As a curator I conserve and interpret cultural material and its meanings
for many audiences/visitors.
I see at least two kinds of conflict, if that is what you want to call it.

The first is preserving the object but at the same time meeting the
challenge of giving the visitor access to its meanings.(This is far more
complicated than the often oversimplified understanding of some who reduce
it to physical access).

A second conflict may be better described as a dialogue problem between the
visitor and curator. Too often this problem arises as a one way overly
didactic 'conversation' between the curator of an exhibition and its
intended audience. The visitor enters the conversation through the text
labels and so on without necessarily being invited to engage in it or have
a chance to respond to it.
A lack of meaningful dialogue in an exhibition is neither satisfactory for
the visitor or the curator, but may not necessarily be a direct result of
the curator's making.

Just a thought.....

Jennifer Nuske
CURATOR
Port Arthur Historic Site
Port Arthur TAS 7182
Australia

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