The role of the curator is said to reveal implicit choices in creative practice and programming, with this publication inviting readers to witness the inner processes and conversations of those who curate or “care” for live—performing, performance or time-based—arts. With the emergence of roles and training programmes for live arts curators and dedicated conferences and festivals, this in-depth volume is a timely and substantial cross-disciplinary contribution. Compiled over four years, the editors of Curating Live Arts hope it gives room “for as many kinds of definitions of the practice as there are curators” (p. 6). Case studies and theoretical pieces balance descriptive narratives of specific performances and projects with more analytical chapters from curators, researchers, and practitioners around the globe. The chapters explore the multiple meanings applied to live arts curation: to interact with space, place and content of performance; to provoke, mediate and translate with cultural integrity; and to facilitate multiple viewpoints and varied components for audiences and artists.

Initially borne out of Wesleyan University’s Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance 2014 symposium, Curating Live Arts communicates the desire to share resources and document research as “too often our best curatorial conversations take place out of sight and in the margins” (p. 82). Engaging in critical discourse beyond institutional and geographical limits, this volume aims to bring “a diverse range of voices into this burgeoning field” (p. 83). Organised into six broad thematic areas, in addition to the “Prologue,” “Collective Introduction,” and “Epilogue,” the editors invite readers to curate their own experience of the book, with “Curatorial Statements” interspersing the thirty-eight chapters across each section. The first part explores “Historical Framings” of curation across time, its controversial beginnings and political possibilities when “curatorial practices can become preparation rituals for social change” (p. 41). The “Ethical Proposals” of part two explore power dynamics behind curatorial choices, particularly within contemporary dance, with rallying cries to better the situation of fellow live arts practitioners by improving curatorial “equity” (p. 101). “The Artist-Curators” who “seized the right to present their work” (p. 143) are represented in the third part of the book, which includes a diverse range of art forms, including music, poetry, and interdisciplinary work. This section also features artist-activists engaging the principle of “inreach” rather than outreach in collaborative community work (p. 155). Part four of the book, focused on “Exhibition as Events”, examines the relationship between performance and material knowledge in the shift from relics to relationships (p. 252) discussing both the “historical present” (p. 246) and the “Future Archive” (p. 228). The fifth section of the book assesses the unpredictability, fragility and potential transformative power of community-based curation, that can be “a friendly provocation at a time of catastrophes” (p. 290), such as with the ARC.HIVE of Contemporary Arab Performing Arts, in “Artivism.” The book’s final section on “Institutional Reinventions” positions curatorial practice as both a product of “late capitalism” (p. 323) and that which can act as a “decolonial gesture” (p. 340). Here, chapter 33 effectively defines the emergence of the curator within European performing arts, a historical grounding that may have been usefully situated earlier in the publication.

Though the book does include welcome international contributions, and more are discovered via notes and references accompanying each chapter, there is an overarching North American-European presence throughout, acknowledged in the “Collective Introduction” as the mutual perspective of the four editors. The inclusion of interconnected researchers allows the reader to witness processes and projects from overlapping perspectives and the combination (or curation) of chapters into sections does draw attention to relevant themes. However, the references in the “Epilogue” to chapters elsewhere in the book could have happened more regularly, particularly where direct overlaps in content or viewpoints are found. As a result, the frequent mention of dance in museum contexts, multiple mentions of the origins of “curate” in Latin root curare, and several mentions of Chantal Mouffe’s concept of “agon” or “agonism” obfuscates cohesive conversation. There also are some unfortunate typos, including the misspelling of artists’ names and some incorrect page numbers and missed entries in the Index, but overall these are minor issues in what is altogether an impressive publication.

Curating Live Arts provides an invaluable opportunity to deepen engagement with the myriad forms of live arts and curation, while offering insights to those interested in performance/dance/theatre/cultural studies, museology, and community arts. This book is an important contemporary resource and a unique opportunity to collectively hear the theorist-practitioners at the forefront of this inventive international movement.