Art and Curatorial Practice
Artistic Research, Curatorial Practice and Cultural Project Development
Florence
ENG
Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Promotion of Contemporary Artistic Heritage - Specialization Art and Curatorial Practice*
Language
English
Start date
October 2027
Frequency
Full time
Fruition
On campus
Duration
3 Years
Credits
180 CFA / ECTS
Course Coordination
Pietro Gaglianò
Contemporary art is a space for research, discussion and experimentation, offering a way to interpret the changes shaping the present. Artworks and artistic practices engage with aesthetic, social, geopolitical and philosophical questions, challenging languages, perspectives and ways of inhabiting the world. Understanding them means engaging with artists and the contexts in which they work, while examining how art is produced, exhibited, interpreted and shared.
In this context, curating helps build relationships between artworks, spaces and audiences. From research and content selection to exhibition design and cultural mediation, every decision contributes to creating meaning and opportunities for participation. Museums, foundations and galleries exist alongside independent spaces, artist residencies, public-space projects and digital platforms. These varied contexts call for critical thinking, sensitivity to artistic research, and both design and organisational skills.
The Art and Curatorial Practice programme brings together artistic research, curatorial practice and cultural communication, combining the humanities with the digital world. Studying art and experimenting with its languages helps students develop an interdisciplinary understanding of contemporary culture and explore the roles that institutions, professionals and audiences play in producing and sharing culture.
The programme provides the tools to develop curatorial concepts, design exhibitions and display routes, and create content that promotes contemporary art. Engagement with artists, in-depth study of their research, and discussion of artworks and their contexts support the development of skills in critical writing, documentation, exhibition installation and cultural mediation.
The curriculum includes art history and criticism, photography, museology, museography, and the economics and art market. Theoretical knowledge is combined with studio-based activities and applied projects, where students experiment with visual, performative, interactive and multimedia languages. Individual and group work connects research with practical decisions, helping students learn to organise the stages of a project and collaborate with artists, curators, cultural practitioners, and technical and craft professionals.
In Florence, the programme engages with a city where historical heritage coexists with contemporary artistic production. The relationship between memory, research and experimentation provides a setting in which to examine approaches to cultural interpretation and the connections between art and the public sphere. Meetings with professionals and institutions, visits to museums, exhibitions and artists’ studios, and attendance at performances offer opportunities to observe different practices and models, connecting first-hand experience with project work. The programme is taught in English.
Structure and content
The programme runs over three years and combines theoretical study, studio-based activities, applied projects, and engagement with professionals and cultural institutions. Historical and critical knowledge supports the development of curatorial, communication and technical skills, leading to the creation of an artistic or curatorial project. The aim is to prepare students to interpret contemporary artistic practices and contribute to the planning and delivery of exhibitions and cultural initiatives.
In the first year, students are introduced to the foundations of modern and contemporary art history and art criticism, developing the tools to analyse artworks, languages and cultural contexts. Photography and performance techniques encourage experimentation with forms of expression and the production of visual materials. The study of contemporary cultural heritage, museum collections and the art market helps students understand how the sector works and how heritage, institutions and audiences relate to one another. Practical exercises support the development of a research method and greater independence in interpreting and presenting content.
In the second year, the study of museology and museography is combined with the design of exhibition routes and displays. Analysing institutions and the ways artworks are presented helps students connect curatorial decisions with the visitor experience. Photography for cultural heritage, collection communication, and art education and teaching methods develop skills in documentation, promoting cultural content and making it accessible. The programme also includes contemporary art and architecture history and cultural heritage law, providing frameworks for contextualising and organising projects.
In the third year, project work brings together curatorial research, exhibition installation, exhibition system management and multimedia communication. Interactive and digital tools expand the ways content can be presented and audiences can participate, while the anthropology of art and the study of exhibition languages support reflection on the relationships between artworks, narratives and audiences. The programme concludes with a final thesis: an artistic or curatorial project accompanied by a critical paper and visual and documentary materials. It demonstrates the student’s research method, project decisions and approach to realisation.
The programme prepares graduates to work in curating, exhibition production, communication and cultural mediation, either independently or within museums, foundations, galleries, independent spaces, artist residencies and other organisations active in the contemporary art world.
*An application for accreditation of this course has been submitted to the MUR – Italian Ministry of University and Research. The information on this page will be updated based on developments related to the application.
Faculty
Course Coordinator
Pietro Gaglianò
Curator
Costanza Meli
Art historian and Curator
Santa Nastro
Art critic, Journalist and Communicator
Dario Orlandi
Photographer
Rita Duina
Cultural professional
Adriana Polveroni
Professor and curator
Maria Antonia Rinaldi
Art historian
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