Apart/Together: Challenges and opportunities for exhibition curation during the COVID‐19 pandemic

This article discusses a cocurated hybrid (online + onsite) exhibition Apart/Together, which was specifically created to support the community during the challenging times of COVID‐19. Its primary aim was to highlight and foster the theme of friendship, while also showcasing the artworks of two contemporary artists, one from the United States and the other from China. The curatorial team forming the backbone of Apart/Together consisted of students from China and the United States and this diverse team of curators played a crucial role in shaping the exhibition's content and approach. This article examines the curatorial process of Apart/Together, focusing on how it was carried out through the perspective of cultural competency. Cultural competency is a dynamic developmental process that develops the ability or sensibility to collaborate effectively with individuals from different cultures. During a collaborative curatorial process, the curatorial team employed appropriate methods to engage participants, leveraging their cultural diversity to foster intercultural communication and integration. The curatorial experience of Apart/Together during the COVID‐19 pandemic confirmed the importance of cultural competency in curation and contributed to the literature on online collaborative curation and visitor‐centered exhibitions.