UvA online Open House

This year, you won’t be able to attend any busy on-campus events with lots of people. But our online Open House is the perfect way to get to know UvA study programmes and university life from the comfort of your own home.

Every study programme has an Open House page with videos, FAQs and live events. On the main Open House website you can discover all our programmes,explore the city and campus, and get inspired during our theme weeks.

An academic approach to curating

Taking place in both the lecture hall and institutional spaces, the Dual Master’s in Curating Art and Cultures responds to the growing demand for academically-grounded museum professionals with excellent (inter)disciplinary and theoretical backgrounds. The programme encourages you to deepen your disciplinary knowledge and develop your research skills. It also teaches you to engage with crucial theoretical concepts and contemporary issues regarding the collection and display of art objects and cultural artefacts. Within the programme you have the opportunity to specialise in the curating-focused track Curating Art and Cultures or in the research-oriented track Arts of the Netherlands.

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 highlights research into Dutch art in a global context.

Theory meets practice

Curating Art and Cultures is characterised by

• A strong engagement with theory, practice and objects.
• Close cooperation with museums and cultural institutions at home and abroad.
• Plenty of personal attention: your programme is tailored as closely as possible to your interests.

• The space to explore your own disciplinary, research or curatorial interests.

Why study Curating Art and Cultures?

• The programme offers you the unique opportunity to gain curatorial and research skills and experience by means of a long internship.
• The Master's programme has strong connections with the broader professional field, to which your research and curatorial practice make a direct contribution
• The city of Amsterdam with its rich history and leading museums and cultural institutions is an ideal base to start building your professional network.

Unique strengths of the programme include:

• Offered jointly with leading museums and research institution;
• Unique combination of practice, theory and disciplinary training;
• Exceptionally large team of specialists thanks to collaboration with VU University;
• Ideally located in the heart of Amsterdam.

Career prospects

After graduation there is a world of opportunities. You will have obtained the preliminary work experience necessary for a curatorial or research career at museums of art, ethnography, design, or history, as well as galleries and exhibition spaces or any other cultural institution that focuses on research and the presentation of objects and cultures. The programme also prepares you for PhD-research and an academic career.

Student profile

As a student in the Master’s programme Curating Arts and Cultures you will be expected to have the following knowledge, insight and skills:

• You are interested in combining academic reflection with practice in the museum and curatorial fields.
• You are interested in objects and museums; in research into museum collections; in exhibitions; and in the issues facing museums and other institutions involved in the collection and display of cultural artefacts today.
• For students in Arts of the Netherlands: you are interested in Dutch and Flemish art in the period from 1200 to the present in its international context.
• You have the basic skills to conduct research independently, to formulate consistent and functional research questions, to collect material and apply theory, to present research results in formal presentations, and to write papers and a thesis.
• You are ambitious and have well-developed social skills.
• You are willing to learn Dutch to a conversational level. This will allow you to more easily integrate into the museum or cultural institution where you will do your internship and will help with conducting research.

Degree certificate

The Dual Master’s in Curating Art and Cultures is a programme of the accredited degree programme Heritage Studies. After successful completion of this programme, you will receive a legally accredited Master’s degree in Heritage Studies and the title Master of Arts (MA).