Intermediation, place and value creation: Exploring the processes and spaces of 'curation'

Project aim
This research project has focused on processes of curation and investigated the role that intermediary spaces, people and processes play in sorting, filtering, and creating value(s). The concept of curation draws attention to the relational and spatial contexts that are important for value making creation. In this project we have considered the processes and physical, virtual and temporary spaces where interactions between actors and processes of value making occurs and where links and bridges are forged.
Empirically, the project has focused on three unique but related industries (art, music, high-end audio equipment) central to Sweden's creative economy. These sectors were carefully chosen because curation is central as each sector features market saturation, intense global competition, a consumer base overwhelmed by choice and a range of traditional and emerging curators who filter oversupply, help to evaluate inherently subjective and highly symbolic product qualities and ascribe value to specific products.
As intermediation, and curation more specifically, has been understudied in economic geography we developed an exploratory research design through which we aimed to nuance existing, and develop new, understandings of curation. Qualitative methods (e.g. in-depth interviews and participant observation) as well as quantitative methods and sources (e.g. statistical industry data), have been employed to collect data from a range of curators who operate in the three case industries.

The project has primarily employed research questions in relation to the concept of curation:
- What is curation and what forms does it take?
- What actors perform curation?
- Where does curation occur and what is its relationship to space and place?

The project's three most important results and conclusions

What is curation?
The word ''curate'' is derived from the Latin verb ''curare,'' which means taking care, and is traditionally associated with art and museum collections. Over time, the role of curators has shifted; from preserving and archiving art to selecting, evaluating, displaying, and framing pieces. Recently, the concept has been accentuated, extended and applied to curators in other fields, such as music, fashion, food, and craft, not least in consumer markets.
This project approached defining curation from two directions using both a literature review and analyzing the empirical material. For example, the literature review identified no less than 80 descriptive terms related to curation. However, based on this literature and our own research, we understand curation to involve caring for objects and interpreting, translating, shaping and confirming the marketplace through the strategic practice of searching, discovering, filtering, sorting, organizing and evaluating products. Ultimately, these practices ascribe value(s) to specific products through processes of framing, contextualizing and legitimizing.

Who are the curators?
The research project has noted that the three case industries (art, music and hi-fi) that are in focus are in different stages of transformation where traditional actors of intermediation are partly being replaced by new actors and structures. This transformation can be summarized in two overlapping processes. First, technological development has led to what can be described as a democratization process of curatorial practices and processes. This may lead to a process of 'de-concentration' in the sense that technological development seemingly is opening up information and communication channels for an increasing number of actors and individuals and thus democratizing information and knowledge flows. Hence, arguably 'anyone can be a curator', which is also shown in the plethora of new and emerging curators. Also, while the blurring between amateur (although sometimes, but not necessary, highly skilled) and professional curators is increasing, the de-concentration of curatorial processes simultaneously leads to de-professionalization. Second, we argue for an additional and somewhat contradictory development; although technology enables a more intensive participation of an increased number of individuals and actors, new power structures are built up and traditional hierarchies are transformed and/or re-established. Rather, new and transformed traditional curators create new power structures and 'curatorial alliances' which counteract democratic aspects of contemporary technological developments.
Contemporary curatorial processes and actors are characterized by their 'multiple positionalities' as technological development and the related de-professionalization allow for an almost complete hybridity between different positions as producer, intermediary and consumer/user. This leads to different forms of co-production/creation and ultimately co-curation. Examples of these intermediary actors include retailers/shops, auction houses, museums, galleries, online platforms, influencers, fairs, conferences, venues, streaming services, festivals, blogs, magazines etc. More specifically the research project involved with studying curators such as record stores, private art collectors, commercial contemporary art galleries and online forums focusing on high-end audio equipment.

