The Institute for Curatorial Practice is a 5-week intensive summer program running from June 8 to July 10, 2015 at Hampshire College, focused on the practice of curation: material, digital, and imaginary. At the Institute for Curatorial Practice students investigate and implement contemporary modes of curation, combining new media technologies and experimental methods with the direct study of collections in distinguished museums and archives. Our emphasis is on the acquisition of critical, theoretical, historical, and digital skills, while developing imaginative and conceptual strategies for the exhibition of objects, images, sounds, structures, films, sites, texts, and artifacts. Our program begins with an introduction to the history of museums, collections, and curating alongside an examination of diverse objects, display techniques, and museum careers through site visits to world-renowned museums in the Five College consortium (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst). We then examine new directions in curatorial studies, focusing on current explorations in contemporary practice, issues of exhibiting across cultures, and new media platforms. ??Following these introductory weeks, students work in teams to develop exhibitions online and for Hampshire’s digital projection gallery. Using one object from the Five College Museum collections as a catalyst, students develop an exhibition inspired by that object, developing a thematic concept, selecting additional works and texts, articulating a curatorial argument, and acquiring permissions. Student teams will focus on curatorial writing, research, marketing, design, and installation.
Qualifications:
The Institute for Curatorial Practice is open to undergraduate, graduate, and post-B.A. students from any concentration, major, or area of interest. Our program is fiercely interdisciplinary and will be of interest to students of art and architectural history, cultural studies, public history, philosophy, and literature, as well as the history of science and technology. Some understanding of advanced research methods and analytical writing skills is a plus.
How To Apply:
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Only completed applications are reviewed. Applicants must submit a 1-2 page proposal detailing how the summer program fits into your academic and future plans; an unofficial transcript from your home institution; and the names and email addresses of two references. More information on the program and application at icp.hampshire.edu. Apply at https://thehub.hampshire.edu/summer/index.cgi?&SP_m=SPRDET&SP_s=115.
Apply by:
May 01, 2015
About this Organization:
The Institute for Curatorial Practice is a 5-week intensive summer program at Hampshire College focused on the practice of curation: material, digital, and imaginary. At the Institute for Curatorial Practice students investigate and implement contemporary modes of curation, combining new media technologies and experimental methods with the direct study of collections in distinguished museums and archives. Our emphasis is on the acquisition of critical, theoretical, historical, and digital skills, while developing imaginative and conceptual strategies for the exhibition of objects, images, sounds, structures, films, sites, texts, and artifacts.
