Curating Greek Art: Roles, Responsibilities & Exhibition at Two Rivers

This essay delves into the multifaceted role of a museum curator, highlighting the responsibilities and challenges involved in organizing an art exhibition centered on the Greek period (750 to 300 BCE). The curator of the Two Rivers Gallery plans an exhibition showcasing five Greek sculptures epitomizing the utilitarian and derivative nature of Greek art. The essay discusses the intellectual authority, collection management, and public engagement aspects of the curator's role, alongside administrative duties like budgeting and staff management. It further elaborates on the selected sculptures—the Pergamon Altar, Riace Bronzes, Goddesses from the Parthenon, God from the Sea (Zeus or Poseidon), and the Motya Charioteer—explaining their significance in representing the artistic orientation of the Greek society and their Hellenistic style.

1Name: BEING A CURATOR Last name:
Instructor name:
The role and responsibilities of a museum curator is multi-faceted. A museum curator
is expected to juggle the diverse responsibilities of managing a museum, keeping a record of
the documents, staff management and organize events among others (Longair: 1-7). The
theme of this exhibition is to provide the audience with the majestic essence of art work of
the Greek period (750 to 300 BCE)As a curator of the Two Rivers Gallery, I am planning to
organize an art exhibition on the theme of the Greek period. The Greek period is epitomized
by the creation of masterpieces of portrait busts, paintings and ideal depictions of the human
body. Greek art is known for being utilitarian and derivative and the five sculptures selected
for the exhibition epitomizes those characteristics. This essay will discuss about the roles,
responsibilities and challenges faced by a museum curator, and discuss about the five
Greek sculptures selected for the exhibition to be organized in Two Rivers Gallery.
This section will address the roles, responsibilities and the challenges faced by the
museum curator. Intellectual authority and the expertise over the subject matter are
considered to be the key characteristics of a curator. The role of the museum curator is to
keep a tab on the collections, artefacts and work of art that are present in the museum.
Curators also tend to the everyday display and care of the items like the collections, historical
or scientific items or artwork to educate the general public. The task of the curator can
overlap with that of the manager. It is because the occupation may demand to play the role of
fundraising, public relations, educational initiatives and marketing. Their job demands them
to form relationships with the community liaisons, stakeholders, preparation of budget and
managing all the members in the gallery. In galleries and small-scale museums and also in the
volunteer-run museums, a curator have the responsibility of performing specialized duties
that includes looking after the collections and taking care of the acquisitions (Charlesworth:
91-100). The onus of the curator is also to shoulder the responsibilities of taking decisions

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about an object that needs to be displayed, conducting research about the collection of
history, keeping a tab on documentation and seeking the packaging of art during the course of
transportation. In case of larger museums, the role of the curator is to act as a subject
specialist, in addition to conducting research on the objects. The curator also look after the
collections. In some large museums, there might be more than one curator to ease the task of
the curator through sharing of the responsibilities. In certain cases, a museum collections
manager in the museum governs the physical care of a collection (Gilmore and Ruth: 745-
760). However, the nature of responsibilities performed by a curator may vary in case of
different museums. Some of these responsibilities are organizing exhibitions and planning the
exhibition, cataloguing the acquisitions and keeping a record, negotiation of the loans,
execution of the administrative duties like planning the budget, writing the bids, training the
staff and the management. They are expected to handle the enquiries from the clients,
visitors, stakeholders and different interest community groups (Edson and David: 45-67).
They are also expected to meet with the members of the council and ensure that the they
receive a steady and a robust funding for the museum. Because of the demanding, managerial
and intellectual nature of the job of a curator, the person is expected to demonstrate a range of
skills that consists of a penchant for art, observational skills, organizational skills and a
methodical ability to complete their research endeavour within the stipulated time. In
addition, it is expected that they would demonstrate robust communication skills and
excellent written abilities with a focussed approach (Kotler and Kotler: 271-287). These
versatile nature of task that a curator is expected to demonstrate and excel in may turn out to
be overwhelming, intimidating, onerous and cumbersome for the curator. These can be
understood as the challenges of the job. All these characteristics would be essential in
organizing the exhibition of Roman sculptures.

