Students choose one of two unique specialisations: Curating Art and Cultures or Arts of the Netherlands. The first specialisation focuses on curatorial theory and practice, while the second highlights research into Dutch art in a global context.
With its multi-disciplinary approach, Curating Art and Cultures both develops your theoretical knowledge and provides you with the opportunity to work as a curator-in-training during the one-year curatorial internship at one of the programme’s partner museums or cultural institutions. You will take part in collection acquisition, registration, management, art handling and display, and exhibition production. In short, this is your chance to dive headfirst into the many aspects of the curatorial profession.
This course delves into recent theories of collecting, curating, and displaying art and cultural artifacts through four main themes. It aims to bridge historical and contemporary perspectives, preparing you for curatorial internships and the core module on Curatorial Practices in the Contemporary World by offering theoretical and historical grounding.
This course builds further on the principles of Collecting, Curating and Display 1.
You have the opportunity to delve deeper into your field of interest by following electives in a range of disciplines, including art history, history, cultural history, archaeology, anthropology, and cultural or media studies.
This course researches contemporary curatorial practice, addressing collection policies, research, restoration ethics, and educational aspects. Through visits to diverse institutions and close engagement with key texts, you will reflect on your learning experiences during the internship.
The internship starts in the 2nd semester of year 1 and ends in year 2. The concrete content of the internship is dependent on the nature, goal and programme of the museum or institution and the department where you are placed. In each museum or institution the following aspects that are pertinent to the tasks of a curator will be addressed: organization and policy; research into and registration of collections, databases and/or archives; art handling; representation and communication; and the preparation realization of an exhibition or display.
This course calls attention to the significance of research into (the history of) exhibitions or museum presentations as a vital practice for curators and ultimately as a vital ingredient for a strong exhibition culture. Each student is invited to choose a case study from the museum or institution where they follow their internship and investigate it on the basis of archives and possibly oral knowledge of museum personnel, or others involved. The course is designed to guide the research process by means of literature study, discussions on methodology, excursions to museum archives, and guest lectures by exhibition researchers.
The internship starts in the 2nd semester of year 1 and ends in year 2. The concrete content of the internship is dependent on the nature, goal and programme of the museum or institution and the department where you are placed. In each museum or institution the following aspects that are pertinent to the tasks of a curator will be addressed: organization and policy; research into and registration of collections, databases and/or archives; art handling; representation and communication; and the preparation realization of an exhibition or display.
In order to complete the Dual Master’s in Curating Art and Cultures programme, you will devise a thesis project that demonstrates your ability to independently conduct, organise, present and defend your own academic research. The Master's thesis reports on research carried out under the supervision of an academic staff member who is involved in the programme and who specialises in your disciplinary field of interest. The subject of the thesis must be mutually agreed upon by the student and the academic adviser. The subject of your thesis is a topic that pertains to one of the programme’s various disciplines and may correspond to a project from your curatorial or research internship.
Arts of the Netherlands takes a historical and object-oriented approach and aims to teach students how to carry out cutting-edge research on Netherlandish art in an international context. Students will develop academic research methods both in the classroom and during a seven-month internship. This provides unmatched opportunities for examining and investigating the physical objects of our studies and for exploring the academic approach to art-historical research within the museum. The programme is committed to the study of painting, prints, drawings, sculpture and applied arts.
This course delves into recent theories of collecting, curating, and displaying art and cultural artifacts through four main themes. It aims to bridge historical and contemporary perspectives, preparing you for curatorial internships and the core module on Curatorial Practices in the Contemporary World by offering theoretical and historical grounding.
This course builds further on the principles of Collecting, Curating and Display 1.
This course begins by examining individual encounters with paintings, using the artwork itself as primary research material. It explores the physical characteristics and pictorial content while considering seventeenth-century critical standards and the roots of connoisseurship. Through museum visits, studio tours, and auctions, you will engage with diverse object-oriented resources to deepen your understanding of paintings.
The objectives of the course are to develop advanced research skills independently. Through tutorials, you will engage in intensive seminars focusing on literature, archive investigation, or participation in existing research projects, under the guidance of specialized tutors. These tutorials aim to strengthen your research abilities, whether through extensive reading, analysis of primary sources, or active involvement in ongoing research endeavors aligned with their interests.
This seminar explores the socio-religious and political aspects of sculpture in the Low Countries from 1400 to 1800, within an international context. Despite the setbacks of post-Iconoclasm and Reformation, significant sculptural works emerged, highlighting themes such as Gothic altarpieces, sculptor migration, Dutch-Italian marble trade, and republican patronage. Object-based learning, including visits to the Rijksmuseum, enriches the study.
You have the opportunity to delve deeper into your field of interest by following electives in a range of disciplines, including art history, history, cultural history, archaeology, anthropology, and cultural or media studies.
