The module reflects critically on exhibitions as significant sites of art historical inquiry. As sites for the display and circulation of artworks, exhibitions are a crucial space through which the art-historical canon has been defined and contested. The field of exhibitions histories is also producing its own canon. This module asks how exhibitions have shaped definitions of art, through the distinct dialogues and debates that are created between objects, exhibition makers, publics and writers. It questions and unpacks exhibitions as a discrete area of art historical study, through which we can map and understand the mobility of people, ideas and objects.
We will examine a wide range of exhibition types and sites, covering a broad chronology and taking a global approach. Students will engage in a close study of archival, visual and textual material, including exhibition catalogues, installation photographs and art criticism. They will critically analyse this material with reference to current scholarship in the field.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Demonstrate a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of the module’s taught content and of the approaches taken in related scholarship
Analyse and evaluate relationships between relevant artworks and the cultural and social environment of the period covered by the module;
Identify and critically evaluate a range of methods and arguments used in primary or other secondary sources relating to the period covered by the module;
