Adventures and Misadventures in Museums by David Phillips
The pictures on gallery walls look so well-behaved, but there can be Bedlam behind the scenes. Based on my own and colleagues’ experiences, we relive the highs and lows of curatorial life. We find out what’s involved in a gallery make-over, dine (disastrously) with a Duke, discover a masterpiece - and are questioned by Chelsea CID as suspects in a massive art fraud. At the end of the day, the reward should be a gallery full of engaged visitors, and it does often happen - but not always. The incidents of daily curatorial life can be colourful, but in this talk they add up to a solid theme. What are the big issues that art curators face, and where should the whole business be going?
David Phillips:Studied History at Oxford, and from 1968-82 worked for Nottingham Castle Museum. From 1982-98, Lecturer in Museum Studies and Art History at University of Manchester. Published a book about museum practice with Manchester University Press, Exhibiting Authenticity 1997.
Info
