Course content
The Minor in “Curatorial Practice” is aimed at students who would like to acquire theoretical and practical skills in conceptualizing, framing, and staging cultural programs in the visual and performing arts. The Master’s level course provides tools and methods to develop a professionally informed, discursive and reflective curatorial practice. 

The focus is on an innovative and transdisciplinary way of curating exhibitions, performance and mediation programs on the basis of an expanded professional discourse. Thus, the Minor in “Curatorial Practice” forms a transdisciplinary platform to test and further think curating in practice and theory within, but also beyond, traditional contexts. 

Skills
Students are trained in the three skill areas, although it is possible and indeed desirable to set individual focus areas: 

1)  In the central module area “Practice”, state-of-the-art conceptions of exhibition and performance projects and their implementation — including scenography and mediation — are tested in projects carried out individually or collaboratively. The module area is dedicated to building practical curatorial knowledge, and enables students to transfer the specialist knowledge from the two other module areas of “Theory” and “Context” into practice. 
2)  The compulsory modules in the “Theory & Research” module area teach the basics of the history, present, and future of a) curating exhibitions, performance and mediation programmes as well as b) explorations of the spatial dimension in the context of the arts.  
3)  The optional modules in the “Context & Research” module area focus on the analysis, reflection and development of curatorial positions and mediation strategies in theory and practice. Moreover, students acquire practical know-how relating to the production of exhibition and performance projects, and practice writing in the curatorial context. 

Admissions requirements
Applicants must be registered on a ZHdK Master’s degree programme, preferably in the departments of “Cultural Analysis”, “Fine Arts” or “Performing Arts”. As the Minor in “Curatorial Practice” is taught in English, students must have at least B2-level proficiency in the language.  

Language skills required.
You need the following languages to take this minor:
–  English: to be able to follow a discussion
–  English: to actively participate in a verbal exchange
–  English: to understand a text
–  English: to write a text

Special features of the course 
“Curatorial Practice” is the only Minor in the field of curating at ZHdK. Unlike the Major “Curatorial Studies”, which prepares students for a research-based curatorial practice across the entire field, the Minor focuses on the field of fine and performing arts. In the process, the programme benefits from the cooperation between the three participating departments of Cultural Analysis, Fine Arts, and Performing Arts and their specific areas of expertise. At the same time, the Minor opens up a space for thought and experimentation that fertilizes work in these contexts and collaboration between the various disciplines.   

The Minor “Curatorial Practice” (30 ECTS) can be studied in 2 to 4 semesters. 1 ECTS equals 30 hours of workload.

→ More about this Minor (PDF download)

During a digital Q&A session, individual questions can be asked about the minor programme, the content and the organisational framework:

Wednesday, 23 April 2025, 17.30–18.30 Uhr via Zoom (to the registration)

At ZHdK, students choose a Major. In addition to this core subject, they can choose one or two Minors to deepen or expand their major skills and knowledge across various disciplines. This wide choice of courses is unique in Europe and enables students to develop and sharpen their individual profile.