Uro Publications hosted an evening to celebrate the launch of The New Curator: Exhibiting Architecture and Design by Fleur Watson. Hosted at Composite, Collingwood Yards, author Fleur Watson introduces the themes, ideas and key projects explored in The New Curator, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Esther Anatolitis with Watson, Rory Hyde, Kate Goodwin, Su san Cohn, Aric Chen and Beatrice Leanza – all are contributors featured within the book.

The New Curator: Exhibiting Architecture and Design examines the challenges inherent in exhibiting design ideas. Traditionally, exhibitions of architecture and design have predominantly focused on displaying finished outcomes or communicating a work through representation. In this new book, Fleur Watson unveils the emergence of the ‘new curator’. Instead of exhibiting finished works or artefacts, the rise of ‘performative curation’ provides a space where experimental methods for encountering design ideas are being tested. Here, the role of the curator is not that of ‘custodian’ or ‘expert’ but with the intent to create a shared space of encounter with audiences. To illustrate this phenomenon, the book explores ational range of exhibitions. Divided into six themes, a series of project profiles are contextualised through conversations with influential curators and cultural producers such as Paola Antonelli, Kayoko Ota, Mimi Zeiger, Catherine Ince, Aric Chen, Zoë Ryan, Beatrice Leanza, Prem Krishnamurthy, Marina Otero Verzier, Brook Andrew, Carroll Go-Sam, Rory Hyde, Eva Franch i Gilabert, Patti Anahory and Paula Nascimento.

Speakers
Fleur Watson, Executive Director and Curator for the Centre for Architecture Victoria | Open House Melbourne.
Esther Anatolitis, Deputy Chair of Contemporary Arts Precincts and Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT School of Art.
Rory Hyde, Associate Professor in Architecture, Curatorial Design and Practice at the University of Melbourne.
Su san Cohn, jeweller, craftsperson, designer, curator, writer, performer.
Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director of Het Nieuwe Instituut.
Beatrice Leanza, cultural strategist, curator and critic.
Kate Goodwin, Professor of Practice in Architecture at the University of Sydney.