Contemporary Art and Curatorship: from Documenta to the Biennale

About

In the first venture of its kind, the Summer School in Contemporary Art and Curatorship offers students the chance to gain insight into the management principles of two of the world's most important contemporary art exhibitions: the Kassel documenta and La Biennale di Venezia.
Since 2019 the programme has brought together the expertise of scholars, artists and curators from the hosting cities Kassel (Germany), and Venice (Italy) in a full-time Summer School in which students have the chance to fully immerse themselves in contemporary art and curatorship for 4 weeks, through lectures and visits of exhibition spaces in both Kassel and Venice.
In 2025 our 2-week programme will continue to investigate the history of these influential large-scale events, while focusing on the Venice component through on-site visits to selected venues of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition (international exhibition, national pavilions, collateral events) and with visits to historical venues of Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia.

Course leader

Silvia Burini, Professor of History of Contemporary Art, History of Russian Art and Curatorship at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and Matteo Bertelé, Professor of Contemporary Art, History of Russian Art and Curatorship at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

Target group

Students who hold an undergraduate degree. Students are also required to have studied or be currently studying the following subjects at a University level: Art History; Fine Arts, Design and Architecture; Cultural and Media Studies; Exhibition and Curatorial Studies; Media Studies; Global Studies; Arts and Cultural Management.

Course aim

Held in collaboration with La Biennale di Venezia’s “Biennale Sessions” programme, the Summer School will provide students with an up-to-date insight into the history and the present activities of Kassel's documenta and the Venice Biennale in the framework of exhibition and curatorial studies.

The programme is implemented with targeted training activities on exhibitionary and curatorial practices from five focus areas:

Sub-Saharan Africa
East Asia
Latin America
Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia
Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA region)

For each focus area, a dedicated instructor with expertise in both academic lecturing and curatorial practice will hold in-class seminars and talks with artists and curators from the related areas. The programme will combine individual study and teamwork activities and will alternate lectures and site-visits with a full-time schedule. Assignments will be given upon oral presentations.

Fee info