Catalogue Essay 60% and Exhibition Proposal 40%.
Students must pass all elements of the assessment criteria

This module will provide you with the framework to communicate a curatorial investigation into a selected area of enquiry, working with existing international artworks, and selecting a gallery to exhibit them in. You will use the convention of the catalogue essay to explore how a selection of artworks from your exhibition form a dialogue related to the area of enquiry selected.
Specific content consists of sessions on producing professional exhibition proposals, and reading groups analysing professional catalogue essays.
Curatorial concepts are formulated and vetted via supervisory assistance. The emphasis is on students expanding their understanding of contemporary practice beyond what they are familiar with, via rigorous visual research and research into texts pertaining to the practitioners selected.
Initial research is closely supervised and students are directed to engage in critical analysis of the textual and visual sources they are researching in a manner that is directed by a critical perspective that possesses a significant degree of conceptual depth.

Exhibition Proposal
This entails planning an exhibition on paper: formulating a curatorial concept, selecting artists and a suitable venue and explaining and how the show will be hung. It will involve extensive research informed by an in-depth knowledge of contemporary art and key issues relevant to contemporary art. The proposal will then provide a formative assessment point prior to the production of the catalogue essay.

Catalogue Essay
This essay will be related to the proposal for the exhibition. It will expand on the concept explaining its relevance and importance within a contemporary context. The essay will carry out an informed in-depth critical analysis of how a selection of the artists in the exhibition contribute to the concept(s) informing the exhibition. It will be a serious scholarly essay in which illustrated works by significant practitioners play an integral role in the analysis. In addition, analysis of the visual material must be supported by scholarly research into the chosen artists and subject matter, with an emphasis on library and primary research. References to bibliographic research in the essay must be properly referenced using Harvard Style. Students can also engage in primary research in terms of visiting relevant exhibitions and /or interviewing relevant artists. This essay must exhibit a high standard of research, visual analysis of visual material, and a critical, analytical and questioning approach to all the material that results in a coherent, clear and forward moving argument.

1. RESEARCH A TOPIC THOROUGHLY AND CRITICALLY, SELECTING KEY TEXTUAL AND VISUAL EVIDENCE. Knowledge & Understanding
Visual Analysis

2. COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE WORK OF SEVERAL VISUAL ARTS PRACTITIONERS ACCORDING TO A THEME, ISSUE OR QUESTION THAT DEMONSTRATES A REASONABLE DEGREE OF CONCEPTUAL DEPTH. Reflection

3. EXPLORE A PARTICULAR THEME, ISSUE OR QUESTION VIA A WELL-STRUCTURED AND INTEGRATED COMMENTARY SUPPORTED BY CRITICALLY ANALYSED AND PROPERLY REFERENCED TEXTUAL AND VISUAL EVIDENCE.
Analysis
Visual Analysis

4. NEGOTIATE AND LIAISE WITH AN INSTITUTIONAL BODY.
Communication
Working With Others

5. DEMONSTRATE AND EVIDENCE THE ABILITY TO EVALUATE CURATORIAL STRATEGIES.
Knowledge & Understanding
Reflection

6. UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITY AND SOPHISTICATION OF A CATALOGUE, DEMONSTRATING WRITTEN AND VISUAL ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS.
Knowledge & Understanding
Visual Analysis

Lectures
Seminars
Workshops
Group critiques
Self-directed seminars
Supervision, individual and small group.
Study guides
External visits
Online resources
Independent study
Formative, diagnostic feedback on students' essays-in-progress and the exhibition proposal

Key Information Set:
10% scheduled learning and teaching activities, taught sessions
90 guided independent study, studio time

Lecture theatre for lectures
Seminar rooms for formulating proposals
Data projector
Audio and video playback
Library
Student word-processing facilities
Internet access
Blackboard VLE

O’ Neill, P. (2012). The Culture of Curating and the Curating of Culture(s). MIT Press
Williams, G. (2014). How to Write About Contemporary Art. Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Obrist, H.U. (2015). Ways of Curating. Penguin.
Ferguson, B, W., Greenberg, R., Nairne, S. (1996). Thinking About Exhibitions. Routledge.
Steeds, L. (2014). Exhibition (Documents of Contemporary Art). Whitechapel Gallery.
O’Doherty, B. (2000). Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space. University of California Press.
Thomas, C. (2002). The edge of everything : reflections on curatorial practice. Banff, Alta., Banff Centre Press.
Kholeif, O (2016). Electronic Superhighway: from experiments in art and technology to art after the internet. Whitechapel Gallery.
Flood, R. (2012) Unmonumental: The Object in the 21st Century. Phaidon Press.
Various editors. Documents on Contemporary Art (series) Whitechapel Gallery (2008-2017)