The amateur vs. the professional: visual arts, Open Source and the curators role in 2012 (panel)

The conventional structure of ‘gatekeepers’, who determine what the public gets to see seems to shift to that of synergy between the artists and their audience. With this idea Incubate organized the Open Source Expo. The concept is simple: artists apply with two to five artworks, the curator chooses one artwork and composes an exhibition with all these works. Why would an artist send in work for free? Why would a professional artist want to exhibit their work next to an amateur? What is the role of the curator in an exhibition without a strict contextual framework?