Interpreting Exhibitions

This subject is not offered in 2014.

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Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in art history, Master of Art Curatorship, Master of Arts Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Arts & Cultural Management, Master of Cinema Management, Master in Arts & Cultural Management, Master of Arts & Cultural Management (Moving Image), Master of Arts in Art History (Advanced Seminar and Shorter Thesis).

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

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.

• 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.

A 2000 word exhibition analysis based on in-class presentation 40% (due during the semester ) and a 3000 word research essay 60% (due in the examination period). Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% (or 10 out of 12) classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Any student who fails to meet this hurdle without valid reason will not be eligible to pass the subject. All required written work must be submitted in order to pass the subject. Essays submitted after the due date without an extension will be penalised 2% per day. Essays submitted after two weeks of the assessment due date without a formally approved application for special consideration or an extension will only be marked on a pass/fail basis if accepted.

A subject reader will be available.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• 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.