AR 311 Curatorial Practice. Past and Present

AR 311 Curatorial Practice. Past and Present Seminar Leader: Prof. Dr. Aya Soika Course Times: Thursdays, 13:30 16:45 Email: a.soika@berlin.bard.edu Office Hours: by email appointment, Wednesdays 11:00-12:00; 13:45-14:45 Course Description Curatorial Practice involves a careful consideration of thematic, pedagogical, and aesthetic concerns. The course assesses the disclosure of such concerns in the structure of the exhibition form, past and present, drawing on a variety of museum collections and art spaces in Berlin. Our investigation begins with an exploration of some of the past, present and future challenges curators, conservators and archivists have faced on the Berlin Museum Island as well as at the Hamburger Bahnhof museum of contemporary art. We concentrate on the underlying debates concerning the complex dynamics between questions of display, the demands of conservation and the need for accessibility through an increasing number of visitors. The second part of the course is dedicated to smaller houses and art spaces as well private collections and galleries. Here, we discuss in greater detail the process of framing: the relationship between individual works, the role of the spectator and the conceptual rationale of curatorial choice as well as the significance of the different settings. Conversations with curators and critics, conservators and dealers will be part of the course. Readings include art-historical, essays in the field of museum studies, as well as recent interviews and selected websites/online sources. Requirements (including expectations regarding participation and course assignments) Attendance Attendance at ALL classes is expected. More than one absence in the seminar will significantly affect the grade for the course. Please also make sure you depart early in order to reach the museums and/or seminar room, and please lock in your coats and bags before the beginning of class. The itinerary can be checked on www.bvg.de, but make sure you are also equipped with a city map. Class Etiquette: If absent, a short notification via email, if possible sent before the beginning of class, is appreciated. Please keep your bathroom breaks to a minimum and note that punctuality is essential. Also note that the use of smartphones and notebooks is not allowed during seminars on campus as well as in other locations. Also please note that you should stay with the group at all times (do not wander off and explore the galleries on your own whilst the conversation is still going on) and stay focussed on the object of our discussion. Assessment

The course assessment consists of the overall seminar work (response papers, short presentations and two exams, in addition to class participation and the preparation of tutorials), two essays and a longer presentation. Writing Assignments Your weekly responses are due on each Thursday of our class, no later than 9:30 am, should be of approximately 300 words length, and engage with the weekly readings. They should be posted onto the google document on the google drive and will be accessible to all participants of our class in order to encourage and stimulate our communal discussion. The first essay is due on 3 rd March, 19:00, the second essay is due on 28 th April 2016. Essays should be of ca. 2.000 words, including footnotes/references, bibliography and a list of illustrations. The structure and draft of your essays can be discussed in individual tutorials. Please note that prior consultation with the Bard in Berlin Writing Centre may be recommended in order to reflect upon writing and structure. Presentation Each student will deliver three short presentations (the list of topics will be announced). Presentations should last no longer than five minutes. Please make sure that you rehearse beforehand in order to avoid exceeding this timeframe. A one-page document with structured presentation notes (and, where applicable, a power point presentation) should be submitted via email before class by 9:00 am. Quiz In each of the two quizzes you will be shown ca. 6 objects and/or short quotations related to the course contents (including works encountered during visits to museums and galleries or quotations of the weekly readings). The discussion should provide the following: identification of image/quote and relevant factual information, socio-historical / art historical contextualization and interpretative analysis including references to reception history and interpretations you have encountered in the readings or which have been discussed in the seminar. Policy on Late Submission of Papers Essays that are up to 24 hours late will be downgraded one full grade (from B+ to C+, for example). Essays that are more than 24 hours late cannot receive a grade of higher than C (see also policy on late submission in the Bard College Berlin Student Handbook). Grade Breakdown Listed below is the percentage grade allotted to each essay, and to classroom participation and assignments. Seminar Grade = Attendance/Participation/Preparation of art works and texts & weekly responses Seminar Grade: 25% Presentations = Relevance to the topic; Awareness of context and scholarly debates, during the presentation and in the Q&A session afterwards; Structure & Timing; Relevance and structure of Presentation Notes Presentations: 25% Quizzes: 25 % 2

