Why curators are the caregivers of the art world

From managing people to solving logistical nightmares, curators are the unseen presence behind every successful exhibition

- Somak Ghoshal

In 2022, Delhi-based curator Adwait Singh was invited to curate the Mardin Biennale in Turkey, in a location close to the Syrian border. In one of the 19th-century limestone buildings in the town of Mardin, he brought together 40 artists from countries across the famous Silk Route, inviting them to reflect on the themes of dispossession and resistance. It was a career-defining moment for him.

"Since I didn't get to train as an artist, the next best option for me to explore the art world closely was in a supporting role," says Singh, who has studied art history and theory in the UK. "I see the curator as an enabler, someone who is there at the right time to make things happen."

When you break it down, that's a wide remit. A curator's responsibilities range from giving feedback to the artists they work with to providing inputs on the display in a gallery or museum, looking after the logistics and, most crucially perhaps, managing people—emotions, expectations, meltdowns, you name it.

"Curators need to protect both artists and gallerists from their worst excesses," Singh says. "They often don't share the same short- and long-term perspectives."

Galleries run the risk of becoming too focused on sales and demand an assembly line mode of supply. Artists, on the other hand, can "become myopic, even tone deaf, and need to be reined in", he adds.

Beyond the inner circle of art enthusiasts, the role of a curator tends to remain shrouded in a haze of confusion. Is a curator's job analogous to what a translator does for a writer? Or does their role entail writing jaw-breaking jargon-filled concept notes that only a chosen elite can make sense of? How does the curator connect the artist with the public?

The word "curate" comes from the Latin root