Aims

The module aims to enable students to gain intellectual and professional insight into curating contemporary art as a creative, intellectual, social and political practice with an emphasis on curatorial practices that take place outside of the formal gallery and art museum. The module will introduce students to a range of concepts and critical debates relevant to contemporary art curating including ‘socially-engaged curating’, curating and the ‘global turn’, ‘site-specificity’ and ‘intersectional curating’. The module also aims to support students to critically ‘read’ a range of globally-situated contemporary art exhibitions in relation to museological debates as well as wider social and political issues. Students will expand their understanding of curating as a critical, intellectual and creative practice, while also being able to situate recent trends in contemporary art curating in a historical context.

Furthermore, the module aims to develop students to be curatorial practitioners who are equipped with the practical and professional knowledge to produce exhibitions of contemporary art in a range of contexts beyond the formal institution. Thus, the module aims to introduce students to a range of ‘expanded’ exhibition contexts including the international art biennial, contemporary art in heritage settings, site-specific exhibitions and the presentation of work in cinemas. Students will learn to critically analyse a range of expanded curatorial practices, while also working collaboratively to develop their own curatorial output in partnership with one of Newcastle’s cultural partners.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will include the following indicative topics: Reading the contemporary art exhibition: histories, theories, context; Curating contemporary art and globalisation; Curating and the social turn; Intersecting practices: contemporary art in heritage contexts; Curating art in the moving image; Intersectional curating;
Developing a project (working in a professional cultural institution to produce a curatorial output, which addresses the critical potential of siting contemporary art in an expanded context, to include - developing a curatorial concept, project management, marketing and mediation, technical installation skills, public programming).

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Students will experience scheduled learning and teaching activities, however the majority of their learning on this module comes from guided independent study.

Lecture – A formal taught session delivered to all students on the module which consists largely of the exposition of theory, themes, methodologies, techniques and histories.

Small group teaching – small group sessions based on reading, set challenges relevant to the project and discussion. Students in workshops will often present their work to the wider group.

Fieldwork – Undertaking work outside the university in order to collect data and develop sector relevant skills e.g. site visits.

Guided Independent Study – This broad category refers to independent student activity and covers a range of activities including reading and preparation, self-directed group work (without staff supervision), or where students are required to take on specific pieces of work.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The two assessment components will assess student’s ability to understand key curatorial concepts as well as to reflect critically on their own curatorial practice. Part 1 will be an essay in which students will be asked to apply appropriate methodologies in order critically analyse an existing curatorial initiative (exhibition/film programme/biennial/festival/commission/events programme) with reference to curatorial theory/concepts/critical debate introduced on the course. The second component will be a practical curatorial output which will be assessed as group work.

The formative assessment will be a presentation in which students will have the opportunity to gain feedback from the module leader and peers on initial ideas for their critical analysis essay.