Museum as activator, museum as activist, museum as agitator | Pedro Gadanho | TEDxViennaSalon

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Curating can be a critical practice, even when situated within an institutional frame. Museums are conservative structures, but they can operate as activists and activators, as well as awakeners of public consciousness. Examples from the presenter’s own experience at MoMA reveal facets of this curatorial stance, which can both rely on reinterpretations of existing collections, or on the creation of entirely new, transformative content.

Pedro Gadanho is the Curator of Contemporary Architecture in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Since he joined MoMA in 2012, he is responsible for the Young Architects Program, and he curated the exhibitions 9+1 Ways of Being Political, Cut’n’Paste, and Conceptions of Space. Previously, he divided his activity between architecture, teaching, writing and curating.

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