Ask A Curator Day 2016

#AskACurator Day is back for 2016, and it’s year it’s bigger than ever!

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. This year there’s almost double that number taking part!

Wikipedia’s definition of curator says …  “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.”

Just like #AskAnArchivist Day, 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 of them can reply.

THE DATE
Firstly the date it’s all happening is 14 September 2016, so be sure to diary date it. It starts on the 14th September wherever you are in the world. As Australia is ahead of other countries is is still going on by the time we get to the 15th – so 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 – but you will need to be on Twitter to do so. This is a global event, and it’s great to see archives from so many counties already on the list to participate (currently almost 1300 archives taking part all around the world, with 53 of them from Australia).

WHO’S PARTICIPATING?
To view the current list of archives taking part in #AskACurator Day click here. But those from Australia that are currently listed are as below and what an amazing group of archives, museums and heritage centres are taking place. You can find all of their Twitter handles on the AskACurator website.
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Australian National Maritime Museum
Australian War Memorial
Black Diamond Heritage Centre
Carclew Foyer Gallery
Carnamah Historical Society & Museum
Creative Industries Precinct
Geelong Gallery
Geoffrey Kaye Museum of Anaesthetic History
History SA
Golden Dragon Museum
Hurstville Museum & Gallery
Kenneth Tyler Collection: National Gallery of Australia
Migration Museum
Mundaring District Museum
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
Museum of Brisbane
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
Museum Victoria
Museum Victoria’s Discovery Centre
Museum National Gallery of Victoria
Australia National Archives of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
National Film and Sound Archive
National Library of Australia
National Museum of Australia
National Motor Museum
National Portrait Gallery
Nicholson Museum
QAGOMA
Qantas Founders Museum
AustraliaQUT Creative Industries Precinct
Queensland Art Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art
Queensland Maritime Museum
Queensland Museum
QUT Art Museum
QUT The Cube
RMIT Gallery
SA Community History (History SA)
South Australian Maritime Museum
South Australian Museum
Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery
State Library of Queensland
State Library of South Australia
State Library of New South Wales
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Tweed Regional Museum
Victorian Collections
Yarra Ranges Regional Museum

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