Call for proposals for the edited volume Curating Access: Global Exhibitions & Creative Accommodation. Contributions are sought for an interdisciplinary collection of essays that critically examine global exhibitions and artistic practices that focus on conceptual and creative aspects of access for an edited volume for the Museum & Heritage Studies series at Routledge, who have expressed interest in reviewing a formal proposal.
Oftentimes exhibitions tack on access once the artwork has already been executed and ready to be installed in the museum or gallery. But what if the artists were to ponder access as an integral and critical part of their artwork? Can access be creative and experimental? And furthermore, can the curator also fold access into their practice, while working collaboratively with artists, considering it as a theoretical and practical generative force that seeks to make an exhibition more engaging for a wider diversity of audiences? This volume aims to include essays by artists, curators, and scholars who ponder these ideas through ad-hoc, experimental, and underground approaches within their exhibition-making and artistic practices. The goal is to consider how, through these nascent exhibition models and art practices, enhanced experiences of access in the museum can be a shared responsibility amongst museum workers, curators, and artists, in tandem with the public, so that access becomes a zone of intellectual and creative “accommodation,” rather than strictly a discourse on policy.
All submissions must represent previously unpublished work. Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words, a 50-word bio, and a CV to the email linked above.