Curating (Including Placement Year)

Our BA Curating provides you with a solid understanding of the major developments in art history including the history and theory of exhibition design, with a particular emphasis on how curatorial choices shape our experiences while viewing artworks and the other objects on display in museums and galleries. Frequent, staff-led visits to London museums and galleries will also expose you to the latest developments in curating, and you will be strongly encouraged to conduct a placement in order to gain exposure to the inner workings of a museum, auction house or gallery. To ensure you are prepared to meet the challenges facing curators in the 21st century, opportunities to cultivate digital skills will be available throughout the course. For example, for your final project, you will curate an online exhibition, for which you will produce a virtual walk-through of the exhibition space and develop digitally-accessible interpretative material for all objects on display. You also have access to The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA), based at the University of Essex and Europe’s largest collection of Latin American art, which will offer you a place to experiment with installing artworks.

You spend your third year on a placement gaining relevant work experience, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry.