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Group Exhibition Project - HOA00060I

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  • Department: History of Art
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This module explores the art collections and curatorial practices at the University of York. By working on an exhibition project, students study the spaces and contexts in which artworks are presented, and the impact of display upon their interpretation.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

Each year the module will centre on a particular exhibition or display project, exploring the various components of exhibition development, including object selection and arrangement, production of interpretive texts, design, audience analysis, education activities, marketing and fundraising. Through the group project, students will experience at first hand how curatorial theory intersects with the practical and conceptual demands of planning a feasible exhibition.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

  • understanding of the relationship between permanent art collections and changing exhibitions

  • familiarity with the varied roles involved in exhibition development, and deeper understanding of at least one of those roles

  • ability to analyse the interrelationships between how objects are displayed and how they are interpreted by both specialist and general audiences

  • ability to work effectively in a group

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 70
Groupwork 30

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

  • Bjerregaard, Peter, ed. Exhibitions as Research: Experimental Methods in Museums. London: Routledge, 2019.

  • Dewdney, Andrew, David Dibosa and Victoria Walsh. Post Critical Museology: Theory and Practice in the Art Museum. London: Routledge, 2013.

  • French, Jade. Inclusive Curating in Contemporary Art. Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2020.

  • Greenberg, Reesa, Bruce W. Ferguson and Sandy Nairne, eds. Thinking About Exhibitions. London: Routledge, 1996.

  • Hoffman, Jens. In the Meantime: Speculations on Art, Curating and Exhibitions. Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2020.

  • Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean. Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture. London: Routledge, 2020.

  • Lubar, Steven. Inside the Lost Museum. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017.

  • Marstine, Janet and Oscar Ho Hing Kay, eds. Curating Art. London: Routledge, 2021.

  • Pickering, Nicola. The Museum Curator's Guide. Chicago: Lund Humphries, 2020.

  • Putnam, James. Art and Artifact: the Museum as Medium. Rev. ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 2009.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.