A collaboratively generated document for anyone to download and distribute.
This document is developed to provide guidelines for freelance curators and others that may find it helpful. It can be shared freely in print, online or otherwise with anyone.
This document is the result of a teaching workshop organised as part of the MA Curatorial Practice, Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen, together with the Norwegian Association of Curators, hosted by UKS (Young Artists’ Society) in Oslo, Norway. It was drafted collectively in a workshop on 11 December 2021 by by Josephine Boesen, Itzel Esquivel, Flóra Gadó, Kirsti van Hoegee, Jaleesa Johnston, Stéphane Kabila, Silja Leifsdottir (Norwegian Association of Curators), Marny Garcia Mommertz, Tominga Hope O’Donnell (Norwegian Association of Curators), Martina Petrelli (Norwegian Association of Curators), Favour Ritaro, Noura Salem, Anne Szefer Karlsen, Miriam Wistreich (UKS) and Niovi Zarampouka-Chatzimanou. The document was adjusted on 13 December 2021 and on 11 March 2022 in conversation with lawyer Tom Eilertsen, Bull & Co.
Curatorial practice is intrinsically collaborative. These collaborations are at the best of time driven by interests and desires that are aligned. Nevertheless, negotiating a contract at the beginning of a collaboration can be part of a useful practice to safeguard a common understanding of how the collaborators together will reach their common goal. Sometimes, collaborations are driven by more pragmatic concerns. Negotiating a contract can provide for meaningful conversations in such situations, to find a common platform for collaboration and agreement on goals and ways of implementation.
