Interpreting Exhibitions

Subject ACUR90005 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 9 (Graduate/Postgraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Semester 2, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

On campus

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 2
Total Time Commitment: 120
Prerequisites: Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in art history, or the Master of Art Curatorship.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements: None

Coordinator

Dr Christopher Marshall

Contact

Christopher Marshall
crmars@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

This subject will examine the various strategies employed by museums and galleries to frame the objects and ideas in their care and in order to communicate to the public about them. It will consider how these display strategies have changed over time, but its principal focus will nonetheless be on current exhibition and display settings, from contemporary art spaces to science and natural history museums. What is the best way - if any - to frame a particular exhibition? What sorts of communications messages should curators and exhibition designers seek to convey to museum and gallery visitors? How effectively do galleries and museums communicate their ideas? What role does the public have in engaging with the objects and ideas in museum and gallery display settings? These and other questions will be asked in order to critically interrogate the idea of the exhibition as a meeting point between the institution and the public and as a site of a charged dialogue of meaning between all the players in the exhibition circuit: from the institution, to the objects and/or ideas in the institution, and on to the public who comes to engage with them. On completion of the subject students should be able to apply a range of critical theoretical, art historical and museological approaches to the study of exhibitions and displays in historical and contemporary settings.
Objectives:
  • have an understanding of how objects and ideas are communicated to the public in museum and gallery displays;
  • be able to engage critically with a range of display strategies in varying display settings; and
  • have developed an appreciation for a range of museological, critical theory, and art historical approaches to studying exhibitions in museums and galleries.
Assessment: A 2000 word exhibition analysis based on in-class presentation 40% (due during the semester ) and a 3000 word research essay 60% (due during the examination period).
Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available.
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • be able to conduct independent research using catalogued sources and bibliographical indexes;
  • have developed their ability to think creatively and express their ideas clearly in written communication; and
  • have developed their skills in verbal communication and oral presentation.
Related Course(s): Master of Art Curatorship (Coursework and Minor Thesis)
Master of Arts Management
Master of Arts in Art History (Advanced Seminars and Shorter Thesis)
Master of Cinema Management
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Management
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Art History
Art History
Art History

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