In the theory of culture, art, and museum work, there are a significant number of definitions of curatorial activity. The role of the curator is contradictory and multifaceted: from an author of the exhibition concept to an organizer of art projects, teacher, educator, mediator, manager, theorist and art connoisseur. This essay attempts to generalize and classify the essential qualities of the curator and the curatorial project, based on existing opinions of theorists and art lovers, starting with the interpretation of Daniel Buren - “curator as a super-artist” and “exhibition as a work of art” and ending with definitions given by master students of the Department of Museum Work and Protection of Monuments of the Saint-Petersburg State University at the colloquium on the course “Contemporary exhibition process and curatorial projects”.