EXHIBITION

YOUR FINAL EXHIBITION IS THE CURATORIAL COMPONENT

The FINAL EXHIBITION is the culmination of your IB Art experience. It is where you can showcase a coherent collection of works that fulfill stated artistic intentions and communicate clear thematic or stylistic relationships across individual pieces. You will select and present your best artworks in the form of a curated final show and defend and articulate your purpose and intention in a written form through the Curatorial Rationale.

Your Final Exhibition is submitted digitally,  so good photos and strict adherence to word count is necessary.  The Exhibition constitutes 40% of your mark. It is internally assessed and then externally moderated.

You will need to plan your final exhibition carefully.  Consider how your artworks will interact?  Do you want to create a special space?  Or perhaps an installation?  Or do you want it to be in a traditional exhibition format?  Choose according to the style of your art.

Choose works for your exhibition that show:

• Technical competence
• Appropriate use of materials, techniques, and processes
• Relationships among the works
• Well resolved work in line with stated intentions
• Consideration for the overall experience of the viewer.

TO BE CLEAR – YOU PRESENT YOUR WORK (AND EXHIBITION TEXT AND CURATORIAL RATIONALE) AT YOUR IB DP VA EXHIBITION (PLANNED BY YOUR SCHOOL) – AND THEN YOU SUBMIT YOUR WORK (AND PHOTOS OF YOUR EXHIBITION TO IB)

Your Final Exhibition is assessed internally (which means your teacher assesses it) BUT then it is externally moderated. This means your teacher is requested to submit a sample (chosen by IB) to represent each grade assessed. Samples are randomly chosen, but it is usually over half of any class, so it is best if you prepare for it. A lot is riding on the accurate assessment of your teacher, so it is in your best interest to ensure your EX submission is authentic and best represents your work.

When selected your works are submitted digitally (images and text boxes for texts). Good clear photos and strict adherence to the word count requirements is necessary.  The Exhibition constitutes 40% of your mark.

For submission, it is important to prepare:

• Photos of Artworks: Plan this carefully.  Take excellent photos – consider lighting and backdrop.  It matters.  You can submit 1 main photo and 2 details. 
• Exhibition Text:  For each piece, students must write a brief exhibition text which states title, medium, size, and an outline of original intentions (500 characters max per artwork)
• Exhibition Overview Photos:  Students must submit 2 photos of the overall exhibition to help the moderator understand the overall layout and experience.
• Curatorial Rationale: Written statement specifically addressing the body of work chosen for the exhibition, explaining the intentions of the student, considering the presentation of the work using curatorial methodologies

EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS

Exhibition Artworks:  Over the course of the 2-year course, students must create original artworks for their final exhibition in 2D, 3D, and 4D mediums. Artworks should combine to create a coherent body of work. Artworks submitted for the exhibition component must be displayed in a school exhibition and photographed in the exhibition (as well as individual photos and close-ups of works for submission). Artwork requirements differ for SL (4-7) and HL (7-11). *These numbers were slightly affected due to COVID (2021 artwork expectations are (SL 4-6) and HL (7-10))

Exhibition Text:  For each piece, students must write a brief exhibition text that states the title, medium, size, and an outline of original intentions (500 characters max per artwork)

Exhibition Overview Photos:  Students must submit 2 photos of the overall exhibition to help the moderator understand the overall layout and experience.

Curatorial Rationale: Written statement specifically addressing the body of work chosen for the exhibition, explaining the intentions of the student, and considering the presentation of the work using curatorial methodologies.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Let’s help each other. If you have a question, email Miss A. Maybe others are curious about it too.

FAQ: CAN I SUBMIT THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF ARTWORKS REQUIRED? While this is obviously entirely permissible, a smaller selection of work will need to include several more ambitious and complex pieces to achieve the higher marks for each criterion.

FAQ: DO I HAVE TO INCLUDE EVIDENCE OF WORK IN 2D, 3D and 4D? Diversity of media is not required for the exhibition and in some cases creating work that explores a variety of processes and media may have hindered skill development. There is no need to present multiple media and art-making forms within the exhibition. Including considered and relevant investigation and experimentation within 2D, 3D, and 4D forms in the process portfolio is encouraged and expected, it is entirely possible to achieve high grades in your exhibition submission by choosing to focus on techniques that you have become highly specialised with.

