Curating as Artistic Practice: Research and Creative Processes

Duration

Jan. 07 - Feb. 04, 2027

Enroll before

Jan. 04, 2027

One-time Payment

198.00 € (incl. VAT)

Live sessions

2 hrs/week

Artistic experimentation isn't just for artists. Creative methods can also enrich the way curators research, develop ideas, and conceptualise exhibitions. This course approaches curating as an artistic practice in its own right, inviting you to experiment with different processes of collecting and interpreting material to build your own curatorial language.

Through research, reflection, and practical exercises, you will develop a personal sketchbook or journal that brings together research, visual references, themes, and ideas. This will serve as a creative framework for developing current and future curatorial projects that reflect your individual perspective and approach to curating.

By the end of the course, you will:

Apply artistic strategies and creative processes for developing curatorial ideas
Build a personal sketchbook or journal as a creative tool for current and future projects
Develop your own visual and curatorial language
Refine ideas through storytelling, discovering emotional arcs and drawing from varied research methods (eg. visual, historical, or personal)
Design your signature framework for developing future curatorial projects

Curators of any experience level are welcome to participate - whether you’re just starting out, or seeking to diversify and refresh your approaches to developing ideas.

Image: Nirmal Rajendharkumar via Unsplash

Session 1. Curating as a Creative Practice

This session will introduce curating and exhibition-making as a creative and artistic practice.

Topics:

Curating and exhibition making as a creative practice
What curatorial practice can borrow from artistic processes
Artist-led methodologies and visual examples
Introducing the sketchbook/journal as the working tool throughout the course

Session 2. Research as a Creative Process

We’ll move from research as simply gathering information to research as a way of generating ideas and connections.

Topics:

Different approaches to research
Collecting visual, textual, historical, personal, and pop cultural references
Making connections and unexpected associations
Identifying recurring themes and questions

Session 3. From Research to Narrative

In this session, we’ll begin to transform research and collected material into a curatorial direction.

Topics:

Identifying themes and patterns
Developing narratives and emotional arcs
Selecting, combining, and sequencing ideas
Using tools such as the mythology diagram to uncover connections, recurring themes, and narratives

Session 4. Developing Your Curatorial Language

We will then explore how a curatorial vision can be expressed creatively.

Topics:

Developing a personal visual and curatorial language
Using images, text, objects, movement, sound, and other creative forms as storytelling tools
Exhibition texts as part of creative expression
Exhibition making as an artistic medium

Session 5. Bringing It All Together

In the last session, we’ll bring the different parts of the creative process together and explore how they can inform a curatorial project.

Topics:

Reviewing and refining the journal
Connecting research, narrative, references, and visual language
Translating the creative process into an initial framework for a curatorial project
Using the journal as an ongoing tool for future projects

Language
Classes are held in English.

Format & Modality
The course is fully online and taught live via Zoom in small, interactive groups to support active learning. Live captioning is available during the sessions.

Schedule
Live sessions take place every Thursday from 3-5pm (Berlin time, CET).

Attendance
Live attendance is encouraged to get the most out of the course, but recordings are available if you cannot attend a session.

Course Materials
All course materials—including recordings, readings, and presentations—are available on the Node platform for as long as you wish.

Assignments
Optional assignments are included, with personal feedback from the lecturers to help you apply what you learn. Please note that feedback is provided only during the course dates.

Certificate
A downloadable certificate is available upon course completion.

Technical Requirements
A stable internet connection, a computer with a camera and microphone, and access to Zoom are required.

Questions?
Check our FAQ or contact us via our online form.