Master’s program for exhibition theory and practice: educating/curating/managing (/ecm)

Master’s program for exhibition theory and practice. Call for applications /ecm 2022–24 until March 27, 2022.

Engaged curatorial practice
How can museums change society? What consequences can curatorial actions have? Curators and educators, organizers and designers, artists and scholars today are looking for ways not only to critically analyze existing notions and narratives of exhibition making but also to intervene in them and reformulate them through curatorial practices. The /ecm Master’s Program in Exhibition Theory and Practice at the University of Applied Arts Vienna is a two-year, postgraduate program that provides comprehensive knowledge and skills in the expanded field of museums and exhibitions. In collaborative processes, we experiment with different methods of curatorial research, theory and practice. Thus, discourses, ruptures, and horizons emerge that challenge the canon, occupy exhibition spaces and the public sphere, and seek not only to digitize museums and collections, but above all to democratize them.

Contents
Educating stands for the reflective mediation of knowledge and an emancipatory understanding of education. /ecm is devoted to current approaches and experimental formats of art-and-culture education that turn exhibitions into spaces of action in museums and institutions, as well as in public spaces and on the web. 

Curating refers to the collection, selection and visualization of discourses, objects, art works, social issues and research processes. Based on a critical engagement with museology and cultural heritage, exhibition histories, collection policies, and cultures of digitality, it is about developing new forms of presenting and publicizing in analog and digital space.

Managing means the contemporary organization of curatorial and educational projects. The focus is on a critical examination of institutional practices and the development of alternative structures and strategies.

Method
The course is based on thematic modules that address essential curatorial forms of action. It centers on examining transdisciplinary knowledge production and research-based practice. Content is delivered through lectures, museum and exhibition analyses, workshops, presentations, podcasts, reading seminars, working groups, field trips, and master’s thesis colloquia. A collaborative curatorial project combines research, conceptualization, production, communication, and outreach. The result is a space for thinking, where the multifaceted profiles and expertise of the director’s team, the expansive network of international speakers, and the individual experiences of the participants come together.

Participants
We offer our program to a diverse group of 25 students, maximum. They may be anchored in institutions or freelancers in the art and culture sector; they deal with questions of display and presentation, education and communication, and have varied educational and professional backgrounds. Together with their colleagues, they will develop theoretically, practically and critically sound perspectives for international museum work. They will gain skills to conceive and realize independent cultural projects, exhibitions, and public programs. We see our students as future colleagues and expect them to have an open-minded, inquisitive attitude.

Structure
The /ecm course comprises 120 ECTS points. Designed as a part-time program, the study takes place over four semesters with a total of 22 modules from October 2022 to June 2024 and is concluded with the academic degree Master of Arts (MA—Continuing Education). The language of instruction is German, a minimum of B2 in German and English is required.

Directors team
Martina Griesser-Stermscheg, Head of the Research Institute at the Vienna Museum of Science and Technology / Christine Haupt-Stummer, section.a. Curatorial Collective / Renate Höllwart, Art and culture educator, Büro trafo.K / Beatrice Jaschke, purpurkultur—exhibiting, consulting, educating / Monika Sommer, Founding Director, House of Austrian History / Nora Sternfeld, Professor of Art Education at the HFBK Hamburg / Luisa Ziaja, Curator for Contemporary Art, Belvedere Museum. All team members are part of the association schnittpunkt. exhibition theory & practice.

Management
Beatrice Jaschke, organizational management / Marion Oberhofer, course assistant / Frank Müller, office.
T +43 1 711 33 27-52, ecm [​at​] uni-ak.ac.at