Abstract
Museums and other curatorial institutions have often taken control in presentations about communities to which the institutions’ decision-makers do not belong. This action has contributed to maintaining systems of power, privilege and oppression like colonialism and created negatively impactful acts like erasure of queer histories. In this context, some communities have built their own curatorial institutions, controlling presentations of what they do. However, some individuals note benefits of presenting at institutions outside their communities. My dissertation provides practical methods for navigating this conflict between curatorial control and benefits of presenting one’s work at an institution that takes away some of this control. I focus on how readers may apply such methods to their public presentations, education or research work, giving space for readers to accept, modify or reject these ideas. I prioritize sharing effective actions over theorizing about what curatorial institutions are or do. To that end, I provide considerations like benefits of giving up some curatorial control, strategies like communicating an institution’s limitations, and more specific behaviors like establishing contact via email. This dissertation’s considerations, strategies and behaviors especially apply to scenarios where a curatorial institution presents work from beyond founders’ or staff members’ communities. These ideas come from my 2022 and 2023 ethnographic research at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This record label and festival within the Smithsonian Institution share music or sound from beyond founders’ or staff members’ communities and have long worked to ensure that people have a say in public presentations of what they do.
Year
5-19-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Keywords
curation, music, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, archive, record label
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Music
Advisor
Benjamin Tausig
Recommended Citation
Pash, Christine, "Towards Beneficial Curatorial Experiences: Case Studies at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings" (2026). Electronic Dissertations and Theses, 2010-current. 170.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/electronic-disserations-theses/170