Now is an interesting time to be a curator. Cities all over the world from Reykjavik to Tehran are now super-dynamic centres for art. And with more than 100 biennials, there is a lot of opportunity for young curators. The word “curate” comes from the Latin, curare, to take care, and I think that is an important notion. A curator should be someone who builds bridges between people and art, and that can be done in many different ways.

When I started out, curating was a really narrow notion. One of the first artists I had met was Alighiero Boetti, one of the most influential Italian artists of the 1960s, and he told me that he was always asked to do the same things: museum shows, galleries, every now and then a fair or a public commission. He found this really boring, he said - there were so many other things artists wanted to do. That was the most important conversation I've ever had. It made me understand that I didn't have to force artists into an existing set-up; if I changed the rules, anything was possible.

Now, my approach often starts by asking the artist: “What is the project you have always wanted to do, but not been able to in the confines of the art world?” Boetti's dream was to exhibit on an airline, and so we went to Austrian Airlines and convinced it to distribute puzzles he had made for one year on its aircraft.

There are a lot of pragmatic, concrete elements to the job as well as the more creative ones. There are lots of parameters to think about when installing work - legal ones, health and safety, financial constraints. Fundraising is a particularly important aspect of the job.

Curating is a relatively new profession, so there is no set path. I would recommend doing a postgraduate course; it's a good base. Above all, see biennials, art fairs, studios, exhibitions. Study art in many places, and if possible, leave your own country and immerse yourself in a different culture. I am in the office Monday to Friday, so I spend the weekend visiting a foreign city to do my research.

To gain experience, you also can work in a museum as an assistant. But in my experience, curating has always been just as much about inventing the profession. Listen to Boetti and don't follow the routine. Look for chances to innovate.

Hans Ulrich Obrist is co-director of exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery, W2. As told to Louise Cohen

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