FAQ: SHOULD I CHOOSE A THEME FOR MY WORK? Your EX submission first and foremost about your artwork in terms of the validity of your technical and conceptual coherence. Relevance and connectedness can be achieved through ideas, visual elements, or themes. If you are considering choosing a theme, please consider that very broad themes frequently led to EX submissions with little obvious interrelationship and a lack of depth in terms of the development of ideas and imagery within the individual works. Also a heads up: ‘Global issues’ and ‘Identity’ remained as very common (overused) motifs for EX submissions. Other familiar issues (over)used are the environment, global warming, pollution, mental illness, racism, isolation/loneliness, identity, and body image. All of these may be suitable for submission, but they are super predictable in terms of symbolism or imagery which tends to limit achievement, particularly in terms of conceptual qualities. Instead consider more subtle, local, personal, or nuanced themes and ideas.

FAQ: SERIOUSLY, HOW CONNECTED SHOULD MY ARTWORKS BE? A single theme is not required. For your EX submission, examiners are looking for effective communication of thematic or stylistic relationships across individual pieces. Your works should be interrelated in a meaningful and developed manner. In lower-scoring EX submissions, it appears that works are created first and conceptual links, or sometimes themes, are applied afterwards. This creates a forced cohesion in some cases. The exploration of highly emotive political, social, and cultural themes sometimes tended to generate work that was predictable or straightforward in terms of symbolism or imagery. Higher-scoring EX submissions show complex and innovative works dealing with subtle, local, personal, or nuanced themes and ideas.

FAQ: CAN I SUBMIT PHOTOGRAPHS OR VIDEOS AS EXHIBITION WORKS? In EX submissions, there is growing familiarity with digital media and increased technical skill and sophistication in using digital processes. Photographic and video art are of course, suitable for submission, but achieving higher-scoring assessments sometimes becomes problematic as many photographic and video submissions are limited in terms of competence and/or concept. Higher-scoring EX submissions with video work included evidence of thoughtful planning, composition, and tightly paced editing. Lower-scoring EX submissions with video and photographic work demonstrated only simple and basic digital photography skills; submitting unedited footage of scenes from their daily life or travels with editing and refinement was lacking. In other words, if you are only using your iPhone to snap quick photos and submit those, it’s not going to go well for you. If you use a dark room and a serious camera and have studied photography skills, composition, and editing strategies, perhaps developing your own film and understanding the medium in depth, then this will go better for you.

FAQ: CAN I USE SOUND TO ELEVATE MY VIDEOS? Videos with sound continue to be submitted. Sound is not considered when assessing the exhibition, only the visual elements are considered.

FAQ: WHY IS MY EXHIBITION NOT SCORING AS HIGH AS I THINK IT SHOULD? EX submissions are subjective so do keep that in mind. IB notes that many EX submissions do not develop ideas and techniques in depth, leading to very predictable imagery and symbols to convey artistic messages, or poorly made work that fails to communicate. Technical competence comes from continued practice.  It is not a good idea to include a ‘one-off’ artwork or first-time experiences with a technique as a resolved exhibition piece. You are encouraged to consider and explore art from different periods and areas. Many lower-scoring EX submissions seem to be familiar only with limited art influences focusing in particular on recent ‘protest’ art. Also, keep in mind that since the Exhibition is internally assessed and only externally moderated, sometimes teachers may mark your work based on their bias, perhaps influenced by students’ personal stories or the perceived seriousness and value of the theme, rather than the evident qualities of the visual work associated with their investigation. External moderation is an important step as IB notes that sometimes teachers provide very high marks and assess subjectively rather than realistic/objectively and generous marking continues to be an issue. Some teachers vastly overestimated their candidate’s performance and award high marks for work that did not merit this.

FAQ: DO I HAVE TO CITE MY REFERENCE PHOTOS? All sources used must be acknowledged and referenced effectively and appropriately. Use the Exhibition Text to clearly cite original images that have been used as inspiration There must always be a clear distinction between what constitutes the candidate’s own work and the ideas or the work of others. IB has noted that some EX submissions consisted of unacknowledged images frequently in the form of collages made up of photographs either torn from magazines or downloaded/printed from the Internet. Some EX submissions include works that are simply a painted or illustrated copy of an image from the Internet, which needs to be acknowledged. A failure to acknowledge a source will be treated seriously by the IB as an academic integrity matter.

