Contemporary Curation: Rome Summer School 2019

Goldsmiths’ popular Curating the Contemporary Summer School, now in its 4th successful year, takes place July 1–15, 2019 at the British School at Rome (BSR).

The summer school is directed by Dr. Simon Sheikh, who heads the world-leading MFA in Curating course at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Run over two consecutive weeks, the course provides an opportunity to engage intensively with collaborative group and project-based activity of curating contemporary art.

Blending theoretical and practical perspectives, participants will engage with our extensive professional networks in the field of contemporary curating.

With its emphasis on collaborative, situated and practice-based learning, what better location to undertake this endeavour than Rome, where students can take advantage of the full palette of possibilities and examine and experience the production of exhibitions and events across an expanded field that includes commercial and public galleries, museums and foundations, public spaces and social contexts.

Run by Goldsmiths’ Department of Art, the programme examines the diverse modes, philosophies, theories and practices that underpin the activity of commissioning, curating, and programming. 

Participants will be working alongside people from a wide range of backgrounds including graduates and artists considering working in curating, as well as established curators who want to think and talk about the challenges and opportunities that face curators in the contemporary moment.

Through lectures, presentations, site visits, assignments and discussions, the group will work on formulating how they place and see themselves as curators, and what this means in terms of productivity and articulation, but also care-taking and collaborations. 

We will look at curating through the crucial phases of conceptualization, realization and mediation, the role of the curator, the ethics of working with artists, the process of identifying current themes and methods in contemporary art, the principles and pragmatics of installation, and the politics of exhibition making today.

Over the course of two weeks, participants will hear lectures form leading practitioners and will be introduced to important professional networks within the field of contemporary curating, with opportunities to meet many leading curators and theorists.

Some of our past speakers include: Jochen Becker, Iwona Blazwick, Melanie Bouteloup, Cecilia Canzani, Ele Carpenter, Paolo Do, Ilaria Gianni, Carles Guerra, Hou Hanru, Maria Hlavajova, Sarah McCrory, Richard Noble, Cesare Pietrouisti, Helena Reckitt, Beatrix Ruf, Katya Sander, and Adrian Searle.

Location
The British School at Rome is just north of Rome’s Centro Storico (historic centre) in the Valle Giulia. This area, less than ten minutes walk from Piazza del Popolo, is home to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia. View directions to the British School at Rome.

How to apply
The summer school will take place from Tuesday, July 1 to Tuesday, July 15, 2019. Please visit our website for more details.

To apply, please email your CV and a short statement of interest (100–200 words) to shortcourses@gold.ac.uk with the subject title of the email: 2019 Curatorial Summer School.

Price
There is an Early Bird offer (2,500 GBP) for a limited number of places for applications received by February 14, 2019.

There are three options to book on the course. Two options include accommodation and meals at the BSR.

The standard rooms are twin rooms, shared with one other person, with an overall course cost of 2,950 GBP, however there are limited single rooms available with a supplement of 35 GBP per night (with an overall course cost of 3,405 GBP).

If you are located in Rome, you join the course without accommodation or meals at a costs 2,300 GBP

You will be able to select one of these options when paying your deposit for your place on the course.

Any questions about the summer school can be sent to shortcourses@gold.ac.uk.