The Curiosity of Unchained Memories

"An exhibition is just a trigger that unchains memory and awakens curiosity at the same time." This comment by Rolando Barahona-Sotela, who is the Director of the Museo De Arte Y Diserio Conrernporaneo in Costa Rica, triggered its own reflections when I heard him say it recently. Rolando is one of those rare curators who rides easily over the bumpy terrain of contemporary art to bring to his public the energy and insight he finds in the hands and minds of artists. The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design is located in a building that was the former National Liqueur Distillery in San Jose, Costa Rica, in Central America. According to Rolando, the role of the museum is to help expand the scope and direction of art and design at the national and international level, and this is done by looking towards the future and reflecting on the recent past at the same time. As a museum director and curator Rolando sees himself as a "witness trying to see, understand, and interpret the energy in the evolution of art, without interfering in its natural flow." But his "invisible presence" doesn't mean that he relinquishes his responsibility as a teacher to share with the public the excitement of learning about something new. But it does mean that he avoids being possessed by the expectations others sometimes impose on the roles he fills. The need to maintain identity and vision while fending off various institutional constraints is a role that many artists, classroom teachers, and researchers will identify with. As my curiosity was awakened further by Rolando's discussion of the collaborative relationship he seeks among contemporary artists, the museum experience and a participating public, I pondered the similarities in the practices of the classroom teacher of art and the art education researcher. There are at least two levels of operation that describe teaching and research. The first defines theories of practice, while the latter gives an account of the realitiesof practice. The practices of the curator, the teacher, and the researcher share many correspondences. All involve at least four elements. First, each role is responsive, and therefore a purpose is generated. Second, a review process or interpretive function is applied. Third, praxis is a central component that involves some kind of a reflexive action. Finally, some sense of possibility emerges as the relevance of outcomes is considered. Let me take a closer look as these common practices. Curators like Rolando invariably offer a clear focus as the exhibitions mounted respond to the challenges of the time. The various interpretations are found within the work of artists, and the review process is subject to the