FAQ: HOW DO I SCORE A 7 IN THE EXHIBITION? The strongest EX submissions tend to be those in which candidates are enabled and encouraged to express and develop their ideas fully. High-scoring EX submissions tend to show a strong degree of technical development as well as conceptual development. Whilst exceptional levels of traditional drawing skills are not required to achieve the highest possible grade, it is important that students are able to develop significant mastery of the media and approaches relevant to their intentions.

CONSULT THE RUBRIC OFTEN

CONSIDER KEYWORDS FOR HIGH-SCORING EXPECTATIONS: Aim for a coherent body of work with effective communication of thematic/stylistic relationships in an assured level of technical competence with visually elaborated ideas, themes, and concepts with effective realization of stated artistic intentions. The CR fully justifies the exhibition appropriate to stated intentions and effectively articulates relationships between the artworks and the viewer.

MEMBER PRIVILEGES INCLUDE:

• EX STUDENT GUIDE: A detailed step-by-step template to develop, organize and present your best EX submission, with details to creating strong Exhibition Texts as well as a coherent Curatorial Rationale
• EX CHECKLIST: A detailed list to help you organize your EX submission and to make sure you have included everything you need to score top marks in each Criterion.
• EX EXEMPLARS: Examples of high-quality high-scoring RECENT Exhibition submissions (legitimate 7s)

LET’S DIVE INTO THE EXHIBITION

For the Exhibition, artworks are assessed by 3 main criteria:

• Coherent Body of Work
• Technical Competence
• Conceptual Qualities

COHERENT BODY OF WORK

This is very important for your exhibition – the idea is that you have chosen the best works created over your two-year journey -works that connect and tell a story.  Many find choosing a theme very important at the beginning of the course.  In my class, students work from a variety of inspirations and ideas, and as they work, the connections and thematic ideas emerge.   

If you are choosing to focus your work on a theme, choose one or two ideas/themes that are interesting to you that you can sustain your exploration for two years.  Strict adherence to a theme is not mandatory.  It can help create connections – but connections can also be stylistic relationships. 

HELPFUL TIP FROM MISS A: There is no ‘one size fits all’ for developing the exhibition – I find it best to present the options and then let the students explore and ‘do it their way’. Some of my students choose to focus on colour or location connections, such as exploring ‘gold’ as a motif. Sometimes my students like to combine a few ideas and come up with very clear ‘tag lines’ like Geometric Harmony’ or ‘Growth and Decay‘. And sometimes they don’t have a theme at all – just a list of ideas they are exploring, that eventually fall into a coherent collection. 

HELPFUL TIP FROM MISS A: In my class, I encourage my students to focus on connections within their artworks in their second year leading up to their exhibition. We spend time in one-on-one discussions discussing how their works connect. Some chose detailed themes, while others choose a few connections or ideas that flow through their works.  I have found it very helpful to take photos of the student’s works as they complete each piece as well as idea sketches. These I display so students can start to visualize how their exhibition will appear. This helps us to see connections and develop new connecting ideas – such as colour schemes and aesthetic choices that further elevate the development and choice of final works.

For Criterion A, high-scoring EX submissions explored coherence through dynamic relationships between their art pieces and excellent techniques, with obvious links between the artworks created and well-chosen techniques/imagery. High-scoring EX submissions express clear intentions through their art, and include thoughtful and relevant processes.

Coherence does not require a theme. However, a large majority of EX submissions are theme-based. For lower-scoring EX submissions, it appears that works are created first and the theme or conceptual links are applied afterward. Lower-scoring EX submissions also tend to discuss commonly (over)used themes (for example mental health or pollution) with frequently superficial treatment. Lower-scoring EX submissions limited themselves with poor choice and application of media, processes, and techniques, and used simplistic or predictable imagery.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCE

There is no way getting around this one.  For the 7, IB Examiners want to see skill and creative well-informed compositions.  Technical competence is the difference between a 6 and a 7.  For a 6, students can get away with being ‘smart’; writing a strong CS and PP, and exploring artworks conceptually, but for the 7 in their EX submission – the work has to be technically on point.  

First of all, Technical Competence comes from knowing (and practicing) your skills and choosing the mediums you are best at.  You are an artist. You know what you are good at.  So make sure you include artworks that show your skill. 

