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The Big Bang at Centre Georges Pompidou

Reconsidering Thematic Curation

Courtauld Institute of Art

One of the world’s largest collections of European modern art, held by Centre Georges Pompidou, was displayed for the first time in a thematically-curated exhibition, The Big Bang (2005). This review article evaluates the merits and permutations of thematic curation, in lieu of The Big Bang’s relation to previous instances of thematic curation of significant museum collections, most notably at the Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern. The Big Bang is also considered against the ideological underpinnings of both thematic and chronological curation, and their implications for the future.

Key Words: ahistorical • art • curating • exhibition • Pompidou • thematic • modern

References

• Badiou, Alan (2005) ‘In Conversation with Catherine Grenier’, pp. 34-36 in The Big Bang Exhibition Catalogue. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou .
• Baudrillard, Jean (1982) ‘The Beaubourg Effect: Implosion and Deterrence’, Rosalind Krauss and Annette Michelson (tr.), October 20: 3-13.
• Baudrillard, Jean (2003) ‘Objects’, in Passwords, Chris Turner (tr.). London and New York: Verso Press .
• Crimp, Douglas (1993) ‘The Art of Exhibition’, in On the Museum’s Ruins. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
• Grenier, Catherine (2005) ‘The Modern Big Bang’, p. 13-13 in The Big Bang Exhibition Catalogue. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou .
• Meijer, Deborah J. (1996) ‘The Museum and the "Ahistorical" Exhibition: The Latest Gimmik by the Arbiters of Taste, or an Important Cultural Phenomenon?’, in Reesa Greenberet al. (eds) Thinking About Exhibitions. London: Routledge .
• Nixon, Mignon, Alex Potts, Briony Fer, Antony Hudek and Julian Stallabrass (2001) ‘Round Table: Tate Modern’, October 98(Fall): 3-25 .
• Ritchie, Ian (1994) ‘An Architect’s View of Recent Developments in European Museums,’ in Roger Miles and Lauro Zavala (eds) Towards the Museum of the Future. London: Routledge .
• Staniszewski, Mary Anne (1998a) ‘Introduction: Installation Design, the Unconscious of an Exhibition’, in The Power of Display: A History of Exhibition Installation at the Museum of Modern Art. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
• Staniszewski, Mary Anne (1998b) ‘The Museum and the Power of Memory’, pp. 291-299 in The Power of Display: A History of Exhibition Installation at the Museum of Modern Art. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .

Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 23, No. 7-8, 243-252 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0263276406073227


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Tang, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?