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1. Five sculptures or five labels
As discussed earlier, the theme of the exhibition is going to be An ode to the Greek
era. The Greek era is revered for its rich interpretation or art which can be manifested in the
form of murals and panel portraits. The highlights of these paintings were that they were
created with a realistic style. The realistic style of Hellinistic/ Classical paintings in the Greek
era has influenced art of the Roman period (Grant: 43-65). For the purpose of my exhibition,
I have chosen five remarkable works of art. Those are as follows
Label 1: The Pergamon altar (180-160BC)
Description: This statue is depictive of the transformation in Greek art. During the
epoch of the Hellenistic age, Greek art became more sensual, emotional and sometimes
provocative. The Pergamon altar is heightened with passion and intense psychological drama.

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Label 2: The Riance bronzes (460 to420BC)
Description: It is exemplified with colossal statues that were found in the sea located
at the southern part of Italy in the year 1972. It is said that mostly the classical nudes were
engraved in the Greek period.
Label 3: Goddesses from the east pediment of the Partheon (c. 438 to 432 BC)
Description: This art installation depicts that the goddesses are gracefully sitting on
the marble and waiting for the Pantheons in Athens. It is considered resplendent and

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mysterious. The highlight of the sculpture is that the artist has carved the statue in such a
manner that it resembles a drapery.
Label 4: God from the sea, Zeus or Poseidon (c.470 BC)
Description: This is asplendid work of art that was found in the sea located in Greece.
It depicts Zeus who is considered the Lord of Olympus is hurling his weapon, the
thunderbolt. He is representative of the divine power.

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Label 5: The Motya charioteer (c. 350 BC)
Description: This statue is representative of the potently charged erotic undertone of
the Greek nudes. Although, the youth is not actually nude but is draped in a garment that
accentuates every part of his body.
Therefore, this paper outlined the roles, responsibilities and the challenges faced by a
museum curator in the execution of duty. This was followed by the addressal of the theme of
the exhibition and the five sculptures from The Greek period and their significance. The
Hellenistic style of the Greek sculptures exudes a majestic feeling and appeal to the visitors.
These statues would provide them an insight into the artistic orientation of the then society.
All the sculptures that have been selected are meant to be in consonance with the theme.

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References
Charlesworth, J. J. "Curating doubt." Issues in curating contemporary art and performance.
Ed. by J. Rugg and M. Sedgwick. Bristol, UK: Intellect Books (2007): 91-100.
Edson, Gary, and David Dean. Handbook for museums. Routledge, 2013.
Gilmore, Audrey, and Ruth Rentschler. "Changes in museum management: A custodial or
marketing emphasis?." Journal of management development 21.10 (2002): 745-760.
Grant, Michael. Art in the Roman Empire. Routledge, 2013.
Kotler, Neil, and Philip Kotler. "Can museums be all things to all people?: Missions, goals,
and marketing's role." Museum management and curatorship 18.3 (2000): 271-287.
Longair, Sarah. "Cultures of Curating: The Limits of Authority." (2015): 1-7.

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Source illustrations
Jones, Jonathan. "The top 10 ancient Greek artworks". the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 3
Apr. 2018. . Available:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/aug/14/top-10-ancient-
greek-artworks-jonathan-jones.
Jones, Jonathan. "The top 10 ancient Greek artworks". the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 3
Apr. 2018. . Available:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/aug/14/top-10-ancient-
greek-artworks-jonathan-jones.
Jones, Jonathan. "The top 10 ancient Greek artworks". the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 3
Apr. 2018. . Available:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/aug/14/top-10-ancient-
greek-artworks-jonathan-jones.
Jones, Jonathan. "The top 10 ancient Greek artworks". the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 3
Apr. 2018. . Available:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/aug/14/top-10-ancient-
greek-artworks-jonathan-jones.
Jones, Jonathan. "The top 10 ancient Greek artworks". the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 3
Apr. 2018. . Available:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/aug/14/top-10-ancient-
greek-artworks-jonathan-jones.
Jones, Jonathan. "The top 10 ancient Greek artworks". the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 3
Apr. 2018. . Available:

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BEING A CURATOR
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/aug/14/top-10-ancient-
greek-artworks-jonathan-jones.