Task summary

The exhibition is an internally examined assessment task worth 40%.

To complete the task, you are required to present an exhibition of your resolved artworks together
with accompanying exhibition text (which states the title, medium, size and a brief outline of the
original intentions of each selected artwork) and a curatorial rationale. You will need to document
your exhibition electronically.

Formal requirements
SL

SL students submit a curatorial rationale that does not exceed 400 words.

SL students submit 47 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 811 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.

Marking criteria summary

Marking criteria

Mark
s

What the marker is

looking for:

Coherent body of
works

a coherent
collection of works,
which fulfill stated
artistic intentions and
communicate clear
thematic or stylistic
relationships across
individual pieces.
At the highest level of
achievement, the work
forms a coherent body of
work through effective
communication of
thematic or stylistic
relationships across
individual pieces. Stated
intentions are
consistently and
effectively fulfilled
through the selection
and application of
media, processes and
techniques and the
considered use of
imagery.

Technical competence

an effective
application and
manipulation of media
and materials as well as
the effective application
and manipulation of
formal qualities.
At the highest level of
achievement, the work
demonstrates effective
application and
manipulation of media
and materials to reach an
assured level of
technical competence in
the chosen forms and the
effective application and
manipulation of the

formal qualities.
C

Conceptual qualities

an effective
resolution of imagery,
signs and/or symbols to
realize the function,
meaning and purpose of
the artworks, as
appropriate to stated
intentions.
At the highest level of
achievement, the work
visually elaborates ideas,
themes or concepts to a
point of effective
realization and
demonstrates the subtle
use of complex imagery,
signs and/or symbols
that result in effective
communication of stated
artistic intentions.

Curatorial practice
(SL only)

a justified
explanation for the
selection, arrangement
and exhibition of a
group of artworks within
a designated space.
At the highest level of
achievement, the
curatorial rationale fully
justifies the selection
and arrangement of the
exhibited works, which
are presented and
arranged clearly, as
appropriate to your
stated intentions within
the space made available
to you.

Curatorial practice
(HL only)

a justified
explanation for the
selection, arrangement

and exhibition of a
group of artworks within
a designated space and
reflection on how the
exhibition conveys an
understanding of the
relationship between the
artworks and the viewer.
At the highest level of
achievement, the
curatorial rationale fully
justifies the selection
and arrangement of the
exhibited works and
effectively articulates
the relationship between
the artworks and the
viewer within the space
made available to the
student.

Possible structure
There are two distinct stages to the exhibition task. Firstly, there is the physical exhibition, where you
need to select your best works and arrange them so that they present a coherent exhibition.
Secondly, you need to document your exhibition electronically to facilitate the process of moderation
by which a moderator may view your exhibition to ensure that the way that it has been marked by
your school is consistent with the standard set by the IB.
Your teacher will allocate a space for you to set up your exhibition. You will need to plan and decide
how to best display your work so that it is shown to its best advantage and best communicates your
intent to the audience. You need to consider which works need to be displayed in close proximity and
which works need to be further apart. Do any of the works help convey your intentions better when
they are displayed together?

Further advice for students

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.
It can be helpful to follow a basic structure:

Figure 11
Further advice

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.

Writing exhibition text

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 maximumincluding spacesper artwork). This can be
presented in the following way.

Figure 12
When completed, these can be printed out and included in your exhibition to help your audience
appreciate your work more fully.
Mounting printed exhibition text on foam core board can give your exhibition a professional feel.