Secondly, create compositions that are involved.  Ideas that are ‘one and done’ are obvious to examiners.  By ‘one and done’, I mean, you had one idea and you created it. Take the time to explore your idea development (this is not only good for your Exhibition but also for your PP)

HELPFUL TIP FROM MISS A: In my many years of teaching IB, I have noticed that students score higher in the Exhibition if their artwork tells a story, an intricate story that has many involved ideas in one work – where it is obvious that there has been a focused development of composition and consideration of formal qualities (EoA/PoD).  In other words: your composition is not centrally focused, not predictable and there is more than one thing going on. 

For the Exhibition, it is not necessary to show all the artworks you have completed during your two years. The goal is that you have completed enough work that you can CHOOSE your strongest for the exhibition.  You also don’t have to show work in all mediums. It’s the PP that is interested in seeing work in the required art forms (2D, 3D and 4D). My students do like to use a variety of mediums – but I do encourage them to choose their ‘top skills’ to focus their works on. We choose our strongest skill (my students usually favour drawing or painting) and then we add digital and at least one sculpture.

Here (above) is an example of a student’s Y1 portrait compared with the ‘refined’ resolved portrait that was submitted (at the end of Y2) as part of the EX submission.  I think this is a good example of what I mean by the first one (left) being a sort of ‘one and done’.  The student did try and add unique ideas, exploring different colours/medium for the hair and adding dots – but it was obvious there was little idea development, and its a centrally focused composition.  The second ‘resolved’ work (right) shows stronger technical competence. The composition has shifted off-center creating interest.  The student has worked on dramatic lighting, by the detail captured, it is obvious that there were many studies done before the final work.  The student added receipts detailing purchases – which increases the narrative and further shows the student’s skills at drawing with the folds and wrinkles in the receipts.  The second work also gives more opportunities to connect with other works. 

For Criterion B high-scoring EX submissions showed evidence of sensitivity, sophistication, control, and an excellent understanding and use of media/materials.

Traditional drawing skills are not required to achieve the highest possible grade, but it is important that EX submissions are able to develop and demonstrate good control of the media and approaches relevant to their intentions. Digital media is being used more often with the stronger EX submissions using software such as Photoshop and Procreate, as they would traditional analog materials, showing a good understanding of the potential of the media. Diversity of media/techniques is not a requirement for assessment, but many candidates submitted work showing a variety of techniques and media. Exploring so many different techniques is likely to limit sustained skill development and dilute expertise in any individual skill. It is possible that weak pieces can have a negative impact on assessment in this criterion. So do be careful to select only your strongest works.

3D work was relatively rare in comparison to painting, drawing, and photography. In many cases it was on a very small scale, or large and simplistic. It often seemed to be an isolated one-off piece perhaps seeking to show diversity of media.

Lower-scoring EX submissions show work that has been simply traced, blurred, smudged or filters applied to found photographs, rather than creating work that reflects a more skillful manipulation of the available tools and possibilities.

There is no requirement that candidates work on a large scale. However, some may find that if they work consistently on a rather limited scale, this can reduce their potential to develop and present more technically and conceptually complex combinations of media, ideas, and imagery.

CONCEPTUAL QUALITIES

In my IB class, I like to encourage students to consider both technical and conceptual within their works. Because let’s face it, conceptual works are usually more fun. Usually students create about 1/2 of their work focusing on skills and technical competence and then the other 1/2 of the works, breaking out into conceptual pieces. We do consider connections and I encourage students to create motifs (symbols or images) that they can have re-occur throughout their pieces in different incantations – not the same image, but similar, reworked motifs, perhaps reimagined in different forms to create subtle connections. 

Here (above) is an example of a few different student’s works based on the ideas of vision.  I think this is a good example to explain conceptual qualities vs technical competence.  The first work is conceptually interesting with the collage of eye forms, however, the centrally focused composition and simplistic eyes is rather predictable. The image seems like a commonly used motif (and I am sure I could easily find a very similar idea on Pinterest). It also appears technically unfinished – it’s more of a sketch than a resolved work.  The second work is technically very sophisticated with a high level of intricate detail. However, the conceptual qualities are minimal.  It is a centrally composed composition of a scientific-themed eye study.  So although there may have been some idea development and conversations over the placement of the eye form, the communication appears more in the ‘one and done’ sort of idea development.  The third work combines a good level of technical skill and a conceptually interesting composition.  It is obvious this took a few drafts of idea development to consider the placement of the forms and discussion of choices with the small images and motifs that surround the eyes.  The choice to not align the eyes is interesting and will probably be explained in the exhibition text.  Work 3 (more than 1 and 2) tells a story and gives more opportunities to connect to other works. 

