Workflows
Plan an Exhibition, start to finish
The other guides teach one tool each. This one shows the whole arc — how a show goes from a pile of sources to finished writing, and which tool does what along the way.
No two shows are built the same way, and you won't use every tool every time. But there's a natural order to the work — gather, understand, test, write, adapt — and Curatorial's tools map onto it. Here's one full pass, with links to the deeper guide for each step.
Set up the show and gather your sources
Create a project for the exhibition and build its library — upload the catalogues, papers, and press, and let them index. Everything downstream reads from here, so this is time well spent. See Projects & Library →
A new project with its library building
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Understand what you’ve gathered
Before forming a thesis, read your sources for their structure. Insight Extraction maps the arguments inside each source, and the Assistant lets you interrogate the whole library in conversation. For a focused question over a chosen set, Directed Inquiry returns cited themes and the gaps in your evidence.
Reading the sources with insight extraction and the assistant
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Find the shape of the show
Now look for structure. Connection Mapping shows which materials cluster into themes; the Knowledge Graph surfaces the artists, movements, and places at the centre of it. The cluster that won't stop being interesting is usually your show.
The graph revealing the show's structure
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Don't rush to a thesis. Let the map suggest two or three candidate shows and sit with them before committing.
Pressure-test it
Before you build on the idea, stress it. Gap Analysis names what your research is missing — the period, place, or voice you've overlooked. Comparative Analysis finds where your sources disagree, which is often where your own argument has room to live.
Testing the argument for gaps and tensions
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Write it
Pull it together and draft. Research Synthesis tabulates your sources for the bibliography and the argument; Essay Coaching helps you develop the thesis in your own words; and Hierarchy of Concerns makes sure the argument holds before you polish the prose.
Drafting the essay with coaching and structural editing
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Adapt it for everywhere the show lives
The essay is one output; the show needs many. Content Repurposing turns it into wall texts, labels, and posts without losing your voice; Citation Manager formats the references for each context; and Cultural Translation carries it into a second language for a bilingual catalogue or an international partner.
One essay adapted into wall text, labels, and a translation
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The thread through all of it
Notice what stayed constant: the work — the argument, the judgment, the voice — was always yours. Every tool did the mechanical part so you could spend your attention on the interpretive part. That's the whole idea. Curatorial isn't trying to curate the show. It's trying to give you back the hours the admin was eating, so the show is more yours, not less.
You won’t do these in a rigid line. Real research loops — a gap you find in step four sends you back to gather in step one. The order is a map, not a track.
Start here
Begin the arc
Exhibition Logistics & Production
8 minThe other half of the show — loan agreements, budget, and the labels and press kit that go out the door
Projects & Library
5 minWhere everything lives — organize exhibitions as projects and build a searchable library of materials
The Curatorial Assistant
5 minYour always-present research partner — a chat that knows your library and follows what you're working on
Essay Coaching
7 minSocratic questions and structured feedback that deepen your thinking — never a ghostwritten draft
Build your next show
with Curatorial.
Create a project and walk the whole arc, from first source to finished wall text. Free to start.
Try it free