Curating and Contemporary Art

2025/2026

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

Кто читает:

Департамент менеджмента

Статус:

Курс обязательный

Когда читается:

2-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course guides students through the practical steps and procedures of organising an exhibition – from the concept definition, to the project development, to launching an exhibition. Throughout the course students will gradually develop general knowledge regarding an exhibition project accomplishment and will learn how to balance artistic and administrative goals. Students will get acquainted with basic definitions and theoretical concepts of curating. Ways of working with archives and collections will be discussed alongside the actual curatorial practices.

Learning Objectives

• • Learning about actual curatorial practices
• • Getting involved in the process of exhibition organising
• • Exploration of experimental approaches to curating

Expected Learning Outcomes

• • Development of curating skills
• • Preparing a base for deeper research in the field of curatorial studies
• • Preparing presentation regarding development of an independent curatorial project

Course Contents

• Curating: The power of selection
• Curatorial Studies: Theory and Practice
• Who is who?
• From a Concept to a Project
• The Role of Public in Curatorial Projects
• Text and context
• Gesamtkunstwerk. Museum and Exhibition as a Total Art Event
• Autonomy and institution
• Museums and Artist-run spaces
• Big project – Exhibitions and Festivals
• Public vs Common
• Public vs Private

Assessment Elements

• Case studies 1 & 2
  Case study 1 (10%; analysis of the chosen exhibition concept and choice of the artists/artworks) and 2 (10%; analysis of the chosen exhibition design and layout).
• Multiple choice test
  Multiple choice test, consisting of 20 questions, each with a choice of four answers, is aimed to assess students’ knowledge on the subject of the modern and contemporary art curating practices at the end of the course 1st module. The questions will concern the themes touched upon during the lectures, including the types of exhibitions, the role of a curator in the second half of the 20th and the first quarter of the 21st century, and the main stages of organising an art exhibition.
• Case study 3
  Analysis of the public worth of a chosen exhibition project: effectiveness of the chosen artists/artworks, the exposition design and layout, the educational and other public programs accompanying the project, in revealing of the exhibition concept to the general public and critics.
• Assignments
  2 assignments – stages of preparing the individual project – including the 1st assignment (10%; concept and artists/artworks choice) and the 2nd assignment (10%; individual project design, layout and educational/public programme).
• Curatorial project
  The students develop the concept of a curatorial project in accordance with the guidelines given by the instructor. The presentation is an oral defense of the curatorial project in front of the commission.

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 2nd module
  0.2 * Assignments + 0.2 * Case studies 1 & 2 + 0.1 * Case study 3 + 0.35 * Curatorial project + 0.15 * Multiple choice test

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Bishop, C. (2012). Artificial Hells : Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship. [Place of publication not identified]: Verso. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1694865
• Obrist, H.-U., Bovier, L., & Ebooks Corporation. (2008). A Brief History of Curating : By Hans Ulrich Obrist. Zurich: JRP | Ringier. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=945579
• The culture of curating and the curating of culture(s), O'Neill, P., 2012
• Ways of seeing, Berger, J., 2008

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Misgeld, D. (1997). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (Book). Canadian Journal of Sociology, 22(2), 278. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=sih&AN=10430130

Authors

• Zelenskaia Elena Mikhailovna
• Миронова Алена Геннадьевна