The exhibition provides an assessment platform for both SL and HL students to showcase the final
product of their art-making processes. It allows for the assessment of the observable qualities of technical
resolution, the successful communication of ideas and the synthesis of form and function. It also provides
students with the opportunity to demonstrate their discernment in determining the strongest works for the
exhibition and how to best arrange these works to their best advantage and to make connections for the
audience between works. Additionally, HL students need to articulate how they have considered possible
relationships between the artworks exhibited and the viewer.
IB World Schools represent a diverse range of socio-economic circumstances and physical resources. A
number of schools have semi-professional gallery spaces on campus, other schools make-do with school
halls, gymnasiums or even classrooms to display student work. A small number of schools have even
hired professional gallery or exhibition spaces to exhibit student work. It is important to recognize that
this component of the course is not intended to assess the quality of the space provided for students in
which to exhibit their work. Rather, students are assessed on:
1. the technical competence displayed in the work
2. the appropriate use of materials, techniques and processes used in the work
3. the resolution of the works and the degree to which they communicate the stated intentions
4. a coherency in the work selected for HL students, the consideration for the overall experience of the viewer through the way the work is arranged and presented within the available space.
There are essentially two main approaches to organizing an exhibition that students could adopt.
Chronological
Work is arranged approximately in the order that it was produced. This strategy
evidences the development of the student skills, which is not assessable in this
component, but will establish relationships between sequential works.
Formal concerns
Work is grouped along the lines of formal concerns. This could include the
media forms that a student has worked in, so that all of their paintings are
together in one part of the exhibition, their sculptures in another. Otherwise,
work that is concerned primarily with color and value, for example, might be
grouped together, while an interest in texture and pattern is grouped elsewhere,
irrespective of when the work was completed.
Narrative
The work is arranged in a way that best communicates an overarching theme
that runs through the entire body of work, irrespective of when the work was
completed.
Sub-themes
Rather than having a single theme running consistently, the student might
identify a series of related sub-themes and group these accordingly. Sometimes,
this manner of presentation can loosely reflect a chronology within which the
work was created, as artists often find that their ideas and concepts evolve as
they produce work that is sometimes quite divergent from the original starting
point.
Formal requirements
SL
SL students submit a curatorial rationale that does not exceed 400 words.
SL students submit 4–7 artworks. (You are permitted to submit up to two additional photographs in
support of each submitted artwork. These additional supporting photographs or screenshots are
intended to enable you to provide an enhanced sense of scale or specific detail to the submitted
artwork. These additional photographs are optional.)
SL students submit exhibition text stating the title, medium and size of the artwork and short
(maximum 500 characters) explanation of intent for each selected artwork.
SL students may submit two photographs of their overall exhibition. They will not be assessed or
used to assess the individual artworks.
HL
HL students submit a curatorial rationale that does not exceed 700 words. HL students submit 8–11 artworks. (You are permitted to submit up to two additional photographs in support of each submitted artwork. These additional supporting photographs or screenshots are intended to enable you to provide an enhanced sense of scale or specific detail to the submitted artwork. These additional photographs are optional). HL students submit exhibition text stating the title, medium and size of the artwork and short (maximum 500 characters) explanation of intent for each selected artwork. HL students may submit two photographs of their overall exhibition. They will not be assessed or used to assess the individual artworks.
When choosing work for the exhibition, select your strongest work that best reflects your
achievement against the marking criteria. Your teacher is looking for consistency in the quality of
work, so including a weak work may be detrimental to your overall mark.
Once you have selected your body of work, consider your curatorial approach. Does your artwork
reflect a strong material practice (that is, focused on visual qualities, exploring the properties of
different media and material and the refinement of technical skills) or a strong conceptual practice
(that is, communicating ideas, concepts or themes through the use of imagery)? Adopt a curatorial
approach that best presents your work as a coherent body of work.
Document your work photographically before you display it, making use of the best lighting
available to you.
Once the exhibition is set up and you are satisfied with it, take a number of photographs of the
exhibition. Choose the two shots that best reflect the work in the context of the exhibition.
When preparing the documentation of the exhibition for the purpose of moderation, organize the
works in the order that you would prefer the audience to view them, based on your curatorial
Rationale.
Writing a curatorial statement A well-written curatorial statement is your chance to guide the way the audience perceives your exhibition. It represents an opportunity to communicate directly with viewers, and help them recognize your intent and purpose in your body of work, understand your point of view, and generate intrigue and curiosity about the body of work they are about to experience. When writing the curatorial statement, it is good to keep some general guidelines in mind. The statement has a word limit. For SL students, it is 400 words. For HL students, it is 700 words. If you exceed this, parts of your statement will not be considered in your assessment.
If there is a particular work that was especially instrumental in the way you perceived your exhibition, it might be interesting to describe that work in more depth to draw the audience into your thought process. It is important to remember that you have an opportunity to write a short statement to accompany each artwork in the exhibition, so do not use up your word limit describing each work. Rather, identify thematic and/or stylistic connections between works. Consider the style of the statement. There are two audiences for your exhibition: your school community and the IB assessment system, which will include your teacher and IB moderators. You want to avoid using the kind of art-world jargon that might alienate a general audience but still be specific enough when articulating your vision to engage the teacher and moderator. If there is a specific art term that is central to the main idea of your exhibition, be sure to define it within your statement. Your statement should be written in an informative and persuasive tone, but because you are writing about your own work, personal pronouns (I, my and so on) are appropriate. Be realistic, frank and honest about your work. Statements that do not reflect the work that is presented cannot score highly against the marking criteria.
Less is more. While the word limits for SL ad HL are 400 and 700 words respectively, most curatorial statements written for exhibitions in galleries are between 300 and 500 words.
For each artwork you submit, it should be supported by exhibition text that outlines the title, medium and size of the artwork. The exhibition text should also include a brief outline of the original intentions of the work (500 characters maximum—including spaces—per artwork). This can be presented in the following Way.
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