Where does curation take place?
This research project emphasizes the spatial dimension of curation focusing on a variety of spaces ranging from physical, virtual and temporary spaces. The concept of curation shows how the contemporary economy is predominantly multi-scalar and interlinked. For example, we found that more traditional spaces are increasingly being replaced by new spaces of importance for curation, primarily virtual spaces. Not least, the research project has identified how both curatorial processes, actors and where these processes take place can be seen as overlapping. In relation to this, key is that they complement rather than substitute. In relation to the specific spatial dimensions studied we found that - Physical spaces: permanent physical spaces are central to how economic and cultural activities unfold and processes occur. Physical environments, such as shops and stores, are central to where consumers and producers meet and value is exchanged and physical environments such as museums and galleries are central to where value is created, communicated and stored. Virtual spaces: the internet has led to sites and spaces that, though online, constitute very real meeting and interactive spaces. Online spaces are increasingly important to exchange and retail and to how products are curated. Temporary spaces: alerts us to the importance of events and temporary meetings in configuring economic and cultural fields and industries. Events such as trade fairs are vital meeting points where processes of selection, filtering, displaying is taking place and thus value is negotiated created and commercialized.

Developing new research questions
Although this project has led to important insights and understanding of curatorial processes and practices, new issues and more detailed and nuanced research questions have also been raised. A general call is to further explore the complex socio-economic geographies that shape contemporary value making processes and the primarily urban contexts economy curatorial practices and processes are developed and adapted to function within. The challenge for today's geographers and research that involve spatial perspectives is to understand and explain markets where many different types of actors meet and where the interaction takes place simultaneously in various spaces and contexts. Not least, it is important to lift the gaze from a spatial focus on the urban and nuance our understanding of how places beyond the urban constitute significant spaces for both innovation and curatorial processes.
More specifically, potential avenues for further enquiry could include considering how different curators are interacting with each other as well how they interact with producers and consumers, e.g. how and why producers choose to work or interact with different curators, how individual consumers are enrolled (consciously or unconsciously) through various channels e.g. social media.
From a system perspective, it is relevant to study how curators are positioning themselves within and in relation to global production networks or local production and consumption eco-systems. A closer investigation of how curators create and communicate values in the marketplace not only for themselves but for producers, consumers, specific products, platforms and spaces including e.g. shops, neighborhoods and cities.
In addition to developing even more robust conceptualizations of curation within specific contexts, a more complete picture may be produced by comparing and contrasting curation-related activities, processes, motivations, values and spatial dynamics across different industries and markets both related to and beyond the cultural and creative industries.
Finally, while the research in this project certainly represents a broad range of intermediary actors and type of activities, it is clear that the control over these processes is mainly in the hands of a few actors. At the same time, technological developments have, to some extent, democratized the production of cultural content, and has, to some extent, governed the distribution of resources in the creative economy. Nevertheless, large parts of the economy are re-concentrating these resources. This brings us to the question of existing and changing power structures in relation to curatorial processes. It emphasizes the need to go further in understanding the basic structures and mechanisms that govern curatorial processes with regard to e.g. class, race, gender and socio-economic background.

Dissemination of research and results and collaborations
The results of this project have contributed to broader academic discourses as well as non-academic contexts. Results have been published and disseminated primarily through articles in top international academic journals spanning a range of disciplines such as Journal of Cultural Economy, Journal of Consumer Culture, Geoforum and Environment and planning A. Additionally, other publications include books and book chapters.
Research and results have also been disseminated through numerous national and international conferences and workshops. More specifically, the research team have organized sessions in international conferences focusing on issues related to curation both from the perspectives of academics and practitioners. The research team has also been responsible for establishing and organizing an annual colloquium and international research network where issues related to curation has been discussed and researched. Building on this international research network a book (Culture, Creativity and Economy, forthcoming 2021) will be released that cover topics related to this research project.
In addition, dissemination strategies involving publications and participation in non-academic contexts have aimed at targeting wider audiences and to produce academic work that is policy relevant.

Publications

Books
Hracs, B. J., Seman, M. and T. Virani. (2016) "The Production and Consumption of Music in the Digital Age." Routledge.
Hracs, B. J., T. Brydges, T. Haisch, A. Hauge, J. Jansson and Sjöholm, J. (Eds) (Forthcoming 2021) Culture, Creativity and Economy. London, Routledge.

