Postgraduate Course: Art: Masters Exhibition (ARTX11054)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 60 |
ECTS Credits | 30 |
| Summary | In Art: Masters Exhibition, you will produce a body of self-directed work for public dissemination that builds on, and consolidates, the learning from compulsory courses on the MA Contemporary Art Practice: Art: Studio, Art: Post Studio and Art: Critical Contexts. |
| Course description |
This course is designed to give you time, space and freedom to consolidate practice, and focus ambitions, towards your graduate portfolio. Alongside the development of your artwork, you will work collectively with the cohort and ECA technical team to stage your work within a public-facing group exhibition. The course offers the opportunity to undertake wide-ranging and in-depth artistic practice and investigation, professional experience of exhibition planning and a platform to share your work with the public.
Over the summer period, you receive academic supervision from a dedicated supervisor who reviews your work at appropriate points (3-4 tutorials). You retain access to the studios and workshop facilities and it is expected that you spend a minimum of one day a week engaging campus resources so that your progression and ambition can be supported. The course organiser arranges group meetings every 2-3 weeks for the cohort, to support the planning and co-ordination of the exhibition.
It is expected that you will work autonomously, take initiative and manage your time effectively. This is supported by a structured framework of deadlines that helps to make sure you are on track and working to regulations, including an exhibition proposal (submitted before week 3) which helps the staff team to allocate space appropriately. Once exhibition spaces are confirmed, you can start to plan a detailed technical specification accordingly, which is due at least two weeks before the install period. You are required to risk assess your exhibition plan and to coordinate and manage the installation of your work, safely, with guidance and support from the academic supervisors and technical team. Specialist technical assistance can be arranged as appropriate to your proposal and specification. Students are encouraged to support and assist each other with practical and logistical challenges that may require extra hands, particularly during the installation period.
Following the exhibition, which normally takes place in late July/early August, you are given time to independently document your final work and collate your portfolio before submission for the assessment (mid-late August).
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
600
(
Lecture Hours 2,
Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 6,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 32,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 4,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 12,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
541 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 1 component of assessment.
1) Digital Portfolio [20 pages of visual documentation + 500 word support statement], 100%, August exam diet, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
Further information:
The 20-page portfolio will include primarily images of your work as it has developed during the course, supported by a concise written statement, typically 1 page/500 words.
Resubmission Information
Students will submit to the original assessment brief.
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
Digital Portfolio [20 pages of visual documentation + 500 word support statement], 100%,
Further information:
The 20-page portfolio will include primarily images of your work as it has developed during the course, supported by a concise written statement, typically 1 page/500 words.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Students receive 1-1 feedback on work shared during supervision tutorials. This includes feedback on three exhibition planning forms: exhibition proposal (week 3 or 4), risk assessment (week 6 or 7), technical specification (week 8 /9), all of which are submitted to a shared Teams drive for collective overview with peers and co-ordination with relevant staff teams. Formative feedback on the draft portfolio (submitted to Learn) is given in writing and discussed in a 1-1 supervision tutorial in conjunction with the feedback discussion regarding technical specifications for the graduate exhibition (week 8/9).
Summative Feedback
Summative feedback will be provided in writing on Learn and according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Synthesize and refine ideas, techniques and modes of presentation through a coherent and sustained enquiry that engages appropriate methods and materials;
- Articulate an understanding of the critical context of the individual practice through analysis and reflection -positioning their own work in relation to other relevant artworks, texts and/or cultural references;
- Stage and present work for an audience that is informed by conventions and precedents in Art and demonstrates awareness of the necessary practical, technical, ethical and accessible considerations relevant, and as appropriate, to the enquiry.
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Reading List
The resource lists from Studio, Post Studio and Critical Contexts provide a rich basis for advanced independent research during this capstone course, while further specific resources are provided by the supervisor in response to each student's individual enquiry. In addition, we include a resource list in support of a critical approach to the staging of work and collective endeavour of the Masters Exhibition:
- George, Adrian. The Curator's Handbook: Museums, Commercial Galleries, Independent Spaces. Thames and Hudson, 2024.
- Price, Seth. Dispersion. Self-published pdf, 2002. Assessible at: http://www.distributedhistory.com/Dispersion2007.comp.pdf
- Marincola, Paula. What Makes a Great Exhibition?: Questions of Practice. University of the Arts,Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, 2007.
- Richter, Dorthee. On Curating (journal): https://on-curating.org/issues.html
- Steeds, Lucy. Exhibition: Documents of Contemporary Art. Whitechapel Gallery, 2014.
- Thornett, Lucy, and Crawley, Greer. Staged: scenographic strategies in contemporary exhibition design. Taylor and Francis Online, 2022.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The Masters Exhibition course fosters high-level problem-solving skills as students work through processes of testing and refining art works, to synthesise conceptual rationale with technical and logistical challenges until the work is resolved and ready to share with the public.
Collaboration is integral in the collective effort of producing the group exhibition. The process of preparing for the exhibition fosters strong communication skills through the drafting of an exhibition proposal, risk assessment and technical specification.
Communication skills are further consolidated as students work to collectively produce the group exhibition and in the collation of a final portfolio that is ready for public dissemination. Here they are required to communicate the objectives, substance and experience of their art practice through an edited series of images and concise supporting statement that can be adapted for different contexts and audiences.
Space for reflection is built into the curriculum, in the spacing of tutorials/crits, and further supported in the tutorial logs that require students to articulate what was discussed and how they have reflected further. The written statements required for each portfolio submission promote regular reflection on practice and the relationship to wider discourse, while the essays for Critical Contexts allow for wider review and reflection on relevant contexts of practice.
The programme's focus on group learning and community-building is designed to foster an inclusive environment and the curriculum reading materials and references represents a range of voices across demographics, cultures, genders and protected groups.
The programme supports student's skills of adaptivity, as they work towards exhibitions and presentation where they must apply personal drive, motivation and determination towards the Masters Exhibition where this is extended freedom to manage and organise their own time.
Students become digitally literate in subject specific ways, primarily through the preparation of the final digital portfolio.
This capstone course is designed to consolidate the skills and talents students have arrive with and developed to resolve a graduate portfolio that sustains future independent growth. |
| Keywords | Graduate Exhibition,Degree show,Public dissemination,Graduate Portfolio |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Christine Ellison
Tel:
Email: cellison@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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