Jens Hoffmann: Creativ Curating
lecture & discussion
Emerging, unusually, from a training in theatre rather than art history or curatorial studies, Jens Hoffmann has used his directorial knowledge in particular to articulate his unique approach to curating. Of key importance for all of his exhibitions is the actual staging of the experience‹ranging from the design of the space and installation, the conceptualization of the catalogue and related programming, to the attention paid to the performance of the work itself. The Œstage-set¹ or rather the exhibition space, site, or geographical location is itself an important factor in the development of his ideas which respond to both time and place. Hoffmann takes into account both the larger historical and socio-political context in which an exhibition takes place as well as the relevant curatorial or art historical relationships pertaining to a project. Using the ideas and strategies of artists, in particular a conceptual tradition of art making, and applying this approach to a curatorial idea of authorship is a defining characteristic of Hoffmann¹s work and results in a personalized exhibition history reflective of a creative development not dissimilar to that of an artist.
