The Exhibitions that Made Art History

This five-day specialized masterclass is designed for curators, art critics, and art historians who wish to develop their analytical and research skills in studying exhibition history and understanding its role in shaping the artistic landscape since the late twentieth century. 

The program approaches the exhibition as a complex critical medium, where display strategies, accompanying texts, archival material, and institutional and cultural networks intersect within the broader art ecosystem. 

Through a combination of theoretical grounding, applied discussion, and analytical exercises, participants will learn how to read exhibitions as cultural and intellectual events that contribute to the writing of art history, while also examining key case studies and discussing the formation of exhibition history within the Gulf region and its contemporary cultural contexts. 

What will you gain? 

1. A deeper understanding of the role of exhibitions in shaping art narratives within historical contexts 
2. The ability to analyze exhibitions through display, texts, and archival documentation 
3. The development of a critical language and analytical methodology for exhibition studies 
4. Awareness of how the art ecosystem forms around the exhibition as a cultural and critical medium 
5. A space for dialogue on exhibition history in the Gulf and the wider region 

Who is it for?  

Visual artists, curators, and professionals working across the field of visual arts.