Curating Art

Curating Art considers how curators work with art institutions, artists and contemporary and historic collections to plan and install art exhibitions and related programmes and activities. The module explores different aspects of exhibition making and exhibition programming at different institutions – from curating new commissions and permanent collection displays, to curating artist retrospectives and socially engaged projects – and considers how professional roles, institutional structures and strategies vary and change over time and internationally. Art in this module encompasses all media, from drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, digital art, installation and site-specific artworks.

This module addresses the forms and components of curating art exhibitions, by broadly approaching exhibition curating in its organisational stages, including curatorial planning, curatorial practice, and engagement. Teaching takes the form of field trips to galleries, lectures and discussion-based workshops and group presentations. The Speed Curating exercise, the main activity spanning the entire module, involves you working in small groups to propose an exhibition. This exercise is hypothetical, but it develops your project management and leadership skills.

As part of learning about curating exhibitions and exhibition programmes, you will find out how different institutional teams contribute to making exhibitions, and how they devise a range of strategies, including interpretation and public programming strategies that contribute to the exhibition and how it is accessed and experienced by audiences. You will also gain a more in-depth understanding of publicly-funded art galleries and how they operate, with sessions exploring missions and visions, exhibition programme policies, and funding and fundraising.