Monash University Art Design & Architecture (MADA) in Melbourne, Australia announces the PhD specialisation in Curatorial Practice. Led by Tara McDowell and launching in March 2014, the PhD in Curatorial Practice is the first in Australia and among the first in the world. This program joins the field at a moment when the discipline of curating is as dynamic and contested as it is established. The Curatorial Practice PhD at MADA is practice-based, and will support a spectrum of doctoral projects, from experimental curatorial models to academic dissertations.
The program will be an international centre for radical curatorial models that reflect critically on how we engage with our cultures, our cities, and our world. It will foster curatorial projects that test the limits of arts institutions. It will support advanced scholarly work on exhibitions and their histories, conditions of art’s public appearance, and the politics of display. Finally, the program will nurture spaces of retreat to allow forms of research other than those that normally occur within the framework of educational institutions.
Candidates
Candidates will have advanced knowledge of art, art history, arts institutions, and curating, or relevant fields of inquiry. They are required to hold a minimum four-year Bachelor’s degree with Honours, and will preferably hold a research Master’s qualification in a relevant discipline. Candidates will apply with a specific research project in mind. The program is open to applicants whose projects are interdisciplinary or historical in nature. Scholarships may be awarded to qualified applicants subject to University scholarship assessment and terms and conditions.
Communities
One of the strongest advantages of the Curatorial Practice PhD is its location within an art school. MADA is a catalyst for creative engagement in the visual arts, and supports an active community of some of the country’s leading artists, designers, architects, thinkers and cultural producers. Curatorial work is inherently dialogic, research based, and interdisciplinary, and candidates will benefit from regular formal and informal encounters with artists.
The PhD program occurs in collaboration with a number of key local institutions, foremost MADA and MUMA, a museum of contemporary art committed to innovative, experimental and research-based contemporary art and curatorial practice. Candidates will engage with Melbourne-based artists, curators, and thinkers, as well as international visitors.
Application deadline for scholarship consideration: October 31, 2013
Application details at monash.edu/mada/curatorial/
Monash University Art Design & Architecture
900 Dandenong Rd
Caulfield East, Victoria 3145
Australia
Ph: +61 3 9903 1837
artdes-postgrad@monash.edu