For Criterion C, a lengthy description of conceptual intentions in the curatorial rationale will not necessarily lead to high marks in this criterion. High-scoring EX submissions use visual elaboration of ideas and the subtle use of complex imagery to communicate intentions.

Conceptually effective EX submissions are often not about commonly (over)used (vague) ‘big ideas’ for example pollution, the environment, body image and so forth, but instead showed a reflective thoughtful, and considered approach to a more personal or local issue. Lower-scoring EX submissions tended to focus mostly on world issues and problems which led to familiar, obvious, and predictable images.

It’s your story. Tell it the best you can.

GETTING YOUR WORK PRETTY FOR SUBMISSION

ARTWORK PHOTOS: Take your time and take excellent photos of your work.  Try to control the lighting and the background.  Use black fabric to create a blank background.  I have found day-lighting (near windows or outside to be the best).  But you can also use photo lights to help create a bright setting.  Watch closely for shadows that may cover or hinder the view of the work.  Try to think like an examiner – what would you need to see of the student’s work to give it that high mark it deserves. 

Take one photo that best shows ALL of the artwork.  This will be the main photo.  You can also submit 2 close-ups or different views.  This is great for sculptures – you can add alternative views.  If the work is 2D try to take close-up of the strongest details that may not be closely viewed in the main photo.  However, since the submission is digital, the examiner is able to zoom in. 

EXHIBITION PHOTOS: You need to include 2 photos of all your works set up in an exhibition – which can be challenging depending on your venue.  Try to take photos that show as much of your exhibition as possible.  If you can take a photo of the entry – the view that people see entering your exhibit and then a close-up of a particular area of interest, that would be ideal.  Also, you can divide your gallery into 2 views.

HELPFUL TIP FROM MISS A: I plan out my IB year schedule, so that exhibition is about 2-3 weeks before the final IB digital submissions for IBIS (so in the Northern hemisphere, around mid March). This gives time to set up the exhibition and take photos – but then the students can edit and make final changes and corrections (usually to their PP and CS) before submission.   I encourage all students to take MANY photos of their exhibition. But as insurance, I also like to take all photos personally before the exhibition – just in case something happens to the work during the exhibition.

Many students stress about the location for their Final Exhibition. Of course, we all want to hold our Final Exhibitions in a grand modern art gallery designed specifically to create all our more ingenious inventive displays – the corner of our cafeteria or our sports gym is not ideal.  How so un-artistic.  However, it doesn’t matter.  IB Examiners are under strict instructions to not give any bias to the Art Gallery location and facilities available. What matters is how the artworks are created, selected and connected. 

HELPFUL TIP FROM MISS A: I get my students to plan out their space in advance.  I ask them to consider the colour and placement of the stands and the placement of the work.  How will it tell their story the best?  We display in our school with the same display boards every year.. so I get the wanting for a cool gallery space.  So I make sure to take the very best photos to represent the student’s work in the best light possible.

EXHIBITION TEXTS

In addition to the title, dimensions, and medium, you can write a maximum of 500 characters (with spaces) as a caption for each Artwork submitted for assessment.

NOTE: When your Exhibition texts are submitted – it is into a word box online – so it will not submit if there are excessive words.  Spaces count within the 500.

CURATORIAL RATIONALE

The Curatorial Rationale is much more than an artists’ statement. The CR discusses specifically the choices involved in selecting and the relevance of the work for the exhibition rather than the general artistic output. Writing the Rationale is part of the process of self- reflection, decision making, and of understanding of the relationship between artist and audience.

Your Curatorial Rationale is where you must explain yourself.  And explain yourself well. All too often marks are lost by students who spent too much time explaining their intention with the works – and not enough time discussing how the works connect and how they are positioned in the gallery to highlight their connections.

ENVISION YOUR EXHIBITION: It’s helpful if you visit your exhibition space before your exhibit and sketch out some ideas.   Organize how you want your artworks to be displayed. Consider what works connects well visually together, what story do they tell when they are placed in certain ways.  You can also create digital mockups of your exhibition with your photos prior to installing your exhibition.  This will help in ensuring your exhibition set up is easy and as effective as possible and more importantly, will help you in writing a clear CR that explains the connections and viewer’s experience. 

