MA Curation: Contemporary Art and Cultural Management

Field trips and internships are an essential part of the MA Curation: Contemporary Art and Cultural Management programme at the University of Exeter. This intensive, one-year Masters course combines academic rigour and critical debate with professional training and practical experience within the field of contemporary art. Students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working in the arts through internships and work placements, as well as undertaking regular field trips to key venues and events throughout the year, in London and across the United Kingdom.

The MA Curation programme is transnational in focus and encourages an understanding of the social, cultural and economic issues that surround the contemporary art world. We think critically about the relationship between the local and international in different regions of the world, how museums and non-profit spaces relate to the art market, biennials and art fairs, and the decolonisation of exhibition programmes and institutions. As well as exploring the critical context and theoretical approaches associated with contemporary art, the course includes a series of professional practice workshops that foreground production skills and cultural management. Students have the opportunity to focus on specific aspects of curation, such as art writing or socially-engaged practice, and in the final term they have the option to either write a dissertation or organise a curatorial project of their own. 

Host institutions for the six-week internships have included Sharjah Art Foundation in the UAE, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, Songeun Art Space in Seoul, Galerie Hoangbeli in Paris, as well as Frieze Art Fair, Whitechapel Gallery, Camden Art Centre and the Government Art Collection in London, and regional museums and galleries in the South West, such as the National Trust's Saltram House and The Box in Plymouth and RAMM in Exeter. University of Exeter has also partnered with the British Council to offer an annual month-long Fellowship at the Venice Biennale. An MA Curation Blog Series, written by the students, reflecting on their internship experiences, can be viewed on the University’s Arts and Culture platform here. 

In the final term, students have the option to either organise a curatorial project or write a research dissertation. The MA Curation project archive can be accessed here. The overall themes for the collective, practice-based projects chosen by the MA students have included “Elsewhere(s): Home from Home” (2025), “Foreign Bodies” (2024), “Bare Life: Art Despite Everything” (2023), “Now’s the Time: Art Year Zero” (2022) and “Antibodies: Art During the Pandemic” (2022). 

The course is led by Programme Director, Professor Tom Trevor, and co-taught by Dr Helena Bonett. It also draws on expertise from the Art History and Visual Culture team, across the University and worldwide. Lectures and seminars are framed around conversations with internationally recognised curators, artists, researchers and writers. Recent guest speakers have included Ben Eastham, Omar Kholeif, Yvette Mutumba, Billy Tang, Ndeye Filly Gueye, Kinnari Saraiya, Melissa Gronlund, Brian Dillon, Maria Fusco, Sam Thorne and Anthony Huberman, amongst others. 

The University of Exeter in the South West of England is a Russell Group university, in the top 150 of universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings 2022. We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, with over 22,000 students and 4,600 staff from 180 different countries.  

How to apply
For more information on the MA Curation programme, available scholarships and how to apply online, please visit the course page on our website or enquire online. Keep up to date with all programme activities by following us on Instagram.

*Image above: MA Curation students during their internship at Saltram House, researching the Chinese Gardens at Saltram exhibition, co-curated as a partnership between University of Exeter and the National Trust (on display until May 2026).