MA Curation

Individual practice-based projects and hands-on curatorial experience are at the heart of the MA Curation course at Norwich University of the Arts. MA Curation explores the idea of “an exhibition” in its broadest sense across the field of contemporary art, media and design. The course will help you to develop self-initiated curatorial projects, where you’ll be encouraged to innovate and put into practice what you have learnt. You will work in the public domain and explore how to develop new audiences and interpret the role, purpose and meaning of exhibition design.

NUA provides a strong professional context in which to study curatorial practice, with established links with the Arts Council Collection, Hayward Touring, Tate, Norwich Castle Museum & Gallery, as well as local, regional and national galleries and museums. The university’s own gallery, East GalleryNUA, is an important touring venue for national and international exhibitions and has helped to cement NUA’s reputation for high quality curatorial practice.

Curation is a broad term, and MA Curation students will be encouraged to develop their ideas which can (and do) vary from exhibition design, creative events and spectacle, gallery interpretation and education, cultural value and access and the ethics of collecting. Whatever your area of exploration, curation is about building relationships and collaborative practice – be that working with artists, communities or producing a touring show.

In this regard you will be supported to construct creative projects in ‘real world’ situations, conceiving ideas, working with others, problem solving, producing and programming through to developing an awareness of wider curatorial tools such as insurance, art handling, marketing and project management.

New digital platforms, such as games, AI and VR can also offer new opportunities for curators to engage audiences with exhibitions and projects.