Book chapters
Comunian, R., L. England and B. J. Hracs (Forthcoming) Cultural Intermediaries revisited: Lessons from Cape Town Nairobi and Lagos. In Hracs, B. J., T. Brydges, T. Haisch, A. Hauge, J. Jansson and J. Sjöholm (Eds) Culture, Creativity and Economy. London, Routledge.
Hracs, B. J. and D. Jakob. (2015) 'Selling the Stage: Exploring the spatial and temporal dimensions of interactive cultural experiences.' Spatial Dynamics in the Experience Economy. Eds A. Lorentzen, L. Schrøder and K. Topsø Larsen. New York: Routledge: 71-87.
Jansson, J. & Gavanas, A. (Forthcoming 2020) The development of electronic dance music in Stockholm: Curated by pioneers, spaces and resistance", in Hracs, B. J., T. Brydges, T. Haisch, A. Hauge, J. Jansson and Sjöholm, J. (Eds) (Forthcoming 2021) Culture, Creativity and Economy. London, Routledge.
Jansson, J. & Power, D. (2017) "Ett ekonomisk-geografiskt perspektiv på intermediära processer och 'kuratorer'" in Borén, T. (ed.) "Urban utveckling och interaktion". Svenska Sällskapet för Antropologi och Geografi. Ymer 2017, årgång 137. pp. 111-128.
Jansson, J. & Waxell, A. (2017) "A framework for quality-based regional competitiveness" in Huggins, R. & Thompson, P. (eds.) "Handbook of Regions and Competitiveness". Edward Elgar. pp. 332-347.

Articles
Brydges, T., B. J. Hracs and M. Lavanga (2018) 'Evolution versus Entrenchment: Debating the impact of digitization, democratization and diffusion in the global fashion industry.' International Journal of Fashion Studies 5(1): 365-372.
Hracs, B. J. and J. Jansson (2020) Death by Streaming or Vinyl Revival? Exploring the Spatial Dynamics and Value-Creating Strategies of Stockholm's Independent Record Shops. Journal of Consumer Culture 20(4): 478-497. Open access.
Hracs, B., Jansson, J. & Sjöholm, J. (Forthcoming) "Curation: a comparative approach to art, music and high-end audio equipment" (Forthcoming in international peer reviewed journal).
Hracs, B. J. and J. Webster (2020 - Online First) 'From Selling Songs to Engineering Experiences: Exploring the Competitive Strategies of Music Streaming Platforms.' Journal of Cultural Economy. Open Access.
Jansson, J. (2019) "The online forum as a digital space of curation". Geoforum. Vol. 106, No. pp. 115-124. Open access.
Jansson, J. (2014) "Temporary events and spaces in the Swedish primary art market". Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie (The German Journal of Economic Geography). Vol. 58, No. 4. pp. 202-215.
Jansson, J. and B. J. Hracs (2018) Conceptualising Curating in the Age of Abundance: The Case of Recorded Music in Sweden' Environment and Planning A 50(8): 1602-1625. Open access.
Joosse, S. and B. J. Hracs (2015) Curating the quest for 'good food': The practices, spatial dynamics and influence of food-related curation in Sweden. Geoforum 64, 205-216.
Waxell, A. (2016) "Writing up the region: anchor firm dismantling and the construction of a perceived regional advantage in Swedish news media". European Planning Studies, 24(4): 742-761.

Working Papers
Brydges, T., A. Hauge and B. J. Hracs (2020) 'Purveyors of Cool: Independent Fashion Retailers and Neighbourhood Change.' Published in the Economy, Society and Governance Research Group Working Paper Series (University of Southampton).

Popular science and other publications
Jansson, J. (2020) "Konstmuseet behöver inte stå ensamt". UNT 2020 10 15.
Jansson, J. (2020) "Review of songs from Sweden: shaping pop culture in a globalized music industry", Social & Cultural Geography, DOI: 10.1080/14649365.2020.1807715.
Jansson, J. (2020) "Debatten om konstmuseet saknar helhetsperspektiv". UNT 2020 04 16.

Web pages
Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Intermediation-place-and-value-creation-Exploring-the-processes-and-spaces-of-curation
Johan Jansson: https://katalog.uu.se/empinfo/?id=N0-540,
Brian Hracs: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/geography/about/staff/bjh1y13.page, http://brian-hracs.squarespace.com/
Dominic Power: https://www.su.se/profiles/dpowe-1.282769
Jenny Sjöholm: https://liu.se/medarbetare/jensj40