Diving into the World of Art Curation in Birmingham

Our Form 6 Critical and Contextual Studies (CCS) pupils took a trip to Birmingham for a day immersing themselves in the dynamic ways art can be displayed in different contexts.

The journey began at the Midlands Art Centre (MAC), an arts complex with a mission to make art an important part of people’s lives. It has exhibitions of contemporary art, a theatre, a cinema, and it hosts special events and has a programme of workshops and classes. Here, the students were treated to an inspiring talk by Deborah Kermode, the CEO and Artistic Director of the MAC. Deborah explained how she runs the art centre and gave the group an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the installation of a new exhibition. She also introduced the group to an artist who had work on display and who shared her route into working in the Arts.

After the MAC, the students headed into Birmingham’s city centre to explore the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG). There, they were met by Toby Watley who leads on Birmingham Museums’ exhibitions, curatorial, collections management and acquisitions, conservation and research programmes. Toby explained the gallery’s ambitious plans to revamp its exhibitions and make it more connected with Birmingham in the 21st century.

As the gallery undergoes an exciting transformation – including rewiring the entire building – Toby explained how this had given the gallery an opportunity to reach out to local people to get their views and to alter the spaces ready for an exciting relaunch. Toby gave an insight into how the gallery was able to collect and commission work and shared some of the challenges of working with a public collection.

The day culminated with a tour led by artist, curator and educator Andrew Gillespie, of some of the public artworks in the city, getting the pupils to consider the different ways that art can exist in public spaces.

Director of Art and Design, Elinor Brass, said: “It was such a valuable trip, giving pupils a rich insight into how art can be displayed for the public to consume.”

“It supports the students’ studies as they are devising fictional exhibitions of their own, considering what to show and how to show it. They need to consider how to connect with the viewer in creating a public programme, by considering curation and how to write about the artworks they have selected.