Making Material Matter : Outlining a Contemporary Curatorial Method

Abstract: The thesis explores a multidisciplinary approach, bridging together perspectives from art-historical, philosophical and anthropological fields of knowledge to question and outline the way materiality has been thought about, and how this in turn can be informative to developing a curatorial methodology. By looking at Moderna Museet Stockholm, the thesis will demonstrate the mileage of thinking materially in the act of exhibition making and the curatorial position. In doing so, the thesis explores various discursive arenas of the institution such as the museum, the temporary exhibition and the permanent collection. Central to developing the methodology are concepts such as agency, revisionist history and cultural modernity.