at LJMU School of Arts and Creative Industries
Study exhibitions in the Liverpool City Region
Build your curatorial knowledge and practical experience in a city shaped by museums, biennials, festivals, artist-led initiatives and public culture. MA Exhibition Studies at LJMU combines exhibition histories, contemporary curatorial theory and hands-on project work, helping you develop your own critical perspective while studying in the heart of Liverpool’s cultural ecology
Why choose Exhibition Studies at LJMU?
- Study within the Exhibition Research Lab, a space for curatorial experimentation, collaborative research and exhibition-making.
- Work with academics and engage with major arts and cultural organisations across the city, including Tate Liverpool, Liverpool Biennial, FACT, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival, National Museums Liverpool and the John Moores Painting Prize.
- Develop your own curatorial voice through project-based learning, collaborative activity and public-facing work.
- Stay connected to the Liverpool City Region while building professional experience and networks in galleries, museums and the wider cultural sector.
Course highlights
Core modules explore exhibition histories, curatorial theory and studio practice, giving you a strong grounding in both the ideas and the realities of exhibition-making.
You will study topics such as biennial programming, decolonisation frameworks, curation and technology, artist-led practice, exhibition design, African and diasporic curating practices, funding, and collaborative research ecologies.
You will also contribute to collaborative projects with cultural partners and have opportunities to programme and curate the Snapshot student-led display space.
For your Final Major Project, you can curate an exhibition or produce a research-led dissertation.
Who is it for?
This course is for students who want to work across curating, galleries, museums, exhibitions, festivals, artist-led practice and cultural research, as well as those interested in developing towards further postgraduate study.
Study options
1 year full-time or 2 years part-time, starting in September 2027.
Graduate voice
“The MA Exhibition Studies at LJMU gave me the tools and confidence to work with major galleries and develop my own curatorial projects.” — 2024 graduate
Got a question?
Contact programme leader, Dr Hana Leaper h.m.leaper@ljmu.ac.uk or
courses@ljmu.ac.uk, MA Exhibition Studies | Postgraduate course | Liverpool John Moores University
0151 231 5090
