CAS/MAS in Curating

Call for applications for 2022/23, CAS/MAS in Curating postgraduate programme—digitally expanded: Contemporary Curating and (post)digital Media.

International programme conducted in English. Offered by the Centre for Continuing Education at the Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland. Head of the programme: Prof. Dr. Dorothee Richter. Co-Head: Ronald Kolb. Contact: dorothee.richter [​at​] zhdk.ch.

Informational online event: June 4, 2022, 4pm (Central European Time). Please attend via this link.

The manifold shifts in our social fabric—in arts and culture and elsewhere—have shaken up old narratives and world views, making us aware that we have to engage actively in our societies and build networks of solidarity with traversal practices and sustainable structures both inside and outside of institutions, in a non-reductionist manner. Digital means are an essential part of this.

The Postgraduate Programme in Curating was established in 2005, having added an international trajectory since 2008. We are constantly broadening our international network, reaching out to contemporary art curators worldwide and critiquing “Western” and patriarchal canons and conventional formats of exhibiting in real space and in the digital space. Since 2018, programme participants have been able to attend all courses online.

The study programme is embedded in the ecosystem with the travelling workshop series Curating on the Move, collaborations with museums and art academies worldwide. It also hosts a vast network of international guest lecturers and organises conferences and workshops with collaboration partners.

In 2021, we organised the international event Situated Knowledges—Curating on the Move hosted by the Migros Museum of Contemporary Art in Zurich and the Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong, and the workshop and conference Curating on Shaky Grounds: Curating in Times of Crisis and Conflict at KW Berlin. From June 23 to July 7 2022, we will organise the Summer School Commoning Curatorial and Artistic Education within the framework of CAMP notes on education for documenta fifteen.

Closing events of the 2021/22 academic year and beyond:
June 16: Finissage for Compost—The Open Bin (Composting Knowledge), OnCurating Project Space.
July: Launch of OnCurating: Practices of Commons (WT) (in collaboration with the online journal OnCurating)
June 23–July 7, 2022: Shared Campus Summer School Commoning Curatorial and Artistic Education, documenta fifteen, Kassel, Germany
Spring 2023: Conference at Ocean Space, Venice, in collaboration with the foundations TBA21-Academy and Artis

Postgraduate programme in Curating
The Postgraduate Programme in Curating is conceived of as a exhibitionary, discursive platform which explores key areas of contemporary exhibition-making by way of praxis-oriented project ­work. Instruction modules, group activities, seminars, and lectures are conducted by an international selection of guest lecturers from various fields.
The programme focuses less on the “genius concept” of the exhibition planner as individual author—a highly controversial topic since the 1990s—and more on cooperative, interdisciplinary working methods, as employed in film productions or non-governmental organisations. Exhibition-making/curating means the creation of innovative structures for the presentation of cultural artefacts and contemporary discourse through interdisciplinary collaboration. In this field, art, digital media, design, and architecture intermesh in new ways.

Brief outline:
–Contemporary discourse on art and curating (see more here)
–Carrying out single and collaborative exhibition projects and collaboration projects
–Distance learning opportunity (for participants from abroad, every session can be attended online)
–MAS with 90 ECTS
–Possibility to advance to the PhD Programme in Practice in Curating

Guest speakers
In addition to the teaching team at the University of the Arts—Dorothee Richter, Ronald Kolb, Sara Spies—we invite a wide range of international curators and artists, including Sabih Ahmed, Marius Babias, Jeebesh Bagchi, Ursula Biemann, Beatrice von Bismarck, René Block, Lionel Bovier, Sabeth Buchmann, Zasha Colah, Sergio Edelsztein, Claire Farago & Donald Preziosi, Fernando Garcia-Dory, Alistair Hudson, Jeanne van Heeswijck, Stefanie Hessler, Daniel Kurjakovic, Maria Lind, Kabelo Malatsie, Florian Malzacher, Oliver Marchart, Cesare Pietroiusti, Shwetal Patel, Farid Ragun (ruangrupa), Oliver Ressler, Stella Rollig, Sandi Paucic, Henk Slager, Support Structure, Adam Szymczyk, Denise Tonella, Mirjam Varadinis, Axel John Wieder, Dmitry Vilensky, Joanna Warsza, Rein Wolfs, and more.

Cooperation partners
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich; Kunsthalle Zürich; Künstlerhaus Bremen; Kunstmuseum Thun; Kunstmuseum Bern; International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana; Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv; Connecting Space Hong Kong; Humboldt University, Berlin; Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe; Zentrum für Kunst und Medien/Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe; Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel; OnCurating Project Space, Zurich; Kunstverein Baden Württemberg; Corner College Zürich; Kunsthaus Zürich; Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna; Kunstakademie Stuttgart; University of Reading; OnCurating.org; Kunstmuseum Basel.

Collaborations with
–the publication platform OnCurating.org.
–the PhD in Practice in Curating, Practice-Based Doctoral Programme, University of Reading.

ZHdK and Zurich
Zurich University of the Arts is amongst the largest art schools in Europe. Whilst firmly anchored in greater Zurich, our influence extends well beyond Switzerland to the wider international stage. As the cultural centre for art in Switzerland, Zurich provides a unique and vibrant cultural scene at the heart of Europe.

Note: English-language skills are required for classes. Papers can be written in German or English. You can find additional information on the study programme and conditions of admission here or here. For enquiries, please contact: dorothee.richter [​at​] zhdk.ch.