Curating Contemporary Art MA

Entry requirements

You are generally expected to have a good undergraduate degree from an arts or humanities background.If your undergraduate degree is not arts or humanities-based you should be able to articulate its relevance, or how it informs your aim to study Curating Contemporary Art. You also need to be able to demonstrate an active interest in contemporary art and its presentation and mediation, and have some practical experience of working within the visual arts or cultural sector that is relevant to the field of curatorial practice. Candidates are selected entirely on merit and applications are welcomed from all over the world. The selection process will consider creativity, imagination and innovation as demonstrated in your portfolio, as well as your potential to benefit from the programme and to achieve high MA standards overall.

Visit the RCA website for application dates, details and full entry requirements.

Our Graduate Diploma Art & Design (pre-master's conversion) course can provide a route to progress to this programme.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Learn to develop innovative curatorial proposals with London-based arts organisations. Study at the World's number one ranked art and design university for eight consecutive years (2015-2022) in the QS World University Subject Rankings.

We have a commitment to collaborative group project-based work that integrates theory and practice. We approach the field critically and theoretically, ensuring that the knowledge and understanding of these practices is grounded in the context of public audiences, urbanisation and the digital. Our research-led and practice-led teaching by staff and visiting tutors ensures the curatorial and artistic significance, intellectual value and critical vitality of the programme.

We offer practice-based learning and research-led teaching, through collaborative and project-based work. You’ll undertake a graduate project with external high-profile partners as well as an independent research-based dissertation. You’ll gain an awareness of wider social, political and economic contexts and an understanding of transnational contexts and issues of diversity and inclusion.

What our Students Say

There is at the RCA a sense of community that I hadn’t witnessed in other universities. Being surrounded by talented artists and creators is also very inspiring. The ability to meet with academic staff and the RCAs incredibly talented technicians really surprised me too. The graduate project was definitely one of the highlights of my experience at RCA. Working with partners to design a project from scratch was a great opportunity. The RCA teaching staff provided support in the process but also gave us a lot of freedom and independence. - Anna DuFour Montuori (2018).

Fees and funding