Curator Overview

Have you ever been to a museum and been fascinated by the manner in which ancient treasures and artifacts have been preserved? Do you take great pride in India's historical and cultural background? Well then you can preserve this interest by becoming a curator!

 

There is a lot of confusion between an archaeologist and a curator. To put it simply an archaeologist will go looking for an artifact and a curator will interpret it and preserve it. Say a wooden toy found buried deep in the ground. As a curator you will decide if it belongs to the Mohanjodaro era or the Chandragupta period or if someone just left it there last spring.

 

You will study the intricate patterns on the toy and theorise as to the kind of tools used by people in those days. Your findings will paint the overall picture of life during those times.Curators collect, maintain, and protect objects of historical and aesthetic importance primarily in museums, libraries, and private collections.

 

Curators are responsible for the safety and proper presentation of the works. It is the curator's job to document each piece of art that comes in to the museum. This means pictures have to be taken, piece evaluated and described and any damages that the piece might have, have to be recorded.

 

For this, it is necessary to diagnose the causes of damage or deterioration and decide on appropriate treatment. That's not all. As a Curator, all the restoration work has to be painstakingly recorded both in writing and through photographs and the treatment administered should be reversible if the need arises. 

 

The work of a Curator also includes archiving these artifacts and maintaining accurate records. As a Curator you will ensure their safety and preserve them for future generations to see. If that's not all, you will shop around and acquire relevant artifacts and also verify their authenticity.

 

Research is invariably a part of this profession. In these cash strapped times, as a Curator you will also have to don the marketing mantle and arrange for funds from the government and private parties. 

 

A museum sees people both children and adults, from different backgrounds, each one seeking information of a different kind. As a curator you have to constantly evaluate the different antiquities that come into the museum both in terms of their historical value as well as how they should be presented to the common man.

 

Appropriate display of the object is also the work of the curator. For a good display the object should be studied thoroughly in terms of its historical significance and interpreted correctly. This calls for a lot of research and teamwork. 

 

Curators' duties also include making sure that climate and pest control issues are seen to, and at times, overseeing research on collection pieces to make certain the integrity of the piece is maintained (such as dating tests for fossils or x-ray analysis of paintings to determine origin). 

 

Here is a list of the top arts colleges

 

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