Essay = Line of argument with regard to essay question; Awareness of context and existing literature on the topic; Structure and Formatting (consistent use of annotations, bibliography & list of illustrations) Essays: 25% Schedule Week 1 Thursday, 28 January 2016, 13:30 16:45 Introduction to changing concepts and definitions of curatorial practices Course Overview Themes, Case Studies and Projects (Discussion of works by Duchamp and Andrea Fraser) TASK: Mini-Presentations of participants: Prepare a 5-minute presentation in which you analyze any one exhibition you have recently visited, presenting ca. 1-3 photographs (ideally pictures you have taken upon your visit). You should briefly introduce the theme and structure of the show, object choices and methods of display and communication (bearing in mind the issues discussed in this week s reading). Curating/Curatorial. An Interview between Irit Rogoff and Beatrice von Bismarck. In: Cultures of the Curatorial, Berlin: Sternberg Press 2012, pp. 21-37; Dorothea von Hantelmann, Affluence and Choice. The Social Significance of the Curatorial. In: Cultures of the Curatorial, Berlin: Sternberg Press 2012, pp. 41-51. Week 1: Exhibition Visit (mandatory) Saturday, 30 January 2015, 14:45 17: 15, Foyer of Berlinische Galerie, Alte Jakobstr. 124-128, 10969 Berlin (walk from U2-Spittelmarkt) Ich kenne kein Weekend. The archive and collection of René Block. Readig: René Block, interviewed by Sylvia Ruttimann and Karin Seinsoth. In: On Curating: Politics of display, Issue 22; Dorothee Richter, Artists and Curators as Authors. In: Cultures of the Curatorial, Berlin: Sternberg Press 2012, pp. 229-248; Maja Ciric and Isin Onol, Can Curating be Taught?. In: On curating: Institution as Medium. Curating as Institutional Critique?, 13/12, pp. 32ff. Week 2 4 February 2016, 13:45 17:00, Foyer of Bode Museum (walk from S-Friedrichstrasse) Part I: The Berlin Museum Island, Past and Present. 3

Visit of Bode Museum. Conversation with director Dr. Julien Chapuis Visit of Rotunda, Altes Museum Paul, Barbara (1995): Collecting Is the Noblest of All Passions! : Wilhelm von Bode and the Relationship between Museums, Art Dealing, and Private Collecting, in: International Journal of Political Economy, 25:2, pp. 9-32; Gaehtgens, Thomas W. (1996): The Museum Island in Berlin, in: The Formation of National Collections of Art and Archaeology, ed. by Gwendolyn Wright, Hanover/London, pp. 53-77; Week 3 11 February 2016, 13:45 17:00, Foyer of Alte Nationalgalerie, Museum Island (walk from S- Friedrichstrasse or take bus to Lustgarten) Part II: The Berlin Museum Island, Past and Present. Visit of Alte Nationalgalerie. Conversation with Dr. Kristina Mösl, conservator and art historian, specialist in German Romantic painting, particularly Caspar David Friedrich For the Museum Island: Karsten Schubert, The Curator s Egg. The evolution of the museum concept from the French Revolution to the present day, Chapter 3: Berlin, 2000 (here London 2009), pp. 29-38 and Chapter 7: Architecture 2: Museum Makeovers, pp. 128-133; For the Alte Nationalgalerie: Forster-Hahn, Françoise (1996): Shrine of Art or Signature of a New Nation? The National Gallery(ies) in Berlin, 1848-1968, in: The Formation of National Collections of Art and Archaeology, ed. by Gwendolyn Wright, Hanover/London, pp. pp. 78-99; Heinrich von Kleist, Exmotions upon Viewing Friedrich s Seascape. In: PDF called Ramdohr et al, pp. 172-173; Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim, Various Emotions on Viewing a Seascap with a Capuchin by Friedrich, In: PDF called Ramdohr et al, pp. 174-175; For the Neues Museum: Adrian von Buttlar, Neues Museum, Architectural Guide, Berlin/Munich 2010 (excerpts) Week 4 18 February 2016, 13:30 16:45 BCB campus The Art Exhibition Revision Quiz of previous seminar sessions Historical Overview of seminal Art Exhibitions of the 20 th and 21 st century (Mini-Presentations on: The Futurist Exhibitions; The Post-Impressionist Exhibition in London; Dada Fair, Berlin, 1920; The 4

