Beginning with issues raised by the cabinet of curiosities, passing through current debates on decolonising the museum, and ending with the question of online curating, this module will offer students a journey through histories of display.
Module will run
Occurrence
Teaching period
A
Autumn Term 2021-22
Module aims
Beginning with issues raised by the cabinet of curiosities, passing through current debates on decolonising the museum, and ending with the question of online curating, this module will offer students a journey through histories of display. Given that collecting and curating have always been responsive to conceptions of art and artistic practices of their time and location, we will analyse how this responsiveness has been reflected in the development of the different kinds of spaces for display, including various types museums, festivals, and exhibitions of differing scales.
Alongside the exploration of various case studies, this module will critically engage with texts and in-class activities that provide insights into different approaches and methods of curating. Students will be able to identify paradigm shifts in collecting, curating and exhibiting in the West, and will have the opportunity to explore histories and formats of display developed in non-Western contexts.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should have acquired:
A firm grasp of the history of exhibition making in the West;
A deep awareness of the specificity of stories and methods of curating in a variety of non-Western contexts;
A clear understanding of the strong links between artistic practice and the emergence and development of various display methods;
Knowledge of the history and development of diverse art institutions;
A familiarity of the historical interdependency of collecting, archiving, and curating;
An understanding of the concept of ‘exhibition’ in its expanded sense;
The ability to challenge the canons of art history and its presuppositions;
The ability to critically engage with current debates in curatorial theory and practice;
The confidence to subject the texts studied to interpretation and critical analysis;
Excellent bibliographical and practical research skills.
Assessment
Task
Length
% of module mark
Essay/coursework Two 2000 word essays
N/A
100
Special assessment rules
None
Reassessment
Task
Length
% of module mark
Essay/coursework Two 2000 word essays
N/A
100
Module feedback
Students will receive feedback on their formative work within one week.
Students will receive feedback on their summative work within 20 working days.
Indicative reading
Bennett, Tony, The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics. London: Routledge, 1995.
Greenberg, Reesa, Bruce W. Ferguson, and Sandy Nairne, eds. Thinking About Exhibitions, New York: Routledge, 1996.
Klonk, Charlotte, Spaces of Experience: Art Gallery Interiors from 1800 to 2000. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
Macdonald, Sharon, ed. A Companion to Museum Studies, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
O’ Neill, Paul, Lucy Steeds, Simon Sheikh and Mick Wilson, eds. Curating After the Global: Roadmaps of the Present. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2019.
Vanderlinden, Barbara and Elena Filipovic, eds. The Manifesta Decade: Debates on Contemporary Art Exhibitions and Biennials in Post-Wall Europe. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.