Oil on canvas artwork citing a person on a horse in rectangular blue, purple, and pink shapes.
Oil on canvas artwork citing a person on a horse in rectangular blue, purple, and pink shapes.

Déjà Vu: The Cycles That Haunt Us

Déjà Vu: The Cycles That Haunt Us
University Museum of Contemporary Art

Annual Eva Fierst Student Curatorial Exhibition
February 6 – May 8
Opening reception: February 5, 5-7 p.m.
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Celebrating twenty years of the museum’s curatorial program, this exhibition looks back to two decades of student-curated exhibitions, all drawn from the museum's permanent collection. Déjà Vu: The Cycles That Haunt Us traces recurring cycles of thought that echo through earlier iterations of the exhibition program. Like specters, enduring sociopolitical concerns persist from the program's earliest exhibitions to its most recent.

Featuring works from the museum’s collection, the exhibition engages visitors through participatory activities that prompt reflection on the past and invite them to envision new, liberated futures.

Déjà Vu was co-curated by Suzanne Bagia (MFA English) and Caelen Trujillo (MA Art History). This exhibition is supported by the Eva Fierst Curatorial Exhibition Fund, the History of Art and Architecture Department, and the Department of English.

Students assist with installation of artworks in the University Museum of Contemporary Art.
Graduate Student Curatorial Exhibition

Founded in 2006, this annual year-long independent project is conducted by students from across UMass graduate programs. Students work closely with museum staff on all aspects of creating an exhibition — including researching within the museum's collection, creating a thematic framework, assisting with installation, writing all exhibition texts, and planning public events — providing valuable experience for future careers in museum work.

The Graduate Student Curatorial Exhibition program has been a collaboration with the History of Art and Architecture department since its inception. Over the past two decades, the program has worked with graduate programs including Studio Art, Afro-American studies, and art education. The program has been supported by the Eva Fierst Curatorial Exhibition Fund since 2015.