Curatorial Work as a Care Practice and Why it is necessary in Myanmar

The 6 Cs of care needed in patient care are accordingly: Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Commitment. The word curator originates from the latin word ‘cura’, which means ‘to care.’ A curator outside the context of exhibitions, museums or galleries, is a caretaker, helper and a guardian. The concept of “cura”-torial work is rooted in “care”. It has the essence of motherhood, of preserving and persevering.

Let me start by trying to define what a curator is for me. I believe curatorial work to be too diverse to be defined by one person’s definition of what it should be. It’s quite a versatile function and is packed with so many possibilities, discoveries and responsibilities. I have started to relate my curatorial work to a recent thesis I read where the author coined the term “quantum posthumanism.” which is, in his terms, becoming everything and becoming nothing. The author tries to relate quantum theory with post humanism, “embracing notions of entanglement, inseparability, relationality.”

A curator is an entangled existence. They are usually the meeting point of artists, exhibition, time, space and public. They are perhaps also post-labels, post-classification. They don’t have definitive tasks of what they should do in their job. Boundaries are constantly crossed. Conversations are constantly made. They constantly jumped through other job specific tasks to accomplish their work. They are the writer, artist consultant, marketer, handy worker, event planner, caterer and whatever else function is necessary to make an exhibition happen. They are quite everything but nothing at the same time, as no one has a concrete definition of what they do, or where to group them. In their exhibitions, they are “everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Slide from the presentation "Curating and Caring" by Phoo Myat Thwe, her faced photoshopped to the movie poster, "Everything, Everywhere, All at once."

The conversations around curatorial work in Myanmar have mostly ranged from “never heard of the word” to “why is it necessary?” Art market wise, there is no real role for a curator in Myanmar. Most galleries in Myanmar are not concerned with putting up quality shows or not interested in the idea of an exhibition all together. The value of the art trade is not the art knowledge or the quality of the work but the clout the artist possesses, and the money it could sell for. Therefore, there is no need to understand art history, global trends, and scout upcoming younger artists. Almost all the galleries work with the same artists whose works guarantee that it would sell for a high price. The process of an exhibition is simply done with nails on the wall, hanging the paintings, and tomorrow it’s the opening, without any research or concept involved. To be a curator in Myanmar is to advocate for oneself that one is essential and has value, in an atmosphere that is quite not welcoming. No local museums or galleries would create a position for one to belong. A handful of 1970s-80s born artists have attempted over the recent two decades to integrate curatorial practice in events done at/by foreign institutional spaces and the results have been satisfactory until the February 2021 coup.

Any curator in Myanmar is, therefore, an independent curator, without the backup of a gallery, an institution or a museum. Curators tied to such specific places, function differently, and with much different agendas. Tied to a museum, they function as individuals who take care of museum collections, contextualizing items to ideate different exhibits, acquiring, conserving and restoring artworks. A curator that works for a gallery might do all of the above and take a more market-oriented approach to exhibition-making. An independent curator might or might not function the same as the previous two. They could have a more daring and experimental approach to their work. What I mention are very general descriptions of how each can function.

Slides from the presentation "Curating and Caring"

by Phoo Myat Thwe

So how does a curator function in Myanmar? Some of us have done the work without knowing it’s curating. Some of us have self-labeled and self-initiated projects. We are rarely in galleries and we are definitely not in museums. There are many trial and error versions of curators in Myanmar. My recent attempt last year to plan a curator symposium in Myanmar has shown that the definition of a curator is somehow understood as a planner of an art event. In my opinion, curators’ functionality in Myanmar needs a more imaginative approach than that. Curators’ ability to contextualize can make them conflict resolvers and bridge makers. The “care” embedded in curating has to be more than object-care, but social care and community care. “Within feminist ethics, care is positioned as a fundamental activity and a way of being together.” Curators in Myanmar must adopt strategies to find “ways of being together,” to navigate the complexities of different generational gaps/grudges, style/ medium-based exhibitions that are common in Myanmar, reconciliation of public and art, and how to talk about/ communicate multi-generational long trauma (Seven Decades Exhibition by Htein Lin is a good example). If done correctly, curatorial work can be an answer to many questions we face in the art scene today in Myanmar, “how to break the traditional art market ceiling and make younger artists’ expressions more valuable?”, “how to create more spaces for cultural workers economically?”, “how to establish connections between art scenes in different cities?”, etc. The lack of any structures or systems to limit what a curator could do can be a blessing. The flexibility of an independent curator can integrate oneself to any work one deem is necessary in the art scene.

Curators are in a way space-conjurers. In finding “ways of being together”, compassion, communication and competence are keys to success. For example, in attempting to bridge generational gaps, empathizing and showing compassion to both sides, communicating each sides’ needs to others, comprehending the art scene enough to find the middle ground for them could lead to fruitful projects. However, working in a tight-knit community, the line between professional relationship and friendship can be at times blurry. It can be both advantageous and disadvantageous. A curator is traditionally seen as a power-monger of an exhibition space. With no hierarchical structure present in Myanmar, the relationship between the curator and the artists is a collaborative process on equal footing (though at times the curator became an assistant exhibition manager for an artist, when working with those who couldn’t understand the functionality of the role. It is unfortunately to be expected as the role is not widely acknowledged). Here I would like to define care as taking up the responsibility to bond, connect, and understand your colleagues. It sometimes means changing the exhibition date because your artist/ friend is in a funk, and can’t produce works in time. Sometimes it means crying with them together after a breakup so they feel better. Sometimes it’s cooking them food, and giving them space to sleep until the work is done (or forever). The “life” is very much integrated in the “work”. The disadvantage is that when problems arise, they become partly personal problems, rather than just professional. The care practice in curatorial work must include self-care too in times like this. It’s necessary to establish essential boundaries between “art” friends so that when situations arise, both sides are protected. Otherwise, the curator becomes an "exhausted" existence, shouldering all personal and professional responsibilities.

Curatorial work in Myanmar can be done more efficiently if the work is not approached in a stagnant form of already established structures outside in developed countries. It should find a way that is most suitable to fill the necessities of the scene. Moreover, care is not only a necessity but a strategy to be tenacious in the long run. To care is to commit and have the courage to continue despite the adversities and lack of demand. Being a curator in Myanmar is no easy task. One is “everything, everywhere, all at once.” However, as one finds compassion and strength to continue their work, they must also look after themselves vigorously, creating healthy boundaries and caring for one’s own mental, physical health. This is the only way to accomplish bigger ambitions in the long run.

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