Change the Way You See Art Through AAU’s Curatorial Studies Concentration

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The B.A. in Visual Art Studies: Studio Art & Curatorial Studies concentration expands on the theoretical grounding of the Visual Art Studies major, offering students a closer interaction with the creative and managerial aspects of the art world. The program is taught by a diverse faculty of artists, academics, and art professionals active in both the local and international art scenes. Students first develop skills in the traditional art genres of drawing and painting combined with new media forms that they can later apply to managing collections and designing exhibition spaces.

Class of 2022 graduate and Manager of the Colloredo-Mansfeld Art Collection, Maximillian Colloredo-Mansfeld, emphasized the positive impact AAU’s pedagogical style had on his career:

“I greatly benefited from its emphasis on real-world engagement and small class sizes, which fostered close connections with art professionals and a robust theoretical foundation. This unique environment inspired my career and enabled me to establish a startup that leverages AI to help private collectors inventory their art and streamline processes like art loans, promoting greater cultural exchange.” – Colloredo-Mansfeld

Colloredo-Mansfeld was fascinated by how humans view time and history, dedicating his final curator’s project to the concept: moving away from linear ways of thinking and towards a more conceptual approach to exhibiting collections that span different styles. This idea was embodied in the group show with artists Tomáš Kurečka, Štefan Tóth, Tereza Zelenková, Martin Pondělíček, Šárka Koudelová, Dana Sahánková, and Roman Štětina. Colloredo-Mansfeld found that placing older works by contemporary works opened them up to new critique and/or admiration.

“It is no longer valid to portray eras into different rooms because it does not build a relationship between the viewer and the work of art,” Colloredo-Mansfeld said. “Contrast helped spark questions about how we see history and how contemporary art can offer new ways to think about the past.”

Colloredo-Mansfled’s current project lies in caring for his family’s art collection and building a business to digitalize art collections, called Kollektor, with the goal to make private collections more accessible to the public.