Collaborative Curation

This is the first exploration of the model of collaborative curation, a non-hierarchical decision-making process that requires a decentering of the individual, to reimagine curatorial practice in film from both individual and institutional perspectives.

This book questions the individualized curatorial process within film exhibition and the limitations surrounding centering the individual gaze, as each time the curator undertakes the process of valuing and selecting films, their positionality and particular lens informs the value they place on films. This can be both a conscious and unconscious process; nevertheless it is crucial to hold an awareness of this subjectivity in film selection. This book proposes the model of collaborative curation to move towards more collective forms of curatorial practice. It demonstrates how singular curators cannot be expected to represent communities; therefore, a considered, collectivized approach can work to ensure greater on and off-screen representations. It is a process of care, which works to dismantle hierarchies to create renewed re-imaginings within film institutions. Collaborative curation is proposed on individual and structural levels as a process of decoloniality by virtue of the shifts in power and knowledge systems and transition to collective forms of organizing.

The book looks at three case studies: the Africa in Motion (AiM) Film Festival, which provides an example of using collaborative curation within a festival; Aya Films, looking at distribution as a form of curation; and the role traineeships play in the UK film exhibition workforce, drawing on the examples of offline and online training platforms: The New Promoter Scheme and Curate-It.