Sarah Turcotte holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and a master’s degree in museology. She is currently completing a Ph.D. in museology, mediation, and heritage at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), focusing on how the political and economic roles of Quebec’s major art museums intersect with their scientific, educational, and social missions. Her analyses have been published in Museum Management and Curatorship (2025), Digital studies/Le champ numérique (2022, 2024) and Revue Animation, Territoires et Pratiques Socioculturelles (2022, 2023). In addition to editing the book L’essor des contre-muséologies (2025), published in the Sociomuséologie & Sociomuseology series by the Lusophone University in Portugal, she has presented her work at national conferences, such as Acfas (2023, 2024), and international conferences in collaboration with the Technical University of Crete (2024) and the Ibero-American University in Mexico City (2023). The quality of her research earned her a spot as a finalist for the Roland-Arpin Prize (2019), the Marcel-Masse Fellowship (2021), and support from Mitacs, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et Culture (FRQSC), and the Observatoire des médiations culturelles (OMEC).

While pursuing her doctoral studies, Sarah founded the organization Projet commun to explore collaborative approaches to arts and culture. The curatorial proposals, reflections, and productions resulting from her initiative have been presented at Espace Produit Rien (2022), Café Reine Garçon (2022), Parc Offsite/Eli Kerr Gallery (2023), OMEC (2024), the Foire Plural (2024, 2025, 2026), at the PHI market (2024), and during an intimate performance in Quebec City (2025). Her involvement with Projet commun earned her the Société des musées du Québec’s Prix Relève (2024) and the grant of the Syndicat des professeures et professeurs de l’UQAM (SPUQ) under the Excellence and Engagement category of the Fondation de l’UQAM (2024).

Sarah has also made other professional contributions, including texts published in the journal Vie des arts, in an exhibition catalog for the Dazibao Art Center, and on the PHI blog, where she worked for over three years as visitor experience coordinator. She currently works as the Head of Programming and Outreach at Les Impatients, an organization dedicated to art and mental health, where she continues to enrich her curatorial practice, notably through Nids communs (2026).

Curatorial Approach

My curatorial practice is based on a collaborative approach to reflection and creation. Through my organization, Projet commun, I develop various curatorial and artistic proposals by involving, at different stages of the process, other curators, artists, members of the public, cultural workers, as well as diverse community groups and venues. My approach is rooted in the movements for the democratization of culture (access to the meaning of works) and cultural democracy (diversification of discourses and artists), which have been underway since the second half of the 20^th century. I draw inspiration in particular from “counter-museologies”, encompassing currents such as social museology, critical museology, and ecomuseology, to define and enrich my approach. From a reflective perspective, I conceive of my curatorial practice as evolving, experimental, and organic, drawing inspiration from a multitude of encounters. Whether through theoretical writings or intimate conversations, I am driven as much by substantive exchanges as by those arising from the moment.

While decades of efforts in cultural mediation have sought to broaden access to art and culture, questions of inclusion, representation, and (in)utility remain unresolved. To make the art world a true “shared endeavor” (projet commun), artistic and cultural initiatives must reflect a plurality of voices and experiences so that everyone can see themselves reflected in them, but also so that the works created and disseminated stimulate reflection, raise questions about daily and collective life, and offer spaces for empowerment in light of the social, political, economic, and material challenges of the world we are building.

I thus seek to develop a curatorial practice that could be described as “collective curation”, where people—whether or not they are familiar with the art world—have the opportunity to contribute to the development of “group projects” (projets communs) so that these reflect a vision that is both pluralistic and shared. Through the partnerships I establish, I not only introduce diverse audiences to a variety of community, cultural, and artistic circles, but I also create opportunities for organizations and exhibition spaces to welcome new communities. Networks thus intersect and transform in step with an evolving society.