* subject to final UWE Bristol approval
This course is open for applications.
Page last updated 2 December 2024
UWE Bristol’s MA Fine Art: Curating is ideal if you’re looking to explore curating and develop curatorial skills in a diverse and supportive community of creative arts practitioners.
You'll study our innovative curriculum alongside a purposefully small group of peers, uniquely designed to offer critical, collaborative and personal approaches to curating in contemporary cultural contexts. We will collectively consider: who are we to be curating, at this time and place, with and for whom?
You will gain knowledge and insights into contemporary arts and cultural practices and debates, taught by experts in the field with a long history of excellence in curating. This, and the extensive range of creative resources available across our City Campus, will equip you to work at a professional level, plugging into the contemporary discourse of regional, national, and international communities.
Whether you’re a recently qualified arts graduate, or a well-established professional looking to develop yourself academically, this course offers all you need to push your practice to the next level.
You’ll be perfectly placed studying in Bristol, a socially and politically progressive city, widely recognised as one of the most creatively influential settings in the UK. Here you’ll discover a range of galleries, artists' groups and studios plus art projects involving students and graduates.
MA Fine Art: Curating is based on Bristol's historic harbourside at Arnolfini. Situated above this internationally renowned centre for contemporary art, you will be at the heart of Bristol's creative and cultural community, with access to UWE Bristol's City Campus and all it has to offer. Here, you’ll develop your skills and knowledge alongside like-minded creative talent.
You'll also benefit from working in close collaboration with one of our celebrated partner galleries, museums, or other cultural institutions during the course.
You will graduate with a globally recognised qualification and have a broad range of options available to you regionally, as well as nationally and internationally. The course offers you the opportunity to develop your own curatorial practice, which can lead you to a career in galleries and museums, in film, education, or the wider creative industries. You may also wish to consider a PhD pathway within one of our excellent research centres.
The MA Fine Art: Curating course gives you the opportunity to develop a range of professional, conceptual, technical and creative skills. You’ll study a curriculum carefully sequenced to deliver a dynamic student journey over three intensive terms.
In the first term, you'll be encouraged to establish a critical disciplinary fluency, effectively positioning your own views and practice within contemporary curatorial discourses and developing an individual process of inquiry. At the end of the first term, you'll explore and connect arts research and discourse across a community of postgraduate peers. This will result in the presentation of bold, change-making creative proposals.
In the second term, you’ll have the opportunity to advance your personal curatorial practice and perspective through professional, creative development.
Refinement of your contemporary and historical understanding will culminate in production of a creative project and a considered proposal for further inquiry. This leads into the third term, where you'll have the opportunity to realise your ideas within a supportive community of interdisciplinary practice, technical expertise, and academic criticality when completing your final project.
Throughout the year, you'll develop your understanding of enterprise within the creative industries and develop knowledge of the contemporary character and conventions of the creative economy. You'll have the opportunity to refine your professional skills, attributes and identity in preparation to succeed in an uncertain and complex cultural landscape.
The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we'll inform you.
Our family of MA Fine Art courses work together in an interdisciplinary learning environment. This approach nurtures collaboration and knowledge exchange across different fields of study, allowing students to deepen their expertise within their chosen discipline whilst engaging with broader artistic creative and critical perspectives.
Taught by a team with expertise across a breadth of creative practice, you’ll learn to understand and push the boundaries of discipline through technical and theoretical input. You will study through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, and studio practice, and you’ll also benefit from events with industry experts.
Through practical exercises responding to real-world briefs, audiences, situations, and places you learn, and are supported to effectively practice, a range of curatorial skills. Discursive and written exercises provide the space for deep reflection on this work, cementing thoughtful, ethical approaches to curatorial practice for your future career. The classroom is modelled as a brave space for trying things out: a playful approach to learning encourages your own critical thinking and development.
See our glossary of teaching and learning terms.
This is a full-time course, which starts in September and runs for three terms over 12 months. Learning and teaching sessions typically take place over three days per week. Outside of your contact hours, you’ll have the opportunity to access the available resources.
You'll be assessed through a range of methods throughout the year including presentations, portfolio, and practical and written work. You’ll spend your last term working towards your final outcomes for the year.
Learn more about our assessments.
You'll meet regularly at our City Campus. You'll also have access to extensive and industry-standard departmental facilities and resources including a fabrication centre, comprehensive printmaking resource, and a well-resourced library.
MA Fine Art students benefit from dedicated postgraduate studio space at Arnolfini. You'll have access to resources at all City Campus sites including Spike Island and Watershed too. Bower Ashton houses the main library supporting the creative and cultural industries, student support services, plus the technical resource areas.
Learn more about UWE Bristol's facilities and resources.
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Our students are taught by practicing curators, gallerists, artists, and researchers, bringing skills and expertise exclusively to those at postgraduate level.
Many of our graduates enter or continue employment in the creative industries, as curators, in museum studies, in art sales, or running their own businesses. Others continue into teaching roles in both formal, gallery, and community education programmes. Some students progress to PhD study at UWE Bristol, or elsewhere.
Our award-winning Careers Service helps you develop your employment potential through career coaching, a vacancy service for internships, placements, jobs, global opportunities, volunteering and community activity plus support for entrepreneurial activity, and access to employer events.
Learn more about our graduate destinations.
We're seeking highly motivated students from any background, committed to creative growth in our supportive School of Arts community. Most applicants would have an honours degree in the arts or media related subject, but those with qualifications in other disciplines or prior professional experience are also encouraged to apply.
While some students enter the course after years of independent work, we also welcome entries from ambitious applicants directly from undergraduate courses.
For country specific entry requirements please find your country on our country information pages.
Applicants will be asked to provide a personal statement for review.
Applicants will be asked to provide a personal statement for review.
Your personal statement should communicate confidently and coherently your rationale for application: what you hope Master’s study will help you achieve in your future. You may want to include detail of the influences that have led you to application, and the attributes you think will be important for success as a postgraduate. We would like to know more about you, and your understanding of what we do.
Most personal statements we receive are around 500 words in length.
International and EU applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 with 5.5 in each component (or approved equivalent*).
*The University accepts a large number of UK and international qualifications in place of IELTS. To find details of acceptable tests and the required grades, please see visit our English Language requirements pages.
If you meet the academic requirements but require additional support to take your language skills to the required level, you may be able to attend one of our pre-sessional English courses. Students who successfully complete the pre-sessional course can progress onto their chosen degree course without retaking an IELTS or equivalent.
Read more about our pre-sessional English programme.
We accept applications throughout the year but if you are working to a funding deadline, you should build this into your application process.
Read more about postgraduate applications.
Read more about international applications and key international deadline dates.