Courses
VART3367 Exhibition Culture: Theory in Practice (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
How is art effected and affected by exhibition cultures and art markets?
Do exhibitions define art buying patterns? Or do buying patterns define exhibitions?
These are key questions for the understanding of the art world, and need to be of core interest to the emerging artist breaking into the highly competitive art market place.
From the differing perspectives of both the public and the private sector, this course will provide navigation support and assessment of the contrasts and similarities of the sectors, discussing issues of wealth and value, consumption, and ownership.
To do so the course will extend the students knowledge of the history and theory of exhibitions, collecting, and the effect and impacts of the growing commercial art markets. It will further analyse the roles and restrictions of cultural policy and definitions of culture, in a local and global sense, and contextualise these frameworks for public and private sectors. Case studies of world leading galleries such as Tate Modern, MOMA and the Guggenheim will be studied to determine the meaning of 'blockbuster exhibitions' and the commercialisation of art as is evident through the marketing practice of exhibitions and their associated gift shop memorabilia.
The changing role of art and its exhibition will be examined, in terms of traditional associations of status, education and of art in an increasing commercial form as investment. Assessing the roles of gallery, dealer, auction house and buyer as the centre pin to driving and responding to market forces. These themes and topics will provide essential knowledge of the arts sector, reviewing the role of the public and private sectors in the advancement of the art exhibition.