COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The course is designed to introduce students to the history of museums and to curating practices. Classes will discuss the cultural position of the museum, the evolution of its function, the different forms of display, the historical developments of the act of collecting, the position of the visitor and the role of the curator. The primary purpose of the course is to provide students with a critical vocabulary for understanding how museums produce knowledge and structure the ways in which history, geography, cultural difference, and social hierarchies are mapped. Through a series of richly detailed case studies related to ancient and contemporary Rome museums, collections and institutions, classes will investigate the differences between the roles, the missions, the objectives, and the policies of conservation and exhibition-making in spaces, relating to modalities of thought. The course also intends to introduce the figure of the curator and its development from conservator and classifier to creative, critical protagonist of contemporary art culture. The course concludes with an overview of current debates around the contemporary need for museums, and large scale exhibition (such as Biennials and Triennials) and their perceived social functions.

Satisfies "the Modern and Contemporary World" core course requirement for Art History majors

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
During the first part of the course we will learn about some of the basic concepts around the definition of Museum, and develop a basic vocabulary on Museum Studies. We will face the difference between a museum understood as an institution and a gallery understood as a commercial activity. After that we will focus on the role and on the function of the curator, and on the definition of curatorial cultural practices.

The second part of the course will actively introduce students to some of Rome’s Museums and Commercial Galleries, surveying the different methods of displaying contemporary cultures, analyzing the diverse curatorial decisions and discussing some of the practical issues Museums and Galleries face. We will also investigate the current debates on curating that have risen in the age of international biennials and blockbuster show, questioning the way in which exhibitions are conceived and subjects addressed.

Parallel to the theoretical aspects of curating and contemporary museum studies, students will also actively work on an exhibition project engaging with the Roman local art scene. During the first weeks of the course the class will choose the exhibition format they prefer developing (a show, a conference, a blog, a performance, a small festival, workshops...). The idea will be conceptually and materially structured during the semester and presented at the end of the course. Artists based in Rome will be invited to come lecture in class, introducing their works to the students.