Module overview
This module provides the experience, tools and skills necessary to respond to a range of curatorial challenges, individually, interactively and collectively. It provides a range of opportunity for you to experiment with curatorial practices, which will build a portfolio of multiple realised projects.
The module is designed to provide active, participatory practice and critical discussion with professional researchers/curators, which is then translated into practical outcomes. The module will focus on core considerations of Environment and Sustainability, Diversity, Access and Representation.
Projects undertaken during the module will help define your area of independent study and curatorial practice for the Final Dissertation: in this module you will be guided to develop a preliminary plan for your Final Dissertation.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Creative engagement with key ideas and debates in curatorial practice and their professional contexts and challenges
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Design and create an assessment output that demonstrates problem-solving and effective communication techniques
Disciplinary Specific Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Critique, synthesise and apply best practice in designing curatorial projects
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Use inclusive, ethical and sustainable practices to design and evaluate an assessment output evidencing techniques and research methods
Syllabus
The module offers the student both the conceptual and practical tools to examine a range of contemporary curatorial practices with a focus on Environment and Sustainability, Diversity, Access and Representation. The aim is to offer the platform to experiment with a range of curatorial approaches and to develop actual projects in light of current issues which are pertinent to the curatorial field.
Work will be undertaken collaboratively in small set groups which will rotate to give experience of working with others with a variety of backgrounds and specialisms, emulating professional teamworking situations which demand both collaboration and individual initiative and accountability. Practical outcomes will be student-led, with conceptual and practical guidance from staff and professionals in the field. Critical reflections on these outcomes will culminate in the summative assessment, the Curatorial Practice Portfolio.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include:
- Workshops, combining examination of various tools and practices as well as practical projects
- Blended lecture and seminar discussion, examining the ways in which theories influence practices
- Group Presentations
- Guided reflective dialogue and critical examination of practices, ideas and debates in the field
- Tutorials, including for dissertation proposal
Learning methods include:
- Peer group learning
- Reflective writing
- Visits to collections, exhibitions and artist studios
- Project proposal writing
- Reflection on feedback
- Workshop-based learning
- Independent study of module materials
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Independent Study | 252 |
| Teaching | 48 |
| Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Von Bismarck, Beatrice (2022). The Curatorial Condition. Berlin: Stenberg Press.
Kate Gray, Sarah Mossop, Emily Pethick, Marijke Steedman, (2012, pp. 103 – 120) in (2012). Why Do Galleries Work Beyond The Site of The Institution? in Marijke Steedman (ed.), Gallery as Community: Art, Education, Politics. London: The Whitechapel Gallery.
Badovinac, Zdenka (2022). Unannounced Voices: Curatorial Practice and Changing Institutions. Berlin: Stenberg Press.
Belting, Hans, Buddensieg, Andrea, and Weibel, Peter (eds.) (2013). The Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds. Germany and London and Cambridge: MA: ZKM - Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and The MIT Press.
Fowle, Kate in O’Neill, Paul and Wilson, Mick (eds.). pp. 153 – 172 (2014). Action Research: Generative Curatorial Practices. London: Curating Research.
Graham, Janna, McQuay, Marie-Anne, Steedman, Marijke, Vicars, Natasha. 'Inherent Tensions' in Marijke Steedman (ed.) Gallery as Community: Art, Education, Politics. London: The Whitechapel Gallery..
Krasny, Elke (2024). Urban Curating: Care, Repair, Refuse, Resist. Transcript: Independent Academic Publishing.
Martinon, Jean-Paul (ed.) (2014). The Curatorial: A Philosophy of Curating. London and New York: Bloomsbury..
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Group presentation
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Peer review; tutorial
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: Yes
- Percentage contribution: 100%
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Practice Portfolio | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Practice Portfolio | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Practice Portfolio | 100% |