what lies at the heart of curation

After a recent discussion on Instagram with some fellow makers about the difference between curating and collecting, I got to thinking about what curation means to me. It's a word I often use in conjucntion with my work as the Coordinator of a fine arts gallery, and also in my role as Artistic Director of a contemporary dance festival. But it's also a word I find myself using more and more in reference to how I shape my daily life.

The word curate means to "select, organize, look after or present" as in items in a collection or exhibit. It comes from the Latin word cura which means to care.

To curate is to choose.

To choose is to compose.

To compose is to arrange with care.

And this, for me, is what lies at the heart of any kind of curation, whether it's selecting artists for a gallery, choosing handmade goods for a retail shop, building a network of like-mided makers to follow on Instagram or arranging cherished items in your home: the act of caring. To choose with intention, to choose from the heart. And to cultivate a love and respect for that which is chosen.