Spring 2020 - Emotion & Devotion; Ragamala Paintings of India’s Princely Courts

In this class students participated in every aspect of curating an actual exhibition.

Using original objects from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC, students chose an exhibition theme, wrote a proposal, created a checklist and selected objects, proposed and sought out sources of funding, designed the exhibition layout, conducted archival research, wrote wall text, designed and wrote a short exhibition catalogue, created marketing materials, and planned educational programs, gallery tours and programming events. This course differed from the typical seminar in that it explored the practical side of curatorial work in addition to scholarly research. Periodically during the semester students attended class in the collections department of National Museum of Asian Art and were expected to conduct research independently in the museum’s archives.