Session 1. Introduction

An introductory session where we get to know one another, outline the community agreement for the duration of the course and discuss an overview of the material we will cover over the duration of the course.

- Participants will also receive an introductory reading in preparation for session 2.

Session 2. Histories of collecting

The practice of collecting is burdened by histories of accumulation, discovery and pillaging, which continue to influence contemporary collecting practices and present critical questions for researchers, curators, collections managers and many other cultural practitioners working with collections. In this session, we look at how an awareness of historic legacies allows us to build practices that centre on criticality and care.

- Develop tools for how to approach contentious collections or archives.

- Discuss assigned reading

Session 3. There must be other ways

Quite often collecting and archive practices, and how we engage with them are so reliant on institutionalised ways of working. This session is an invitation to imagine new ways of working with collections. We’ll also look at interesting projects that propose alternate methodologies for reading archives and working with collections.

- How to collaborate with communities connected to particular works/collections/archives

- Explore reparative research methodologies

- Look at examples of exhibitions that have repositioned certain readings of particular collections

Session 4. Artistic interventions

Artists have and continue to work with archives and collections to instigate projects and ideas. Curators and institutions have come to learn that collaborative partnerships with artists offer a valuable perspective on collections and agitate rigid structural blockers to knowledge production and sharing.

- We will look at collections-based artistic interventions

Session 5. Reflections

In this session participants will share their reflections and interpretive text on a collected work/archival material. The session will be about sharing the kinds of methodologies they would use and mapping out how it engages with a contemporary audience.