2026 Reports

Curatorial Duties, Ethics, and Best Practices: a chapbook and report-back

Dodd, Martina; Fryer, Tiffany C.; Rodgers-Koukoui, Angela; Weber, Melissa A.; Springer, Kimberly

This chapbook documents the proceedings and reflections from the Forum on Curatorial Duties, Ethics, and Best Practices, held at Columbia University on May 5–6, 2025. The gathering convened a "coalition of the willing"—specifically curators of color working within archives and special collections—to address a critical gap in professional scholarship: the unique ethical imperatives and practical distinctiveness of curation within specialized repositories compared to broader fields. Contributors explore how special collections curation, particularly when practiced by BIPOC professionals within predominantly white institutions, must be rooted in non-extractive community relationships, reparative harm-reduction, and an explicit commitment to making evidence of the human experience widely accessible according to the wishes of creator communities.

The volume features personal reflections, professional trajectories, and case studies—such as community collaborative heritage initiatives in Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, Mexico, and local hip hop exhibition programming in Baltimore—that illustrate how information work, when grounded in care, can become a powerful source of healing and transformation. Interspersed with graphic recordings that visually synthesize the dialogue, this publication serves as an entry point to emerging scholarship, advocating for curatorial practices that amplify unheard voices and prioritize compassion over mere acquisition.