Curator

Steven Heller, art director and exhibition curator

Art curator Katherine Evans

A curator or keeper looks after collections. It may be a private activity, but usually they look after the collections of a cultural heritage institution. Art galleries, museums, libraries or archives have curators. Zoos have zookeepers and underkeepers.

Curators are subject-matter experts who act as managers. It is an official job description in institutions which have collections. The curator's work involves objects of some kind, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items or scientific collections. Curators in zoos are usually called 'keepers', but it is the same idea.

The word curator comes from the Latin word curare, meaning to look after.

Curator Media

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  Curator and exhibit designer dress a mannequin for an exhibit.

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  Emile Theodore (center), museum curator of the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille from 1912 to 1937, shown here during reconstruction of the gallery dedicated to Spanish and Italian paintings, c. 1920.