Surrealist Exhibitions; Suprematism; The Degenerate Art Show; Cubism and Abstract Art, New York, 1938; Biennal, Venice; Documenta, Kassel; Olafur Eliasson, Berlin) O Doherty, Brian, The gallery as gesture, Inside the white cube the ideology of the gallery space, Univ. of California Press, 1999, pp. 87-107; Newhouse, Victoria (2005): Art and Power of Placement, New York, chapter: Introduction, pp. 8-41; Bruce Altshuler, Salon to Biennial Exhibitions that Made Art History, Vol. 1: 1868-1959, London: Phaidon Press 2007, pp. 11-19. Additional (voluntary): Claire Bishop, Artificial Hells: The Historic Avantgarde. In: Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, London 2012, pp. 41-76; Week 5 25 February 2016, 13:45 17:30, note: transfer with U2 from Mitte to Dahlem. This will take ca. 45 minutes halfway through our seminar. Humboldt-Box, Berlin (Unter den Linden) Ethnologische Museen, Dahlem (walk from U-Station Dahlem-Dorf) Part I: How can non-european collections be presented in the museum of the 21 st century? Case Study: Art from Africa Permanent Exhibition Bose, Friedrich von (2013): The Making of Berlin s Humboldt-Forum: Negotiating History and the Cultural Politics of Place, in: darkmatter. In the ruins of imperial culture. An international peer-reviewed journal, URL: http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2013/11/18/the-making-of-berlin%e2%80%99s-humboldt-forumnegotiating-history-and-the-cultural-politics-of-place/ Paul Basu and Sharon Macdonald, Introduction: Experiments in Exhibition, Ethnography, Art and Science; Representing Africa in American Art Museums. A Century of Collecting and Display, ed. by Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke (review PDF); Nana Leigh, Creating Ancestors and Affinities. A rhetorical Analysis of African Art in the Story of Modern Art http://www.stedelijkstudies.com/journal/creating-ancestors-affinities-rhetorical-analysis-african-art-storymodern-art/ Isabel Dean, Die Musealisierung des Anderen: Stereotype in der Ausstellung Kunst aus Afrika, Tübingen 2010 (in German) Week 6 3 March 2016, No class First round of essays due on 3 rd March, 19:00 (A range of essay topics are to be announced in Week 4) 5

Week 7 10 March 2016, 13:30 16:45, BCB campus Part II: How can non-european collections be presented in the museum of the 21 st century? Dr Verena Rodatus, Freie Universität Berlin / Margareta von Oswald, Humboldt-Lab, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Verena Rodatus and Margareta von Oswald, Object Biographies / Project Description: Attempted Methods, New Collaborations, and Altered Perspectives (PDF) Larissa Förster, Putting the Collection through Its Paces: A Plea for More Object Studies and Collections History (PDF) Romuald Tchibozo, Absent Objects and Academic Collaboration: The Case of the Bocio. In: Project Archive Probebühne 6 Object Biographies (PDF) Paul Basu and Sharon Macdonald, Introduction: Experiments in Exhibition, Ethnography, Art and Science Week 8 17 March 2016, 13:30 16:45, Auguststrasse / Me Collectors Room (walk from S-Station Oranienburger Tor) Collectors as Curators. Me Collectors Room. Cindy Sherman. Meeting with curators Karen Speier and Julia Rust (from 14:00) Cindy Sherman. Works from the Olbricht Collection. Me. Collectors Room Berlin Stiftung Olbricht (PDF); Phoebe Hoban, The Cindy Sherman Effect, in: Art News, Feb. 2012 http://www.artnews.com/2012/02/14/the-cindy-sherman-effect/ 21 March 25 March: Spring Break. No classes Week 9 31 March 2016, 13:45 17:00, Käuzchensteig (walk from bus stop on Clayallee) Kunsthaus Dahlem (formerly the State Atelier of Sculptor Arno Breker, then a DAAD studio space, opened in June 2015). Conversation with curator Dr. Dorothea Schöne. Berlin s new exhibition space for post-war sculpture, the Kunsthaus Dahlem Doll, Nikola, "The Arno Breker State Atelier." Shorter PDF version of the following publication: Nikola Doll, Arno Breker - Das Staatsatelier Arno Breker. Bau- und Nutzungsgeschichte, 1938-1945, Berlin 2014; Film: Breker Studio Visit feature in Newsreel of May 1942; 6

