Course Details

Since the MOMA in NY opened in 1929 the trend to collect and display contemporary art has been steadily growing, reaching unprecedented scale in the past ten-twenty years. Subsequently, the importance of curatorial work as a form of art history came to be acknowledged, and developments in academy influenced the reassessment and examination of museum theories, concepts, methods, and techniques. This course will examine the pivotal role that the curators play in museums, and the ways in which the expanding art-world functions today. It will introduce students to aspects of museum work, with an emphasis on the role of the fine arts curator and curatorial theory. Through field-trips, extensive reading, lectures, assignments and classroom discussion students will also learn approaches to the theory of exhibition planning, with a focus on concept development to design and display.