediating is produced by the Finnish Association for Museum Education Pedaali.
Kaija Kaitavuori is a gallery educator, writer and art historian working in Finland and the UK. She was the Head of Education at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki for ten years. She is a founding member and was the first president of the Finnish Association for Museum Education Pedaali.Laura Kokkonen is an independent art historian, currently pursuing studies in Curating, Managing and Mediating Art at the Aalto University in Helsinki and working in publishing, art criticism and curating.Nora Sternfeld is an educator, writer and curator. She is the Professor for Curating, Managing and Mediating Art at the Aalto University in Helsinki and Co-Director of the ecm – educating/curating/managing – master’s program in Exhibition Theory and Practice at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. She is also a member of trafo.K, the office for art education and critical knowledge production based in Vienna.
