Curatorial training to preserve history, art and culture

Scholars within the School of Arts are using their expertise to help preserve the history of the arts and culture in the Middle East through specialised curatorial training programmes.

The bespoke programme, Curatorial Studio: from theory to practice in museum studies, designed and delivered by School of Arts museum studies academics, Dr Gizeh Rangel-de Lazaro and Dr Stephen Murphy, helps build capacity by equipping the next generation with a range of critical, theoretical, and practical approaches to curating in museums and galleries.  

To date, the programme has trained 16 students and most recently has led to the creation of a new exhibition exploring the history and heritage of AlUla in Saudi Arabia.  

From the Relic – Humanity Arose examines a range of themes from across a 2,000-year period - including inscriptions and the history of documentation, how women expressed their beauty and identity, religious rituals, including weddings, as well as everyday life. 

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By providing practical, hands-on experiences of curating, the course developed students’ knowledge and understanding of aspects of the exhibition development process, as well as team-working, organisational and communication skills.  

The training programme was created following a successful bid by Professor Charlotte Horlyck to the British Council Saudi Now Collaborative Project, in partnership with the Royal Commission of AlUla.