Don't wait, curate!

This article was originally published in International

You’ve got nothing to do this weekend. The weather is rubbish and you’ve already overspent your brunch budget for the month. Whatever could you do, other than fall victim to the snares of Netflix and FOMO on your sofa? A sure fire way to bag some intellectual brownie points and, you know, actually do something productive with your time, exhibitions are quickly becoming a favourite past-time for the Insta-generation, but have you ever considered what it takes to curate?

“I really enjoy getting completely immersed with the subject that I am curating,” spills exhibition expert, Tory Turk, on her unique approach, “I often joke that I am a ‘method curator’.” Yep, that’s right. Tory is the Christian Bale of the curation world and, while our favourite Batman shape shifts to suit new roles; Tory does… well, whatever she has to. “When curating ‘About The Young Idea’, I did the Woking tour and listened to a lot of the Jam and I drank a lot of martinis when curating ‘Legends of the Martini’”. Needs must, eh?

As far as professions go, “Exhibition Curator” is pretty niche, yet it seems that it was always inevitable that Tory would be crowned with this title. After university she embarked on the post-grad task that is probably familiar to us all: interning. While dividing her time between a fashion PR company and assisting an Art Curator, it soon became clear where her true talents lay. Inspired and ready to take the next step in her career, she decided to do an MA in Curation at the London College of Fashion. “I was bored of the internship hamster wheel; I wanted to jump off and finally take control of my future.” Amen, sister.

Once given an opportunity to thrive, there was no stopping Tory, with her MA thesis exhibition garnering, not only an Arts Grant, but also attention from the press. Her latest project is just as exceptional. Tasked with creating a sequel exhibition to Anita Corbin’s ground-breaking project of the 80s, “Visible Girls”, the 2017 reboot saw portraits of teenage girls from the original exhibition displayed alongside their adult counterparts and recorded interviews. Artfully marrying together past and present, Turks touch ensured that exhibition had perfect synergy.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Tory is keen advocate of embracing new technology in her work. “I love including an interactive element to an exhibition,” she explains. The best part? Photographs are allowed. “I like to think [my work] is serious and fun in equal measures – my exhibitions tend to be very colourful and I encourage people to take photographs by incorporating playful set design.” Who said museums were boring?