Introducing “On Art Becoming Public: An Exhibition Histories” Reading Group

“On Art Becoming Public: An Exhibition Histories” Reading Group (RG) aims to provide a space for discussion and reflection about the role of exhibitions, the becoming-public of art as described by Dr Lucy Steeds (University of Edinburgh), within the production of British art history. In particular, the RG will offer an opportunity to explore both new and established methodologies through a selection of texts highlighting different approaches, such as practice-led research in exhibitions history, speculative interpretative tours and the recounting of personal memories.

Drawing from the Italian philosopher and writer Umberto Eco’s theorisation of the exhibition as an act of communication, the RG hopes to open up a dialogue around the exhibition as a medium to be explored in both its denotative (what it does) and connotative aspects (what it means).

Even though the readings will mostly focus on exhibitions held in the last fifty years, the Reading Group aspires to be transhistorical in its scope, with these case studies acting as springboards for discussion around methods and approaches to researching both historical and contemporary exhibitions.

The Reading Group will be hosted by the Paul Mellon Centre and convened by Claudia Di Tosto (PhD candidate in history of art, University of Warwick). The four sessions will take place online, allowing people to attend regardless of time zone and geographical location. A final hybrid event will also be held at the Paul Mellon Centre in the summer term. The Reading Group will meet once every two months, beginning in September 2024. It is open to everyone.

More information on future events and access to readings will become available. If you have any questions, please write to the convenor, Claudia Di Tosto: [email protected]

Claudia is a PhD candidate in history of art at the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Paul Mellon Centre. She is researching the history of the British Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale through the lenses of global and national art histories, exhibition history and postcolonial theory to explore the Pavilion as a site of national self-definition and redefinition. Prior to starting the PhD, she worked for various institutions such as: IMMA – Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin, Ireland); V&A (London, UK); Vatican Museums – Modern and Contemporary Art Department; and MAXXI – National Museum of 21st-Century Arts (Rome, Italy). Most recently, she was the co-convenor of the Doctoral Researchers Network at the Paul Mellon Centre for the academic year 2022/23 and held a position as associate lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art.