The objectives of the course are to develop advanced research skills independently. Through tutorials, you will engage in intensive seminars focusing on literature, archive investigation, or participation in existing research projects, under the guidance of specialized tutors. These tutorials aim to strengthen your research abilities, whether through extensive reading, analysis of primary sources, or active involvement in ongoing research endeavors aligned with their interests.
This course calls attention to the significance of research into (the history of) exhibitions or museum presentations as a vital practice for curators and ultimately as a vital ingredient for a strong exhibition culture. Each student is invited to choose a case study from the museum or institution where they follow their internship and investigate it on the basis of archives and possibly oral knowledge of museum personnel, or others involved. The course is designed to guide the research process by means of literature study, discussions on methodology, excursions to museum archives, and guest lectures by exhibition researchers.
During the internship you will apply the skills and interests that you acquired in the first year of the programme in a museum or cultural institution to experience how the dynamics of an institute influences their work.
The Thesis Project accompanies the writing of the master's thesis, focusing on three objectives: deepening theoretical and methodological understanding, addressing challenges in translating research into a successful thesis, and fostering public academic scholarship.
In order to complete the Dual Master’s in Curating Art and Cultures programme, you will devise a thesis project that demonstrates your ability to independently conduct, organise, present and defend your own academic research. The Master's thesis reports on research carried out under the supervision of an academic staff member who is involved in the programme and who specialises in your disciplinary field of interest. The subject of the thesis must be mutually agreed upon by the student and the academic adviser. The subject of your thesis is a topic that pertains to one of the programme’s various disciplines and may correspond to a project from your curatorial or research internship.
There is sufficient freedom of choice to specialise in the subject that you find most interesting during your study, research and internship.Femke Valkhoff, student Arts of the Netherlands Read the interview
The internship forms the core of the Dual Master’s in Curating Art and Cultures.
Starting in the second semester of the first year, you will commence a year-long work placement at one of the programme’s partner museums or cultural institutions. During this internship, unique among curatorial and museum studies programmes around the world, you will receive hands-on training in all aspects of professional museum practice, from research for publications to organising exhibitions. Under the supervision of curatorial professionals, you will gain first-hand experience of the roles and responsibilities of the curator today, including presentation and exhibition making, registration and documentation, art handling, restoration and conservation, research and communication, and acquisition policy.
Starting in September of the second year, you will commence an internship of approximately seven to eight months in a museum or research institute. Together with your supervisor, you will formulate a research project that fits within the framework of the institution and your own disciplinary interests. Contact with original objects and reflection on research methods are seminal aspects of the internship. However, you will also gain insight into the day-to-day business of the museum or research institute, and may be asked to assist with other museum/research work.
The Master's programme has strong connections with the professional field. Partner institutions where you can do your internship include:
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Jewish Cultural Quarter, Amsterdam
ING Huygens Instituut, Amsterdam
CoBrA Museum, Amsterdam/Amstelveen
Museum of World Cultures, Amsterdam/Leiden
Amsterdam Museum
Centraal Museum Utrecht
Museum Het Catharijne Convent, Utrecht
Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague
Kunstmuseum Arnhem
Mauritshuis, The Hague
The Royal Library, The Hague
RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, The Hague
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Textielmuseum, Tilburg
You will receive compensation from the museum where you do your internship. Dual Master’s students can also claim a one-time compensation from the Profiling Fund if they have previously received a supplementary grant from the Dutch government (DUO). You can submit the application at the end of the first year of the dual Master's programme. Make sure to find out if you are eligible for this reimbursement.
The programme also includes excursions abroad, for example to Berlin or Florence, which will bring students into contact with museums, objects and curatorial and research practices outside of the Netherlands.
Students who show exceptional promise during a regular or professional programme are encouraged to continue their studies in a Research Master's programme. Once students are admitted to the Research Master's, they can transfer credits earned during their previous course of study towards their Research Master's degree. The Examinations Board determines which courses qualify for transfer.
Museums and art spaces are fascinating workplaces. They are core to many functions in society, from personal self-actualisation to social critique. For all of these, solid research habits are required.Dr Rachel Esner
The specialisation Curating Art and Cultures focuses on hands-on curatorial practice and working with objects and collections. Museum Studies is more focused on the theoretical aspects of museums.
The specialisation Curating Art and Cultures works with pre-selected partner institutions. Your internship placement will be based on your own interests and the projects being offered by the participating museums.
The Arts of the Netherlands specialisation does not have pre-selected partner institutions but works regularly with major museums both inside and outside the Netherlands to best match students with an internship according to their specific research interests.
No. The programme is only open to those with a degree in the Humanities from an accredited university. For more information, see Application & admission.
Yes. You will receive compensation from the museum where you do your internship.
A degree in art history, history, or cultural studies, or a degree from a broad BA with a concentration in one of these areas, or in the areas of design history or fashion. A course in museology and an internship are highly recommended.