The curation of artists’ film and video and distinction-making processes: Tate as a case study

Abstract

This article examines the significant changes in the curation of artists’ film and video that occurred at Tate from the mid-1990s. The events taking place in this publicly funded museum, which holds the United Kingdom’s national collection of modern and contemporary art on behalf of the state, are weaved together with the development of the advocacy work in favour of artists’ film and video by US collectors Pamela and Richard Kramlich. The analysis aims to better define the role of private global economic capital in shaping curatorial approaches within state-funded national institutions and, in turn, within the distinction-making processes that lead to social reproduction. Attention is given to how artists’ film and videos, despite their often progressive content and ephemeral nature, in their passage from cinema/television to the gallery, have not escaped the distinction-making role fulfilled by other more traditional art forms, thus contributing to the persistence of class distinctions.