Concept as Methodology: What the Concept of Curating and the Curatorial Can Do

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Perforating the Boundaries of Qualitative Research

Abstract

This is a theoretical/conceptual paper that aims to look at the potential of the concept of curating and curatorial as a generative form of methodology, which further expands the apparatus of concept-based methodologies. We first review the concept of curating and curatorial and then attempt to use a particular event (summer tea ceremony at xxx Garden) to illustrate how they can function as a tool in understanding the cultural practice of Japanese tea ceremony, which provides a transient encounter for people to engage kinesthetically and affectively with each other and with objects. This work enables scholars to have a better understanding of what the concept of curating and curatorial can do, thereby bridging research methodologies between social science and humanities.

Authors

• Ran Xiang, The University of British Columbia

• Dónal O'Donoghue, The University of British Columbia