Curating Through Signs

Semiotic Approaches to Contemporary Exhibition Practice

AvMieke Bal

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

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Beskrivning

In this interdisciplinary book, renowned cultural theorist Mieke Bal brings a semiotic lens to curatorial practice, presenting curating and art-making as dynamic sites of meaning-making. Grounded in semiotics, the book delves into how signs and their interactions shape not only art but also the processes of curation, teaching, and engagement with culture.Examining various case studies, including her own filmmaking alongside research by Michael Ann Holly, curatorial work by Kyoo Lee, sculptures by Doris Salcedo, urban art by migrants and refugees, and classroom interactions, the book conceptualises curating as a participatory practice. Whether in museums, classrooms, or other contexts, it demonstrates how curating can facilitate a shift from traditional, passive forms of viewing art to a more immersive, participatory form of “seeing".Designed for scholars, curators and students, this book extends Bal’s influential work on visual culture into the realm of curatorial practice, demonstrating how these practices can transform both the spaces in which art is presented and the way it is experienced.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-11-12
Mått:156 x 234 x 12 mm
Vikt:323 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics
Antal sidor:224
Förlag:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:9781350600799

Utforska kategorier

Konstteori inom Kultur
Referensverk och tvärvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik

Mer om författaren

Mieke Bal is a Dutch cultural theorist, video artist, and retired Professor at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is affiliated with the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), the Netherlands, and the Collège de France, France, where she taught the annual European chair in 2023-2024.

Recensioner i media

In this incisive volume, Mieke Bal bridges curatorial practice and semiotic theory, arguing that exhibitions must activate viewers as participants. Through concepts like relationality, diffusion, and affect, Bal shows how art truly ‘works’ not as a static object but as a dynamic encounter. Essential reading for curators, artists, and cultural analysts seeking art’s political agency.

Innehållsförteckning

Introduction: How Semiotics Encounters Cultural Practices such as Curating, Filmmaking, and Teaching1. Entering the European Semiosphere2. U-topia: Optimism as an Entrance into the Future3. Curating as Putting Art to Work, with and for Visitors4. Some Analyses of Relevant Combinations of Works5. The Urban Environment from Chaotic and Neglecting to Look at Foreigners, to “Visibilisation” with the Help of Video Art6. Intermediality beyond Media-Essentialism and Semiotics as its Primary Tool7. How to Make the Classroom Democratic through the Encounter between Literary and Visual Presentations8. Cultural Analysis as a Way of LifeConclusionReferences GlossaryIndex