Crossing Thresholds : Curating Across Contexts within the Public Sphere

Abstract: This thesis aims to investigate how a shift of the context in which artwork is presented necessitates ashift in curatorial approach. The discussion considers the overlapping categories of public andprivate in the spaces in which art is presented and encountered within the public sphere.By critically engaging with public sphere discourse, I construct a theoretical perspective rooted inChantal Mouffe's concept of agonistic space. I advocate an adaptive curatorial approach whichregards potential audiences as plural and fragmented. This perspective is then used as a lens throughwhich to analyse the curatorial strategies operative within three case studies of exhibition projectsfrom the artistic practice of Johanna Gustafsson Fürst, and to reflect on the future potential foragonistic curatorial approaches.