Summer School 2024

About

ABOUT
The School for Curatorial Studies Venice is an ambitious and challenging project promoted since 2004 and conceived as a school committed to experimentation and interdisciplinary thinking. The main goals are to spread knowledge in the field of visual arts and to introduce the students to the professions related to the art world, focusing on contemporary curatorial theory and practice and contemporary museology. The School’s activities are meant for all those interested and passionate of art, graduate students or professionals who want to deepen their knowledge and improve their practical skills. The staff is formed by Italian and international professionals, scholars, historians and art critics of recognized experience.  

PROGRAM
The Summer course in Curatorial Practice is an English-taught, intensive program on
the history of contemporary visual arts and practices of exhibition-making, taking
place during the Venice Biennale. Through interdisciplinary lectures, the course
provides practical training and experience within museums and exhibition settings.
Its international faculty includes curators and museum professionals, artists and
critics. The course is designed to increase the students understanding of the
intellectual and technical tasks of the curator figure related to the set up of
exhibitions and projects. The lectures cover both theoretical and practical topics that
go from History of Exhibition to Exhibition Management.
The students participate in weekly activities such as artist studio visits, tours of
exhibition spaces, networking events, and workshops with a variety of experts and
practitioners. The program culminates with the set up of an exhibition or an art event.
Download the program of the Summer School for Curatorial Studies Venice 2024

DIDACTIC MODULES
The course is divided in three modules, held by different professional figures. In the
first module we will discuss history of the art exhibitions, exhibition design and
display and exhibition management. The program will consider how the specific
forms of exhibition and curating practices have evolved; how exhibitions engender
forms of spectatorship, reception, and transmission; and how exhibitions and
curators participate in the development of various theoretical art-historical and
sociopolitical contexts.
The Summer Course in Curatorial practice is including visits of artist studio and the
examination of specific art venues organised during the International Art Biennale all over the city of Venice, which is offering several case study and it gives an opportunity to monitor the development of the contemporary visual arts, including tracking the trend of presenting art, theoretical discourse and the continuous development of art practices.

The school’s means are to align these specific theoretical lectures to a practical
approach. The lectures are going to have besides a series of laboratories and
workshops. The aim is to introduce the students to the complicated work of writing
critical text, press releases, projects and to structure all the different aspects of a
publication. Students will be offered the possibility of a gallery training, specifically
focusing on the setting up of an event and concentrating on the possibilities offered
by the chosen space.

The first module – 6th June – 7th August 2024
It involves 350 contact hours:
1. History of curatorial practices
2. Exhibition design
3. Aesthetics and Cultural theory
4. Contemporary art history
5. Cultural events management and organization
6. Curating exhibitions
7. Fine arts management.
8. Fundraising and marketing / Workshop
9. Communication strategies and artistic events promotion / Workshop
10. New media and digital technologies
11. Workshop on critical writing
12. Artist studio visits and visits of exhibitions.                                                                    
      .
Optional visit:
Trip to a European city.

The second module – 15th – 22nd August 2024
The second module is dedicated to individual researching and finalizing the project.
During this period of time the students will have to face practical duties, such as
coordinating the artists, managing transportation and insurance policies, promoting
and curating the promotional material.

The third module – 23rd  August — 1st September 2024
The last part of the course lies in the production of the event. During this period of
time all the work concerning the final event is going to take place. The students will
have to coordinate the arrival and the set up of the works of art. Organize all the
different aspects related to the event as promotion, organisation and opening. After
the presentation to the public the student will be given the tools to document
professionally the event.
Duration and structure
The course has a duration of 450 hours. Lectures will be held from Monday to Friday,
from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm and from 02.30 pm to 05.30pm. Theoretical lectures will be held in the mornings, in order to provide conceptual and operational tools to
independently manage the setting of an exhibition (35 hours per week). In the
afternoon, students will attend seminars, workshops, guided tours to museums and
exhibitions which animate the rich cultural life of Venice.
The participants will develop the themes as well as concepts, organization, acquisition, communication and the concrete implementation together with the course director and international guests (artists, curators, architects, critics, fine arts scientists and publishers of art journals). Starting date and duration: The Summer course will begin on June 6th 2024.
It involves 450 contact hours and approx. 200 hours of independent study and work.