HAU22004 The Display of Art
This module introduces students to the history and practice of collecting and display. It will have a direct significance for anyone intending to undertake any kind of curatorial role.
- Module Organisers:
- Team taught
- Duration:
- Semester 2
- Contact Hours:
- 1 lecture per week, 1 seminar per fortnight
- Weighting:
- 5 ECTS
- Assessment:
- Course work
- Course open to:
[M=mandatory; O= optional]- Single Honors (M), Joint Honors (M), Columbia dual degree (M), Ancient and Medieval History and Culture (M), Art History as a minor (M), visiting (O); open module (O)
Through a range of case studies this module ensures an awareness that the museum or gallery is not inevitable or fixed, but a concept under constant revision if not challenge. Overall the arrangement of the module is chronological and progressively local, with a view to understanding museum and gallery history, types and principles.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon the successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- Identify and analyse the chronology and geography of the emergence of the public museum
- evaluate the origins, influence and status of the principal national and international institutions
- Describe and evaluate the ways in which the main modes of display used in museums and galleries have evolved and give examples of recent practices
- Explain the roles of museums and galleries in creating and mediating the cultural significance of works of art
- Define and explain the concept of the canon and the reasons why works may be sought by collectors
- Show a good awareness of the issues surrounding the concept of cultural property