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Dual Master
Vergelijk
Curating Art and Cultures (Heritage Studies)

Study programme

The Master's programme Curating Art and Cultures trains students in skills needed for a professional career as a curator or an academic. It sees the museum as an institution and a repository of objects of the past which are relevant for the present and the future.

Curating and Research in one programme

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 offers a sound training in early modern art in a global context.

Specialisation Curating Art and Cultures

With its multi-disciplinary approach, Curating Art and Cultures 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.

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Collecting, Curating and Display I
    6

    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.

  • Collecting, Curating and Display II
    6

    This course builds further on the principles of Collecting, Curating and Display 1.

  • Free-choice electives
    18

    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.

  • Curatorial Practices in the Contemporary World I
    6

    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.

  • Curating Art and Cultures Internship
    60

    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.

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Curatorial Practices in the Contemporary World II
    6

    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.

  • Curating Art and Cultures Internship
    60

    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.

  • Curating Art and Cultures Master Thesis
    18

    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.

Compulsory course
Elective
UvA Course Catalogue: Specialisation Curating Art and Cultures

Specialisation Arts of the Netherlands

Arts of the Netherlands offers a cutting-edge programme in early modern art that combines historical research with theoretical and methodological rigor.  Students are offered extensive knowledge of early modern visual and material culture as well as training in contemporary art historical approaches. The museum is our classroom: the programme includes excursions and a hands-on experience during a semester-long internship at a major institution.  This research-oriented course with a strong emphasis on writing provides an unmatched opportunity for examining actual artifacts and objects in a museum as well as an academic environment.

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Art and Thought in the Dutch Republic
    6
  • Collecting, Curating and Display I
    6

    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.

  • Collecting, Curating and Display II
    6

    This course builds further on the principles of Collecting, Curating and Display 1.

  • Looking at Art in the Dutch Republic
    6

    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.

  • Arts of the Netherlands Tutorial 1
    6

    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.

  • Looking at Netherlandish Sculpture 1400-1800
    6

    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.

  • Free-choice electives
    18

    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.

  • Arts of the Netherlands Tutorial 2
    6

    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.

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Curatorial Practices in the Contemporary World II
    6

    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.

  • Arts of the Netherlands Research Internship
    30

    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.

  • Arts of the Netherlands Thesis Project
    6

    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.

  • Master's Thesis Arts of the Netherlands
    18

    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.

Compulsory course
Elective
UvA Course Catalogue: Specialisation Arts of the Netherlands
Femke Valkhoff
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
Further on MA Curating Art and Cultures
  • Internship

    The internship forms the core of the Dual Master’s in Curating Art and Cultures.

    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.

    Arts of the Netherlands

    Starting in the second semester of the first year, you will commence a half-year internship in a museum or research institute. During this internship, you will carry out research that will be the basis of your thesis project.  You will be offered the unique opportunity to acquire knowledge through direct handling and examining of actual objects.  Under the supervision of curatorial professionals and in close consultation with your academic advisor, you will deepen your interest and hone your writing and presentation skills, to become an expert in the field of your choice.

    Partner institutions

    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 


    Allowance

    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. 

  • Excursion

    Both specializations  includes an excursion 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.

  • Transferring to a Research Master

    Students who show exceptional promise during a regular or professional programme are encouraged to continue their studies in a Research Master's program. 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
Frequently Asked Questions
  • What's the difference between Curating Art and Cultures and Museum Studies?

    The specialisation Curating Art and Cultures focuses on hands-on curatorial practice, working with objects and collections. Museum Studies is more focused on theory of museums and museology and trains you to be a museologist.

  • Will the programme help me to find an internship?

    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 specialization aims at matching students with distinct internship partners. Your internship placement will be based on your specific research interests.

  • Can I apply if I have a fine arts or heritage management degree?

    No. The programme is only open to those with a degree in the Humanities from an accredited university. For more information, see AApplication & admission.

  • Are the internships paid?

    Yes. You will receive compensation from the museum where you do your internship.

  • What course of study will best prepare me for this programme?

    A degree in art history, history, or cultural studies or related study; a degree from a Humanities BA with a concentration or minor in one of these areas or in the areas of design history or fashion. Courses in museology and an internship are highly recommended for the specialization Curating Arts and Culture. A strong focus on early modern art (through a minor and/or a thesis), and related experience in a museum or other institution are highly recommended for the specialization Arts of the Netherlands.