Gillen, Eckhart, Arno Breker: Decorator of Power and Scapegoat of the Germans. Notes on his reception in the Federal Republic of Germany, in: Publication Series of the Kunsthaus Dahlem, Berlin 2015, 34-52 Week 10 7 April 2016, 13:30 ca. 17:45, note extended seminar times! n.b.k. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (Chausseestr. 128-129, U-Rosenthaler Platz, 10115 Berlin) -Introduction to the n. b. k., a site of contemporary art and discourse production, its video collection (of over 1.600 international art videos) and its Artothek (from which art enthusiasts can borrow works) as well as its current exhibition. Conversation with Marenka Krasomil -Visit of Boros Bunker. Private Collection of Christian Boros. Guided Tour (16:15 17:45) TBC (reviews of its current exhibition) Familiarize yourself with: http://www.nbk.org/en/institution/ Dan Fox, Being Curated: Artists reflect on their relationship to curators. In: Frieze, Issue 154, April 2013 http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/being-curated/ On Boros Collection: Devorah Lauter, In Berlin, a Collection Where Mixing Is the Message. In: International New York Times, Sept. 12, 2012. Week 11 14 April 2016, 13:45 17:00, Bethanien / Bethanien showroom on Oranienstrasse (walk from U- Kottbusser Tor) Being Curated / Collecting Practices - Künstlerhaus Bethanien / Kunstraum Kreuzberg (TBC) - Museum der Dinge: Werkbundarchiv (Museum of Things). Oranienstrasse, Kreuzberg (guided tour at 15:00) Macdonald, Sharon (2011): Collecting Practices, in: A Companion to Museum Studies, Malden/Oxford, pp. 81-97. Afterwards: Walk through Kreuzberg & Pizza in Aya s house, Oppelner Str. 40 (U-Schlesisches Tor) Week 12 21 April 2016, 13:30 16:45, Hamburger Bahnhof (walk from S-Hauptbahnhof) Inside the White Cube? Berlin s museum of contemporary art, Hamburger Bahnhof. On Artistic intention, conservation and public display. Conversation with curator and art historian Dr. Carolin Bohlmann 7

Blume, Eugen (2004): Museum für Gegenwart, in: Friedrich Christian Flick Collection im Hamburger Bahnhof, ed. by Eugen Blume, Joachim Jäger, Gabriele Knapstein, Berlin/Cologne, pp. 513-517; Bätschmann, Oskar, The Artist in the Modern World. The Conflict between Market and Self-Expression, op.cit., chap. Art for Exhibition, pp. 200-240; Hans Belting, The Narrative of Art in the New Museum: The Search for a Profile. In: Hans Belting, Art History after Modernism, Chicago and London 2003, pp. 96-111; Week 13 28 April 2016, 13:30 16:45, BCB campus Conclusion, final round of presentations & second quiz Essays due on 28 th April, 23:59 Arthur Danto, The Historical Museum of Monochrome Art. In: Arthur C. Danto, After the End of Art. Contemporary Art and the Pale of History, Princeton 1997, pp. 152-173; After the White Cube. Hal Foster asks what art museums are for. In: London Review of Books, vol. 37, no 6, 19 March 2015 TBC: 29 April 2016 (Friday), 6-9 pm: Berlin Gallery Week-End TBC: Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin (Bus 100 and M 85) Digital Challenges Exhibition Visit Nervous Systems. Quantified Life and the Social Question TBC (selections from the exhibition catalogue); Simon Sheikh, Burning form the Inside. New Institutionalism revisited. In: Cultures of the Curatorial, Berlin: Sternberg Press 2012, pp. 361-372. Week 14 5 May, No class due to Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) federal holiday Up to date scheduled class times are available online under the relevant course heading: http://www.berlin.bard.edu/academics/courses/spring-2016/ The up to date syllabus is available to participants via google drive 8

Essay Deadlines The first essay is due on 3 rd March, 19:00, the second essay is due on 28 th April 2016, 23:59 Library and Book Purchase Policies Most texts will be accessible through a special folder on google drive, and through online links. A selection of relevant books and a reader with printed articles will be placed on the reserve shelf in the BCB library. 9