Introductory description

Art, Cultural Management & Law (ArtCultLaw) is a course that examines how art interfaces with a breadth of legal areas, including but not limited to intellectual property law, cultural heritage law, contract law, criminal law and human rights.

Through various sources, both traditional and alternative, students will explore how the law and its intersecting components function (or dysfunction) during the generation and management of cultural content, including in online environments. The reading list includes films and documentaries, online articles and exhibitions, case law and scholarly commentary on emerging issues in this rapidly-changing area. Through innovative teaching and assessment methods, students will develop and strengthen their capacity for analytical, critical, and imaginative thinking, which are essential skills for effective and argumentation, legal or otherwise.

Students are not required to have prior knowledge of art or law for this module, which is suitable for specialist and non-specialist students and will be particularly useful for students interested in developing an interdisciplinary and practice led approach to studies.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

While the module's precise content will vary from year to year, the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Introduction to Art and Law
• Access to Material Culture
• Access to Digital Culture
• Museums and Decolonization
• Art, Copying and Appropriation
• Colonial Statues and Monuments and the 'Culture Wars'
• Art and Criminal Law
• Art and Performance

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate coherent, nuanced and advanced understanding of the relationship between law and cultural production.
• Think critically and creatively about the production of artistic and creative outputs while exercising critical thinking, judgment and analysis on the assumptions and aspirations of law
• Undertake research that draws from a wide range of sources to develop an argument in visual, written and oral form, through the production of a creative work
• Manage time independently and efficiently in preparing for learning activites, to be proactive in learning development, and to work independently within a limited time frame to complete a specified task

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Research element

Students undertake self-led research on a topic of their choice to produce an evidence-based argument in the form of a creative work and a reflective commentary. Students will engage with primary sources, such as legislation and case law, as well as secondary sources in the fields of art, visual culture and law. They will apply legal and creative research methods to articulate the tension at the heart of their creative work. This research-led approach facilitates student autonomy in choosing the topic while fostering analytical rigour, visual and information literacy, and independent inquiry into the topic of their choosing.

Interdisciplinary

The module brings together arts-based pedagogy and production methods with legal studies and analysis to explore how legal issues influence, or are influenced by, the arts.

International

The module includes an international dimension by examining digital aspects of cultural production and management that present cross-border issues to the circulation of art and cultural heritage, particularly in digital form.

Subject specific skills

The application of various legal areas to art concepts and objects, cultural heritage management, and the interpretation of various legal and policy frameworks as applied to art and the management of cultural and creative products. Legal analysis of topics such as copyright law, free expression, criminal law, Indigenous rights, performer's rights, contracts, collections management, digital rights management, and intellectual property restitution.

In lectures and seminars, we also engage with the readings and related artworks through critique. A critique is an oral or written discussion strategy used to describe, analyze, and interpret creative works. It is an intellectually-engaging exploration of visual effects and argumentation, meaning, purpose, and new ideas. We will critique creative works as a group and the legal arguments that they make. Critiques will help students develop your persuasive oral and written, information-gathering, communication, presentation, and justification skills. They also facilitate group discussion around argumentation made in visual rather than literal form. Finally, critiques are positive spaces. They invite commentary and suggestions from others in the form of open-ended questions in a way that helps the creator hone in on their argument and better understand their internal processes.

Transferable skills

Conducting original independent research and producing sound and evidence-based work in support of an argument. Communicating complex and nuanced topics through visual, oral and written strategies. Critically assessing competing legal and cultural interests to offer commentary on emerging issues of global importance. Teamwork and collaboration through seminar-based group activities and discussions. Problem solving and critical thinking as applied to the production of a creative work on an issue of the student's choice. The ability to analyse and critique arguments made in visual, oral and written forms.