Missing perspective

A curator can propose an unfamiliar perspective relevant to a participant's current question. They identify the contribution and explain the reason at a level each person can consider. The proposal remains a curatorial hypothesis until the participants respond.

A guest examining family photographs may benefit from a discussion with a person working on repair or preservation. The connection can concern care, alteration, the decision to retain material. A participant can accept the unfamiliarity, suggest another scope, decline.

This approach requires more than inferring a deficiency from silence. Staff examine opportunity, the actual question, the person's stated interest. Unexpected association and chance develop further unfamiliar encounters. Researchers record the offered reason and the participants' different judgments of relevance.