PMCURCON - MA Curating the Contemporary

This is a professional course, devised and taught with our partner, the internationally renowned Whitechapel Gallery. Through direct involvement in the life cycle of the gallery, students will acquire the key skills and knowledge of curatorial practice, as well as an informed understanding of the contemporary visual arts. Students will also gain a broad range of transferable skills in communication, management, research and analysis.

The MA Curating the Contemporary course is unique amongst courses of its type. It provides theory into practice and experiential learning of a kind and quality that are invaluable for future employment in the industry.

The course aims to:

• Support students to develop a comprehensive understanding of contemporary art, curatorial practices and related theory, policy, funding and operational constraints and opportunities;
• Enable students to identify and refine a curatorial practice in relation to professional responsibilities towards artists, their works and audiences;
• Foster a creative, critical and engaging learning environment through collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery in which advanced transferable skills in visual, written and oral communication, essential to a discussion of art, artists and contexts, are championed and enabled;
• Promote the advanced research and conceptual skills required to engage in professional practice and/or further study at doctoral level as appropriate;
• Prepare students for the challenges and demands of the changing nature of curation and the professional ethics governing relationships with artists, works, audiences, lenders, funders and other partners;
• Champion a self directed approach, supporting students to exercise initiative, originality and personal responsibility in collaborative and independent working through direct involvement in the Whitechapel Gallery's activities
• The main aims of MA Curating the Contemporary are to provide the subject knowledge, critical skills and workplace training required, to equip curatorial practitioners with the scholarly understanding and specialist expertise that they will need to curate the contemporary visual arts, in a variety of institutional contexts, in an appropriately professional manner.

The MA courses within the School of Art offer opportunities to study what it means to practice within the arts in the context of the East End of London. Art in this locale has frequently been the witness to debates over 'Freedom of Expression', with the Cable Street Mural, the late 1970's 'Carnivals' and current questioning about the history of Henry Moore's ‘Old Flo’ Sculpture revealing that Art is never a neutral activity. The CASS Faculty holds an archive of 'East End' artistic activity, while faculty-wide research focused on ideas of 'social value' and 'wellbeing' offers students, both a direct and local frame for their practice, from which they can choose to explore ideas of social context and public engagement.

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of current research and insights in contemporary art, curatorial practice and scholarship, at the forefront of the relevant subject disciplines and professional practice
2. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of techniques and analytical skills applicable to their own research and practice

Cognitive Skills/ Intellectual Skills

1. Evidence originality and critical awareness in situating their own curatorial practice within a contemporary context;
2. Engage professionally with the limits and possibilities of curating in an institutional context.

Practical Skills

1. Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, demonstrating a professional understanding of ethical issues informing curatorial activity;
2. Make reasoned decisions in complex and unpredictable situations, for example, in the planning and delivery of exhibitions, and including negotiation of loans, organising shipping and insurance, attending to installation requirements, and working on publications;
3. Demonstrate complex understanding of the activities associated with curatorial practice, such as gallery education, fundraising, promotion and marketing.

Key/Transferable Skills

1. Exercise initiative and personal responsibility and the independent learning abilities required for continuing professional development;
2. Demonstrate decision-making abilities, resolving problems and proposing solutions as appropriate in cooperative dialogue with others.

Knowledge and Understanding 1,2,3:

FA7032 Critical and Contextual Studies: Art
JC72W2WG Professional Practice
FA7039 Practices and Theories of Display
JC7103 Writing About Art
JC7104 Theory in Practice
FA7040 Curatorial Project
FA7041 Tutorials and Mentoring for Professional Practice

Cognitive Skills/ Intellectual Skills 1,2,3:

FA7032 Critical and Contextual Studies: Art
JC72W2WG Professional Practice
FA7039 Practices and Theories of Display
JC7103 Writing About Art
JC7104 Theory in Practice
FA7040 Curatorial Project
FA7041 Tutorials and Mentoring for Professional Practice

Practical Skills 1,2,3:

FA7032 Critical and Contextual Studies: Art
JCP2W2WG Professional Practice
FA7039 Practices and Theories of Display
JC7103 Writing About Art
JC7104 Theory in Practice
FA7040 Curatorial Project
FA7041 Tutorials and Mentoring for Professional Practice

Key/Transferable Skills 1,2,3

FA7032 Critical and Contextual Studies: Art
JCP2W2WG Professional Practice
FA7039 Practices and Theories of Display
JC7103 Writing About Art
JC7104 Theory in Practice
FA7040 Curatorial Project
FA7041 Tutorials and Mentoring for Professional Practice

QAA Masters Degree Characteristics

Assessment is based upon a range of strategies including: review of individual project/ portfolio development; written submissions; individual and group presentations, and a culminating project/ thesis. Students are required to submit a portfolio of their relevant practical work together with all supporting material. Assessment includes a combination of diagnostic, formative and summative methods.

Students are expected to participate reflectively in assessment. Self-evaluation involves students in reflection upon their own progress, in relation to the learning outcomes and mirrors the assessment process conducted by the course team, providing the basis for discussion at assessment feedback sessions after formal coursework assessment has taken place.

Formative assessment is built into all modules and is designed to provide students with feedback on progress and development. Students are expected to maintain appropriate records of their work as it develops within each module and to take part in regular critiques and discussions regarding their own and others’ coursework. The course requires students to give a formal presentation to their tutors and peers on their practice. These sessions support students to develop their critical engagement and self-confidence and enable them to manage their aspirations and ambitions. Modules with written assignments will normally require students to hand in a draft for formative feedback before the final deadline submission.

Summative assessment involves a formal presentation of work produced and considers the measure of achievement in relation to module learning outcomes.

Work experience and work based learning are embedded within the course, through engagement in modules delivered with the Whitechapel Gallery and through the live curatorial projects that are core to the course curriculum. The Faculty has a strong public profile, this includes external exhibitions, lecture programmes and live projects. Visiting critics and speakers are regularly hosted and have direct contact with students in reviews and presentations.

The course will undertake a formal academic review of student performance, at the end of each semester. Students performing below threshold standard will be recommended and/or required to revise their programme of study.

PG Cert. Curating the Contemporary = 60 Credit Points

PG Diploma. Curating the Contemporary = 120 Credit Points

Successful completion of this course offers significantly improved career opportunities in the arts sector including roles in exhibition curating, collections management, gallery education, fundraising, gallery management and administration, press and publicity, publishing, journalism, art criticism and as arts entrepreneurs in the creative economy.

Our graduates have found employment with major public spaces and commercial galleries in the UK and abroad including GoMA-Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, the Whitechapel Gallery, and the Foundling Museum, London, among others .

You will be required to have:

• a relevant upper second-class honours degree in a cognate discipline
• professional qualifications from accredited museums and public galleries may also be considered

We interview all prospective applicants in person.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.