Museum Experience Design

Master Courses - Florence

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3rd edition - the Master in Museum Experience Design has the objective to train museum professionals able to design journeys and programmes aimed to the audience engagement and audience development in different public categories, for museums and cultural institutions. The course provides specific skills about museum design, communication applied to culture, mediation and communication techniques to promote cultural heritages. 

The students are required to go beyond the classic educational approach and learn to design multidisciplinary museum journeys with new immersive technologies. 

The outgoing professionals can work in public and private cultural institutions as mediators for the Cultural Heritage or as Designers of Educational Services. 

  • Start date
    November 2021
  • Duration
    6 months
  • Attendance
    full-time
  • Language
    Italian

Who it is addressed to - The Master is addressed to graduates in Cultural Heritage, Educational Sciences, Letters, History, Philosophy, Anthropology or Academy of Fine Arts. Those who have gained previous experience in the field by collaborating with museum institutions or cultural associations can be admitted as well.

Methodology and structure - Through a strongly laboratory-based didactics, the training course aims at the construction of museum experiences and educational projects. Structured according to five thematic modules, the Master alternates theoretical lessons with workshops. Theoretical lessons introduce students to the tools of interpretation and communication used in the artistic-museum field. Workshops provide an opportunity to experience the planning, organization, management and evaluation of educational projects and edutainment, also thanks to the collaboration between IED Florence and museums and institutions in the area.

Moreovere, there will be workshops and visits at public or private institutions, museums and foundations, offering students the opportunity to get in touch with the best practices of the national territory. An entire module will be dedicated to museum accessibility.

Some of the lesson will be held in English and will be dedicated to urgent international programs, professionalism and themes within the museum experience.

The Final Thesis will consist in the design of a path and/or museum experience, developed from briefs provided by partner institutions. The results of the project will be presented to the clients during the discussion at the end of the course.

Remarkable is that teacher who accomplishes himself what he teaches to others.
(Italian proverb)

IED faculty are professionals that daily face the market. Here you can read their bios.

Valentina Gensini - Course Coordinator

Valentina Gensini - Course Coordinator
Art historian and curator. Since 2005 she has been focusing her work on Museum Studies with an appointment at the Florentine Superintendency in the Galleria d’Arte Moderna of Palazzo Pitti. Since 2007 she has served as a consultant for the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation in Florence, where she curated the international project Green Platform. Art Ecology Sustainability in 2009. In 2010, she was member of the Cultural Commission for selecting projects for the Estate Fiorentina festival organized by the City of Florence. In 2011, she was the Artistic Director of the Notte Bianca in Florence, entirely dedicated to the contemporary arts. She curated the section of Visual Arts for the Fabbrica Europa Festival in 2012. She is currently Scientific Director of the Museo Novecento, and the Artistic Director of Le Murate: Progetti Arte Contemporanea, a civic center for the contemporary arts.  

Pietro Gaglianò

Pietro Gaglianò
He is an Art critic and independent curator. His main topics of interest concern the interaction between arts and political matters. He experiments hybrid forms between art and education, in an anti discrimination function and to increase social awareness. Currently is member of the Executive Board of the Forum per l’Arte Contemporanea Italiana, of the scientific board of “Nexst”, festival of Italian non profit spaces, Turin; he is part of the project Madeinfilandia  and he runs many project of radical pedagogy (Didattica Popolare). Since 2011 he curates and manages “Scripta Festival”, cycle of lectures concerning books about contemporary arts. Amongst hie recent books: "Memento. The obsession with the visible" (Postmedia 2016) and "La sintassi della libertà. Arte, pedagogia, anarchia" (Gli Ori 2020)  

Michele Trimarchi

Michele Trimarchi
He is an expert in projects of international cultural cooperation (India, Indonesia, Brazil, Balkan area, Jordan), and in EU-funded projects on museum management and cultural tourism, he has elaborated the strategic plan for the Archaeological Park of Coliseum (Roma) and for MADRE museum (Napoli), and has coordinated the analysis of creative industries in Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna. He is founder of Tools for Culture, a nonprofit active in strategic assistance for the arts and culture, and scientific director of Art Files, a consultancy company for the cultural system.

Maria Chiara Ciaccheri

Maria Chiara Ciaccheri
She is a cultural project manager, expert in the field of museum learning with a focus on accessibility and participatory approaches in adult education. With a Master in Learning and Visitor Studies in Museums at the University of Leicester (UK), in recent years she has worked and researched extensively in the field of museum accessibility, especially in the United States. Partner of ABCittà, she is responsible for the Museums and Society area.  

Nicola Santini

Nicola Santini
Along with Pier Paolo Taddei, Nicola is the founder of Avatar Architectur. He is co-author of the permanent exhibition of the new Museo del Novecento; he collaborates with Galleria degli Uffizi since 1997 designing temporary exhibitions and interior renovations.

Anna Maria Marras

Anna Maria Marras
Research Fellow at Università di Torino, PhD in Archaeology, she is coordinator of ICOM Italy digital technologies commission. Her research interests concern different areas of digital humanities. She collaborates with public and private bodies for the design and implementation of accessible and sustainable technologies for cultural heritage. She has organized several national and international meetings and conferences on open data, participation, archaeology and museums.

