Curating the Contemporary: 2020 Curatorial Summer School in Rome

Goldsmiths Department of Art and the British School at Rome (BSR) are pleased to announce the 2020 Curatorial Summer School entitled Curating the Contemporary.

The Summer School is aimed at people who are interested in the professional field of curating and takes place in July 2020 at the prestigious British School at Rome. We are looking for entrants from a mix of backgrounds but particularly graduates and artists who are 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.

The course will provide participants with an opportunity to engage intensively with the activity of curating contemporary art, one that produces exhibitions and events within an expanded field that includes commercial and public galleries, museums and foundations, but also public spaces and social contexts. It will investigate various modes of curating contemporary art, as well as in the expanded sense of the philosophical idea of the curatorial as it is currently discussed in the field.

Course programme
The summer school will be directed by Dr. Simon Sheikh who heads the world-leading MFA in Curating course at Goldsmiths, University of London, and will be based on its ethos of mixing theory and practice, while enabling participants to engage with our extensive professional networks in the field of contemporary curating.

We will look at curating through the crucial phases of conceptualization, realization and mediation, taking on board 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. 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 make site visits to a number of spaces in Rome, taking in the full palette of possibilities, from museum and foundations, to commercial galleries and alternative spaces. Participants will also be supplied with a specifically assembled reader in curating and contemporary art, and will have lectures form a number of leading practitioners in the field.

Over the course of the two weeks, participants will have the opportunity to meet and learn from many of the leading curators and theorists of contemporary art and to be introduced to important professional networks within the field of contemporary curating. Some of our past speakers include: Jochen Becker, Iwona Blazwick, Melanie Bouteloup, Maria Bremer, Cecilia Canzani, Ele Carpenter, Alfredo Cramerotti, Paolo Do, Ilaria Gianni, Carles Guerra, Hou Hanru, Maria Hlavajova, Valerio Manucci, Richard Noble, Cesare Pietrouisti, Helena Reckitt, Beatrix Ruf, Aria Spinelli, and Adrian Searle.

The final programme will be confirmed on the June 2020.

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 on Wednesday, July 1st through Wednesday, July 15, 2020. 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: 2020 Curatorial Summer School.

Price
There are a limited number of Early Bird places available, including shared or single accommodation.

Early Bird applications must be received by the February 14, 2020.

Early bird fees and accommodation
GBP 2720 for shared, twin room / GBP 3200 for single room

Standard fees and accommodations
GBP 3120—including shared, twin room /  GBP 3600—including single room

If you are located in Rome you can join the course without the accommodation package at GBP 2040 at the early bird rate (booked before 14 February) and GBP 2440 standard rate.

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