Curating Cultural Diplomacy: Launch of a Special Issue of the Journal of Curatorial Studies

The event features a roundtable discussion with Norman Vorano (Queen’s University), Asa McKercher (Royal Military College), and Sascha Priewe (Royal Ontario Museum). The editors of the special issue, Lynda Jessup and Sarah Smith, will moderate. 

Curating Cultural Diplomacy was designed to address increasing interest in research located at the intersection of exhibition history and international relations by bringing together the work of scholars who are examining the uses of art exhibitions in cultural diplomacy to explore how curators, patrons and institutions have involved art and exhibitions in facilitating international relations at the levels of the state and of civil society. Of particular interest to the contributors is the question of how art, and the cultural sphere more broadly, serve as a malleable resource in the negotiation of hegemonic values and liberal narratives within and between geopolitical regions. The five articles featured in the issue assess the limits and potentials of exhibitions to function as diplomatic envoys – including attending to the complexities of global cultural exchange, the significance of curatorial approaches, and the complicated partnerships between institutions and various private, public and non-profit organizations that support these initiatives. Engaging with diverse case studies that span the latter half of the twentieth century and the globe, the contributors approach how exhibitions can embody the ideologies of various stakeholders that might not be immediately obvious to their audiences. The Journal of Curatorial Studies is an international, peer-reviewed publication that explores the cultural functioning of curating and its relation to exhibitions, institutions, audiences, aesthetics and display culture.

Access the Journal of Curatorial Studies: 5(3): Curating Cultural Diplomacy by clicking here.