[Culture] Alumni Interview, Daelim Museum Senior Curator Ahn Ju-hui
- Date2019.08.16
- 7946
Ewha Today is carrying out a series of interviews called Ewha DNA with our proud Ewha alumni from all walks of life. Today’s article is a summary of an interview with Daelim Museum’s senior curator Ahn Ju-hui (Department of Media Studies, graduated in 2009).
Q. Hello! First, please tell the Ewha community a little about yourself.
Hello, I am Ahn Ju-hui from the incoming class of ’04 in the Media Studies Department. After I graduated from Ewha, I received a master’s degree from the Art Management Program at Seoul National University’s College of Fine Arts. I have now been working as a senior curator at Daelim Museum for nine years.
Q. We would like to hear about the exhibition planning and installation process and the role of the senior curator.
Planning and installing an exhibition is a complicated job (laughs)! First, we need to determine a future exhibition’s theme and artists through extensive research and surveys. We have to plan an exhibition one or two years in advance, so most of all, it is essential to properly identify the future trends. The next step is to extensively discuss various aspects of the exhibition with the artists, including the concept, artworks, and displays. We then bring the works into the museum and check their condition before installing them in accordance with the display plan.
As a senior curator, I organize and manage the overall process of an exhibition with the responsible curators and assistant curators. In addition, one of my important roles is communication for coordinating the various opinions between artists and curators regarding exhibitions and persuade them to proceed in a desired direction.
Q. What do you think are the personal requirements for a curator?
We can think of many things as the personal requirements for a curator! First of all, they include the capacity to discover specific themes and read present and future trends. The ability to continuously explore and investigate surroundings is necessary for finding good themes and exhibitions. But the most important capability among them all is communication. Curators not only constantly communicate with artists, but also serve as a bridge between the public and artists through exhibitions.
Q. What advice would you give to people who desire to be a curator?
To be a successful curator, you really need to meet many people, and you should travel, experience, and feel a lot. Although these experiences might not be reflected immediately in a current exhibition and your thinking, if you keep every single experience from the past in your mind, someday you will have a chance to use them. If you have hands-on experience in whatever field you like and deeply focus on it for a long time, you will be able to be a professional in that field.
Source: Ewha Today