askacurator

AskACurator Day has been going since 2010, and since 2012 it has been an annual Twitter event held around the middle of September. AskACurator Day seems to seems to grow in popularity each year, with 721 museums from 43 countries taking part in 2014.

There’s still a few weeks left for museums etc. to register, but the stats for those taking part in 2015 already exceed last years: Museums taking part: 832, Countries: 44. You can see the full list here (as at 24 August 2015). And it’s awesome to see so many Australian organisations taking part in this amazing event.

Let’s first get Wikipedia’s definition of curator …  “A curator (from Latin: curare meaning “take care”) is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution (e.g., gallery, museum, library or archive) is a content specialist responsible for an institution’s collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material.”

“It’s a way to talk to curators and people who work in cultural venues you normally don’t have access to.”

The idea of #AskACurator Day is for those of you who are on Twitter, you can send a query or question to a specific archive, museum, National Trust, gallery or other similar organisation that is taking part, just be sure to hashtag it with #AskACurator, and they’ll respond. Or just send a general query using the hashtag #AskACurator, an any number of them can reply.

THE DATE
Firstly the date it’s all happening is Wednesday, 16 September 2015, so be sure to diary date it. It starts on 16th September wherever you are in the world. As Australia is ahead of other countries it is still going on by the time we get to the 17th – so it sort of goes for a day and a bit for us, particularly if you are tweeting overseas organisations.

THE QUESTIONS
Some sample questions on the AskACurator page are:
– What is is like to be a curator?
– How do you decide what to display?
– What is the most unique object in your collection?

I think you get the idea. But honestly just ask whatever you wish.

CAN I PARTICIATE?
#AskACurator Day is open to everyone – both to those doing the asking, and those at the archives – the more the merrier for both. This is a global event, and it’s great to see archives from so many countries participating.

MORE INFO?
For more on #AskACurator Day, click here

ignore the date as it was last years, but look at the questions!

ignore the date as it was last years, but look at the questions!