This course offers first-hand experience of biennales in various parts of the world. Students will visit 2-3 biennale (or triennale) exhibitions over a two-week intensive international course. The exhibitions and their content will be examined from the point of view of various disciplines, such as curatorial, art history and theory. The course provides Students with an understanding of contemporary, innovative approaches to art and exhibition-making. In addition to discussions led by COFA lecturers, Students will hear from curatorial and/or education staff at the biennales, and, where possible, participating artists. Each course is unique, depending on which biennales are on in any given year: generally, the course will cover European biennales one year (e.g. Venice, Istanbul, Lyon) and Asian biennales in the next year (e.g. Gwangju, Shanghai, Singapore, Sharjah). Two introductory seminars are held at COFA prior to departure. Assessment tasks comprise of an oral presentation at the biennales, a critical response travel journal and a major essay.

Note: Students are responsible for their own travel arrangements and associated costs. An additional up-front fee is also required by COFA (usually around $500) to cover the cost of delivering a course overseas.