Tigers, Tampons and Tourism

Collective Curating at MK&G

More than 90 people work at the MK&G, most of them “behind the scenes”. All staff members were asked to have a look around the Poster and Graphic Art Collection and – with the help of search strategies such as Living Room Consultations, Divining Rod Tours, Design on Demand and Poster Tinder – select their favourites. This resulted in the current exhibition of over 100 highlights and curiosities in various formats and from different periods, including comics; postcards; copperplate engravings; film, advertising and political posters; as well as designs for board games and furniture. The staff’s explanations for their choices provide a unique insight into the MK&G collection by demonstrating the variety of ways in which people relate to design. In her first exhibition, the new head of the Poster and Graphic Art Collection, Julia Meer, is opening up a new window onto collection, which comprises well over 300,000 works on paper. In the process, she calls into question the classic role of the curator, the curatorial process, and established modes of narration – a fresh approach that makes room for a hierarchy-free coexistence of diverse approaches and work.