Who is this for?

Curatorial Studies at KASK & Conservatorium/ School of Arts is an intensive one-year English-language postgraduate course aimed at applicants with an MA or equivalent experience in the arts, humanities or sciences and a keen interest in contemporary art. Established in 1999, Curatorial Studies is the only postgraduate curatorial programme in Belgium, benefitting from a unique partnership between an art school, a university, a kunsthalle and a museum.

At Curatorial Studies, our aim is to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of key positions, vocabularies, and research methods in the curatorial. By bringing together the knowledges and experiences of a diverse network of cultural practitioners and institutions, you will be welcomed in an environment where multiple perspectives and discourses can thrive, challenge,
question, and enrich one another.

Throughout the programme, we will explore how artworks exist and
transform in different spaces and temporalities. This includes studying
works in storage, examining conservation practices, discussing
exhibitions and events, inquiring into diverse audiences, reflecting on
curatorial writing and criticism and looking into various theoretical and
socio-political contexts. By navigating these spaces, we hope you will
develop the skills to discern entrenched power structures and challenge
essentialist discourses that permeate the Western art world. Together, we
will explore the dynamics of artworks within the art system, considering
their circulation, freedoms and limitations, reflecting on the significance
of materials, and examining how these elements shape our connection to
both the living and nonliving world.

Curatorial Studies is not solely focused on theoretical learning. We
strongly encourage participants to actively engage in the curatorial practice
through exhibitions, publications, and events. We place great
emphasis on the history and theory of exhibitions as well as, ensuring
that you are well-versed in the most up-to-date debates within the
contemporary curatorial field, particularly as they intersect with
social, political, and ethical issues.

At Curatorial Studies, participants are encouraged to look at the world openly, to turn their attention to what is desirable, rather than return to predetermined formats and fixed habits of mind. Students adopt values which place meaningful participation and engagement over knowledge production. The programme treats the curatorial as a process that decouples the grip of the status quo from the conditions of artistic production: through fair practice, by thinking along with artists, and by extending their curatorial work to the pertinent questions and struggles of our times.

In line with this perspective, the programme encourages a broader
comprehension of curating that surpasses the conventional notion of
‘curare’, the tending to objects. Instead, it embraces curating as a means to
appreciate the development of the world and its diverse potential futures.
Central to this programme is a focus on group-mindedness, selforganisation,
and collective authorship. Rather than adhering to a single definition of curating, we emphasise the exploration of new ways of coming together, while also recognising the challenges and biases that arise from unequal labor distribution. We continually ask, “Who is included when we say ‘we’?” Through collective infrastructures, participatory processes, and models of shared responsibility, we underline the importance of experimentation, trust, openness, and emotional engagement—crucial elements for unlearning and expanding the possibilities within traditional curatorial practices.

In this programme, curating becomes an act of kinship, a practice of
solidarity, and a cooperative space for critical discourse. We don’t see
collectivity as a single unified creative body but as a processual creative
endeavour, where group work is a dynamic and evolving process that
opens new horizons in curatorial practice. Our long-standing programme
has a wide network of alumni/ae who continue to contribute actively to
the cultural field and engage with the programme’s current participants.
In the spirit of togetherness, the programme has not only led to the formation of collectives but has also brought about long-lasting collaboration and friendships among its participants.

What will you be studying?

Curatorial Studies offers students a versatile and challenging platform that invites critical reflection on artistic and curatorial practices. By drawing on the expertise of a broad and diverse network of cultural practitioners and institutions – and thus making room for various theoretical, geographical, historical, and socio-political contexts and their intersections – the course aims to facilitate an environment where a multiplicity of perspectives and discourses can thrive.

Curatorial Studies not only encourages participants to develop their curatorial practice through the making of exhibitions, publications, and events—with a final collective project acting as a culmination point (‘Graduation Project’) – it also pays attention to the history and theory of exhibitions. Through a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops and independent research, students become conversant with the most up-to-date debates within the contemporary curatorial field, particularly as these intersect with social, political, and ethical issues.