#MeettheCuratorMonday
Meet the juror for our current exhibition, In God We Trust, curator Nezka Pfeifer, museum curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Describe your path to becoming a curator, what drew you to the profession, how did you decide etc..?
I didn't realize I wanted to be a curator until graduate school, but I always knew I loved museums and enjoyed them in all their iterations (historic houses, art museums, historic sites, et. al) so when it worked out that I was able to get a job working on exhibitions after graduate school, I was thrilled that I was going to be able to participate in the field by telling stories (or presenting narratives) that I thought the public should know. Luckily, I have been able to find jobs since that first one where I've been able to continue that goal but also have worked with lots of other people to put exhibitions together. Today, I think the process of collaboration in putting together an exhibition is as important an experience as the narrative presented.
In the context of exhibiting artwork and objects, how do you view your role in relationship to the makers of the work and the viewers of the work?
I very much see myself as a connector in curating an exhibition: the research, the artworks, and the creators are presented together for the public to understand and hopefully learn from, but also to see layered meanings and context that they bring their experiences to.
I am lucky to say that I have many exhibitions I've been proud of putting together, so it's very difficult to choose which one is my favorite or most important. One of the ones that have been very meaningful to me personally was an exhibition I curated on the history and art of the celebration of the Days of the Dead in 2009. A lot of what I learned in that show stays with me today in the subjects I continue to learn about, and hope to address again in the future, including indigenous history and contemporary practice, religion, and mourning.
In jurying In God We Trust for Hera Gallery and the URI honors colloquium, what curatorial perspective were you looking for and what do hope visitors to the exhibition will experience? In jurying IN GOD WE TRUST, I was looking to present a wide swath of religiosity and religious experience here in the USA. Participating in a religion and experiencing spirituality is so complex and diverse for anyone I think, but in a country that espouses religious freedom, there is still a lot of tension and paradox and joy that is difficult to compress or express simply. I think all of the artists who submitted their works to the show captured that dichotomy so I hope that the visitors to Hera Gallery see that but also that they are inspired to learn more about the religions they don't know about personally.
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