Giuliana Ciancio

Giuliana Ciancio
Cultural manager, curator, researcher and lecture - deals with live performing arts, international programming and cultural policies in Europe. In her career she has worked creating and managing large-scale cultural cooperation projects at national and international level. Currently, she is the co-curator and project manager of the EU large-scale cooperation project Be SpectACTive; PhD candidate at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) within the C.C.Q.O - Cultural Commons Quest Office; co-founder and board member of the Italian based organization Liv.in.g. (Live Internationalization Gateway). She also teaches cultural management,  international programming and cultural policy at post-graduated level in Italy and abroad.  

Paolo Mazzanti

Paolo Mazzanti
He has interdisciplinary university education: graduated in Theoretic Philosophy, post-graduated in “Master in Multimedia Content Design” and “Master in Planning and Communication of Cultural Heritage . He is presently a researcher at MICC - Media Integration and Communication Center and NEMECH - New Media for Cultura Heritage:  Management Training Programs - and Scientific Co-ordinator of MuseiEmotivi Project. His research interests focus on Emotions and Informal Learning in Museums, User-Experience and Interaction Design, New Media and Digital Toos for User Engagement, Information Technology & Creative Practices (ITCP).  

Veronica Caciolli

Veronica Caciolli
After her Master's Degree in Phenomenology of Styles, she completed a series of advanced studies in Curating, History of Religions, Anthropology of Art in Berlin, Rome and Milan. She has written for art magazines such as Segno and Exibart. From 2005 to 2007 she has been in charge of institutional exhibitions and publications for Photology, organizing projects involving Mario Giacomelli, Enzo Cucchi, Joel-Peter Witkin, Claudio Abate and Achille Bonito Oliva among others. For museums, from 2008 to 2015 she has curated the XX and XXI centuries collections and contemporary art exhibitions at Mart, Museum of Modern and Contemporary art of Rovereto. From 2016 to 2019, on leave at Palazzo Pretorio Museum in Prato, she worked on symbolic stratifications of time with Pretorio Studio: invited artists confronted with classical masterpieces throughout a residence and a final collection-specific exhibit. She has published, among others, with Silvana Editoriale, Electa Mondadori, Gli Ori and Mousse Publishing.  

Fabio Viola

Fabio Viola
After a life spent in the videogames industry working for Electronic Arts Mobile and Vivendi Games on iconic titles such as Fifa, The Sims, Crash Bandicoot, Harry Potter, Fabio Viola is considered one of the most influential gamification designers in the world. Books author, among others "L’Arte del Coinvolgimento" (Hoepli 2017), he is a lecturer in several Italian universities. In 2016 he founded TuoMuseo, a collective of artists and creative specialized in the gaming for culture/gaming is culture. Among his latest productions Father and Son for the National Archaeological Museum of Naples with over 4.5 million downloads, A Life in Music for the Teatro Regio in Parma, The Medici Game for Uffizi in Florence and the newly released Fragments of Life about leukemia. He is currently coordinator of the Alghero Playable City Strategic Plan.  

Chiara Rubessi

Chiara Rubessi
Chiara Rubessi is a PhD in Arts&Humanities at the Grenoble Alpes University. She is a researcher at the Lab. Cinesthea, UGA and at the CEREFREA, University Bucarest. Her research interests include the aesthetic of the exhibition space, the theories of the exhibition, the digital transitions and the impact of technology on the arts.She recently organized the international conference DEA2019-Exhibition Design at the Paris 8 University and the School of Archicteure Paris-Malaquais. In 2010, she specialised in Exhibition Design at the Politecnico of Milan. Alongside her activity as exhibit designer, she carries out a teaching activity between France and Italy.

Eleonora Chielli

Eleonora Chielli
She is a lawyer with the right of audience before the Superior Courts (Avvocato Cassazionista), and with broad international experience. Founder of her own Venice-based law firm, she is also a qualified mediator and arbitrator. Professor of art law, she regularly collaborates with the IAL (Institute of Art and Law, UK) that publishes her articles on Italian case law in the field of art law. She is also a regular speaker at art law conferences in Italy and abroad.

Marco Peri

Marco Peri
Art historian, museum educator and researcher, he works with museum projects that aim to create a more effective connection between the public and contemporary art. He designs educational formats including ‘per_formative’ guided tours, museum experiences and workshops that encourage the active participation of the public through the involvement of emotional and imaginative resources. His work, in constant update and research, focuses on the experimentation of interdisciplinary activities, between art and education. He designs and develops educational paths for museums and advanced training courses for art professionals and teachers.

Mario Puccioni

Mario Puccioni
Psychoanalyst and neuroscientist, he taught at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Florence and worked for many years at the Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence, collaborating with national and international departments. Founder and CEO of Binoocle, an innovative start-up operating in the field of Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, that designs analysis models through the study of people's behaviour and big data.

Alessandra Capodacqua

Alessandra Capodacqua
A self taught photographer, she is also artist and teacher. She constantly expands her artistic development by experimenting and mixing new digital technologies, analog/digital photography and alternative printing processes.