Curating Contemporary Design (in partnership with the Design Museum) MA: Project diary

Find out more about the kind of work that Curating Contemporary Design MA students undertake by reading our diary of 2008/09 projects.

British Council Project: Curating Science (21 October-25 November 2008)

Project leaders: Catherine Ince, curator and project manager, British Council; Donna Loveday, head of exhibitions, Design Museum; Catherine McDermott, course leader

"The first project of the course - the British Council's 'science and design' brief - was both exciting and challenging. The brief was to present an exhibition proposal for a touring exhibition and wrap-around programme on contemporary design and science. It will launch in Caracas, and must have the potential to tour to at least three other Latin American countries.

"Once we were divided into groups, the ideas really started flowing. How could you engage the visitor with an exhibition about science and design? How can you make it accessible to people with different layers of interest? What direction and focus should it take? Who is the target audience?

"We attended meetings with curators from the Design Council; went to visits and talks at the Dana centre; and met with exhibition designers. All were inspirational and taught us a great deal about the different branches of curating, as well as the key elements to consider in this particular project.

"It was interesting to see the final presentations, as they were all so varied in their approach to the subject matter. It was surprising how many different great ideas were available when dealing with such a challenging subject matter!"

Megan Taylor (2008-09 student)

New York Study Trip: Cultural Capital (25 January-30 January 2009)

Project leaders: Catherine McDermott, course leader; Ria Hawthorn, touring exhibitions co-ordinator, Design Museum

"The trip started off with an organised visit to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) where the group was privileged to talk with artist and curator Pablo Helguera, who discussed the MoMA and its current exhibitions. From here we went to the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum where we met Paul Thompson, former Design Museum director, who took us on a guided tour around the collections and exhibitions.

"The following day we visited the Fashion Institute of Technology, and analysed the exhibitions. Then we went to the private viewing of Pablo Helguera's performance art at Cooper Union.

"Waking up to a heavy snowfall, it was a wonder how anyone made it to the Museum of Arts and Design. A newly-opened museum with a plethora of art and design objects, it was a feast for the mind and eyes. The Studio Museum, Harlem was equally impressive and curator Thelma Golden was inspirational!

"To end the week, we went to an opening at the Guggenheim ('The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989'). We met many interesting and influential people in the industry, one of whom volunteered to meet us the following morning for a personal tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art before we left the city."

Megan Taylor (2008-09 student)

V&A Project: Social Networking (3 February-24 February 2009)

Project leaders: Cassie Williams, digital content manager, V&A Donna Loveday, head of exhibitions, Design Museum; Catherine McDermott, course leader

"Gail Durbin (head of online services) and Cassie Williams (V&A web content manager) set our students a challenging project, asking them to explore the potential of social networking sites for the V&A Museum. The brief was not only to study how to network but also to consider the potential for creative experiences for visitors. Gail and Cassie asked the students to combine web 2.0 applications with the identity of the V&A to motivate people to participate.

"The V&A felt the project should focus on the task rather than the technology of web 2.0. Gail and Cassie reminded the students that you don't need lots of money or web developers to create social media and that there are many sites available, such as Flickr, YouTube and Blogger, which museums can use to run projects without any technical overheads.

"To help get the project started, the students heard presentations from Matt Rhodes, head of client services at FreshNetworks, a consultant to the V&A Karen Cham, director of the Digital Media Institute at Kingston University; and Lucy Renton, blended learning leader in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture.

"While researching the key facts of web 2.0, such as user generated contents, participation and sharing, the students considered the web as a platform - a platform connecting creative experiences with the user's participation, both open and sharing. These key aspects of web 2.0 are closely related to the task of the contemporary museum.

"Curating in the next stage cannot underestimate the potential of the web, in both real and virtual worlds. Although in the early days of the web museums only used it to deliver basic information about themselves and their exhibitions, future use increasingly revolves around active interactions between the museum and visitors. Already museums use web 2.0 applications for networking, marketing and cultural activities. The potential of web 2.0 applications is to make a democratic relationship between the museum and visitors, leading to creative experiences in society both online and offline."

Myrrh Ahn (project tutor)

London Transport Museum Project: Online Curation (3 March-17 March 2009)

Course leaders: Saskia Boersma, brand manager, Transport for London; Donna Loveday, head of exhibitions, Design Museum; Catherine McDermott, course leader

"The London Transport Museum brief was to curate an online exhibition of up to 20 products within one of four themes - World Cities, World Transport, Design in London, or Recycling.

"We could select products from the online shop and also source them externally, as long as they met the requirements of the brief. The online retail space introduced us to a new area of curating, and we soon realised the parallels between the two disciplines.

"Although this was a short project (just two weeks), the four groups presented many varied ideas. They ranged from a project based on world city skylines and a t-shirt with an image illustrating 'how I got here' to a whistle-stop tour of London (taking in its many design shops and cafés) and designer eco products specifically for use whilst commuting."

Megan Taylor (2008-09 student)