“I think of curation as a meeting of bodies”—Curating from diasporic and power-critical perspectives

A panel discussion with artist-curators Olivia Hyunsin Kim and Dan Thy Nguyen

Abstract

While colonial and exclusionary structures continue to shape cultural institutions, curatorial practice has increasingly become a site of negotiation over representation, institutional transformation and the distribution of resources. Yet curating extends beyond the selection of artistic works. As the following conversation demonstrates, it is equally a practice of research, relationship-building, care, infrastructural work and the creation of spaces in which neglected histories and marginalised perspectives can be articulated.
In this panel discussion, held as part of the HHU Summer School T(r)anzkultur: Choreographing Diaspora in a Transcultural Landscape, artist-curators Olivia Hyunsin Kim and Dan Thy Nguyen reflect on their curatorial practices from diasporic and power-critical perspectives. Drawing on experiences ranging from festivals and institutional collaborations to archival research, community work and cultural policy, they discuss how curating can challenge established narratives, reshape institutional structures and foster new forms of solidarity. The conversation reflects on curating as a practice of research, care, collaboration and institutional transformation, foregrounding questions of visibility, responsibility and equality.