Course for Non-Curators
Institution School launches a new programme for the future of curatorial practice
An advanced programme exploring the new roles, methods and forms of cultural production emerging beyond the traditional exhibition model.
Curating is a word that has outgrown its traditional definition. The Course for Non-Curators: New Roles for a Changing Art Field is Institution School's inaugural advanced training programme, running from 27 October 2026 to 18 February 2027, and it starts precisely from this premise.
As the cultural landscape undergoes profound social, technological, and institutional transformations, the course challenges inherited notions of curatorial practice and proposes a broader understanding of how art is produced, experienced, circulated, and activated today. Rather than treating curating as a fixed professional role, the course explores it as an evolving set of practices that operates across disciplines, media, and contexts.
The programme is structured through seven interconnected study trajectories – Time, Fieldwork, Language, Materiality & Embodiment, Speculative Platforms, Alt-Economy, and Instituting – which together provide a flexible framework for navigating the complexities of contemporary cultural production. Conceived as porous and interdependent fields of inquiry, these trajectories encourage participants to move across disciplines, methods, and contexts while developing their own critical and practical approaches.
The faculty is deliberately and extensively cross-disciplinary, bringing together internationally recognised curators, artists, philosophers, neuroscientists, ecologists, technologists, designers, anthropologists, and social theorists, among others. Confirmed contributors include curators Hou Hanru, Miwako Tezuka, Charles Esche, Ute Meta Bauer, Chus Martínez, Elena Sorokina, Bart de Baere and Viktor Misiano; artists Rirkrit Tiravanija, Onome Ekeh, CLIMAVORE and Suzanne Lacy; filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul; design duo Formafantasma; theorists Mieke Bal; composer Marcus Schmickler; physicist Fabio Beltram; information designer Federica Fragapane; game designer Colleen Macklin, and collectives and community organisations working at the intersection of art, ecology, and alternative economies, including gudskul, Brave New Alps, the Afrikaanderwijk Cooperative, and the Kulagu Tu Buvongan collective, among others. Furthermore, the programme counts among its contributors philosophers Christopher Fynsk and Sven-Olov Wallenstein, as well as curator and theoretician Vesna Madžoski, all members of the European Graduate School faculty.
Upon successful completion of the programme, participants will receive a Certificate in Expanded Curatorial Practice, recognising their ability to develop transdisciplinary projects beyond the traditional exhibition model, create participatory cultural initiatives, and design innovative institutional and public-facing formats across contemporary art and culture.
The course culminates in a "non-exhibition": an original curatorial proposition developed individually or in groups, bringing together the critical and experimental approaches explored throughout the programme. Three selected projects will be produced in collaboration with partner institutions, with public presentations beginning in Spring 2027 and implementations continuing through March 2028.
The 27 selected participants will form a highly attractive pool of professionals for museums, biennials and cultural organisations seeking to rethink and innovate their approach to art.
Open to artists, curators, researchers, educators, designers, cultural producers, and professionals from diverse disciplines engaging with art's expanded field holding a Master's degree or PhD, the program runs in an intensive online format from October 27, 2026 to February 18, 2027, with sessions held Tuesday to Thursday from 2:00 to 6:00 PM CET.
The tuition fee is €5,500. In order to support broader access to the programme, two full scholarships covering the entire tuition fee will be awarded on the basis of merit and financial need.
Exclusive IKT Member Discount: IKT members are eligible for €500 off the course fee. To claim the discount, please include your IKT membership number in your application form. The discount is available only to members whose 2026 membership fee has been paid. Your membership status will be checked as part of the application process.
Applications should be submitted exclusively through the online form and will be reviewed in three rounds during the application period (1st: August 23rd / September 13rd / October 4th). A portion of the available places will be allocated at the end of each round. Applying earlier therefore does not guarantee admission, but it allows your application to be considered while a larger number of places is still available. Shortlisted candidates may be invited for an online conversation with members of the programme team. Selected participants will be notified shortly after each review process is complete.
Please find more information on Institution School website.
Further information is available by contacting non-curators.submissions@institution.it.