This section is designed for use in the context of the masters studies in curating at the Art Academy of Latvia in the academic year 2021-2022.
autumn 2021
Session 1: October
Setting agendas for study
- Sources for the study of curating
- Placing curatorial discourses in wider histories of 20th C. art worlds and genealogies
- Exhibition as object of study
- Languages – Why? Who? How?
See slides used here: https://exhibition.school/?page_id=1412 (password required)
Task: Step 1: Write a short report based on one of these texts (i.e., one of the texts referenced in the material provided in the first intensive week.) (i) What type of text is it? (ii) What is its function and context of production? (iii) What does it say/describe/argue/narrate? (iv) What issues or questions might the text raise for you?
Step 2: Share the report with you group: We have a google folder we use to upload responses that is shared by email with you “Rigarous informal” Deadline Sunday 31st October 18:00
Step 3: Read the other reports from your group. See your responses to the first task here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rCpVt4ejMP_vHQnF7hC0CKkGK6KYo80A?usp=sharing
Step 4: As a group, identify key terms and issues that you would like to have defined or to explore further
Session 2: November
Organizing practices
- Artist-curators and self-organisation as a theme in curating practices
- Institution-building and exhibition-making
- Expanded practice: The Curatorial
See slides used on Tuesday 9 and Friday 12 November here: https://exhibition.school/riga-rous-slideshows/ (password required) Tuesday 9 session has most of the platforms discussed.
See audio-visual recording of zoom session on Tuesday 9: https://exhibition.school/recordings-of-classes/ (password required)
Task: Step 1: Write a short report on one of these curatorial platforms
Step 2: Share the report with your group: Upload into this folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DWm3p3x03RgjlJWO9wBth292lZfEYm-Y?usp=sharing
Session 3: December
Knowledge changes
- Curating, education and knowledge
- Curating and research
Task: Step 1: Write a short report on one of these projects
Step 2: Share the report with your group
Step 3: Read the other reports from your group
Step 4: As a group, identify key terms and issues that you would like to explore further
spring 2022
Session 4: February
Genre and mode of address in exhibitions
- The use of genre analysis in the study of exhibitions
- The concept of mode of address and exhibition
- Infrastructures of exhibition: Spatial organisation and mode of address
See slides used here: https://exhibition.school/?page_id=1412 (password required)
Task: (i) Bring to the session on Wednesday 9 Feb an example of exhibition that you are familiar with that we can discuss in class- and test how genre analysis might be applied. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12biu9QalunljkL–VlnlWonov2FFcRbG?usp=sharing
(ii) Identify an example of an “archival show” based on the discussion on Tuesday 8 February. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tk5687-i1K2NA_UQgH8aq3tiSpejGvbc?usp=sharing
Session 5: March
Case studies in exhibition histories
- Looking at two case studies of exhibition history with a special focus on method
- 24th Bienal of São Paulo: A biennial exhibition taken as a key case by the Afterall Exhibition Histories series .
Task: read the material provided in the slides here: https://exhibition.school/?page_id=1412 (password required)
Session 6: April
Introducing museum research
- Concluding the review of exhibition histories approaches
(a) Sasha Shestakova (2021) “The Heterogeneous Temporalities of Russia’s Colonialism” on Aikens et al., eds. On the Question of Exhibition, PARSE Journal vol. 13, no. 2. https://parsejournal.com/article/the-heterogeneous-temporalities-of-russias-colonialism/
(b) Peter Shortt (2016) The Poetry of Vision_ The ROSC Art Exhibitions 1967-1988 – ROSC: A quadrennial exhibition in Ireland that profile modern and contemporary art, with particular attention on ROSC 1988 the last in the series. text available here
(c) Christian Nae (2019) In(visible) Frames. Rhetoric and exhibition practices in Romania during the period 1965-1989– text available here – see more here
- What is the specificity of the museum as a research space?
(a) Clémentine Deliss (2015) “Collecting Life’s Unknowns” in “Decolonising Museums” through the lens of the collections and archives of the members of L’Internationale. L’Internationale Online. https://www.internationaleonline.org/research/decolonising_practices/27_collecting_lifes_unknowns/ - In what ways can museums be research-driven?
- What is the intersection of curatorial practice with other modes of research in the museum?
- We will also look at how to prepare a research proposal
Task: Consider how the themes in these two sessions connect to the lexicon project, and write a short note (200-300 words) on your thinking. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1V8YGIRzwsWUCfWENHV8XU1-cBWEnKBz_?usp=sharing
See slides used here: https://exhibition.school/?page_id=1412 (password required)
exhibition.school 