Can you collect artworks that have yet stood the test of time? Can you preserve performance art? How do you interpret contemporary art in a museum setting? This course provides a broad introduction to the museum world: their mission, their nature and their work. It is organized around the key professional activities of museums such as collecting, conserving, exhibiting, interpreting and educating with a special focus on contemporary art. The emphasis is on theories as well as practices, and students are expected to gain an understanding of the responsibilities of museum prefessionals.
Indicative references
Bruce Altshuler (Ed.), Collecting the New: Museums and Contemporary Art. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2005.
ICOM, Museum Definition. https://icom.museum/en/activities/standards-guidelines/museum-definition/, 2019
Brian O’Doherty, Inside the White Cube, University of California Press, CA., 2000.
Sarah Macdonald (Ed.), A Companion to Museum Studies. Blackwell Pub, Malden, MA., 2006.
