As autodidacts, they could-or rather should-draw their strength from within themselves, removed from the beaten track. These descriptions thus suggest the distinction between profession and vocation, underpinned by the fact that what was involved was self-taught people, well before today’s curators who benefit from specialized professional training. The descriptions of the “pioneering” type of curator emphasize his erudite character, his style, his charismatic tastes, his self assertion, and his daring.

As an historical figure, this latter thus acts perfectly as a backdrop which, in addition, can no longer be contrasted with the attributions given to it by present-day protagonists. Hans Ulrich Obrist contrasts the heroic dimension with the human, personal dimension, because, as he also shows in his autobiographical narrative Ways of Curating, the personal encounter and, in particular, the conversation, are “the lifeblood of any curator’s metabolism” (Hans Ulrich Obrist, p. 69).ĢIt seems less interesting to wonder if these representations of the history of curating are true or false, than to observe the qualities which recur in these narratives about the (ideal) curator. Previously, it was the pioneers who set the tone and pointed to the direction: individuals (male) with powerful personalities, who, despite all their knowledge, followed their hunches, and who, by turning their backs on traditions, had prepared the way for their successors. We can thus observe that the term curator is being increasingly watered down (Jens Hoffmann, p. 19), that the knowhow behind exhibitions is neglected (idem, p. 20), and that, last of all, a sort of “curationism” has come into being which has not merely contaminated the art system (David Balzer). This change is not due solely to the appearance of female curators, but also and above all to the quantitative explosion of the sector about which everybody is agreed, and which has given rise to a change that has not necessarily been for the better.

1Over these past 25 years, the historiographical situation has changed. Ways of Curating, Colchester: Penguin Books, 2014, p. 60: ' …  these are some (.)ġGiven all the new publications dealing with things curatorial, even though these certainly do not exhaustively represent the current discourse in all its heterogeneity, we get the impression that the curator’s role displays a history which, until the 1990s, was dominated by a successive line of pioneering figures.

Curationism by david balzer