GETTING STARTED, ORGANIZING YOUR THOUGHTS:

To begin writing your Curatorial Rationale, start by reflecting on your thoughts and intentions that you used throughout your 2 year creative journey. Consider:

• What media do you work with? What interests you about work of this type?
• What themes, concerns, and ideas have you explored in this work?
• Is there a relationship between the media you use and the ideas that you work with?
• What outside interests, artists, encounters or experiences have influenced your work?
• What ties your individual pieces of work together into a cohesive body of work?
• Is there an ‘intention’ behind the work; what do you want the work to achieve?
• How do you want your audience to experience it?
• How have your methods of display (how the work is arranged and presented) contributed to the viewer’s experience?
• What is your vision for presenting this body of work?

Think about how and why you chose the specific works you did and how you set up your gallery.  Consider:

• What is the vision for presenting this body of work?
• What are you hoping to achieve by presenting this body of work?  What impact will this body of work have on your audience? What are the concepts and understandings you initially intend of convey?
• How have particular issues, motifs or ideas been explore, or particular materials or techniques used?
• What themes can be identified in the work, or what experiences have influenced it?
• How does the way you have exhibited your artwork contribute to the meanings you are trying to convey to an audience?
• What strategies did you use to develop a relationship between the artwork and the viewer (for example to create visual impact)?
• How does the way you have arranged and presented your artworks support the relationship and connection between the artworks presented?
• What do you intend your audience to feel, think, experience, understand, see, learn, consider from the work you have selected for the exhibition and how you have selected to display it.
• What art galleries have you visited that have influenced or inspired your decisions? How?
• What curator’s have you read about and/or visited that have given you advice that you have considered in creating your exhibition?

PUTTING IT TOGETHER – WRITING YOUR CURATORIAL RATIONALE

Keep in mind, that for SL: The curatorial rationale (400 words) fully justifies the selection and arrangement of the exhibited works, which are presented and arranged clearly, as appropriate to the student’s stated intentions within the space made available to the student your Curatorial Rationale is 400 words.

For HL, the curatorial rationale (700 words) fully justifies the selection and arrangement of the exhibited works as appropriate to the student’s stated intentions. The curatorial rationale effectively articulates the relationship between the artworks and the viewer within the space made available to the student.

You can break your CR down into (SL) two sections and (HL) three sections

• Overview, concepts, and ideas
• Connection of works
• Viewer Relationships (HL)

OVERVIEW, CONCEPTS AND IDEAS: You set the stage, so to speak. This part introduces the exhibition, discussing your intentions, your over arching themes, what are you exploring, main artistic inspirations and the underlying themes or threads. Consider:

• How did your theme come about?
• What are the concepts, issues or ideas you have explored here and how are they linked in your work?
• What experiences have contributed to the making of this work?

CONNECTION OF WORKS: The second paragraph can be a general discussion of the works in the show, or you may choose to list and discuss each piece individually, making connections among them. Maybe there is a particular piece that is pivotal to the rest of the show and you discuss this one in relation to the others. Consider:

• What materials and techniques have you used and why did you choose these?
• Do the materials have an impact on the meaning of the work?
• How do you justify your selection of works chosen?
• How do they connect?

VIEWER RELATIONSHIP (HL): The third part of the rationale (for HL) addresses the relationship between the works and the exhbition set up with the audience. Use this space to explain how the curatorial decisions you made contribute to the viewers response. Consider:

• How does the way the work is displayed, hung, otherwise presented contribute to how it communicates with the viewer?
• How did you consider the arrangement of the works within the space that you have available?
• What are the connections between the works – are they hung in sequence because of certain connections/ideas?
• Do you have an overall vision for presenting this body of work?

HELPFUL TIP FROM MISS A: Be HONEST when writing about your work.  Do not write fluff or make things up about your work.  Refrain from using words such as beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, etc. Your space is limited.  Stick to the facts, check your spelling, and stick to the word count.

For Criterion D, high-scoring CRs reflect what is actually evident within the exhibition. High-scoring CRs are thoughtful, well written rationales that present the context of the artworks and intentions as they inform display and selection of works. High-scoring HL CRs also effectively articulated the relationship between the artworks and the viewer within the space made available to the candidate.

Unfortunately, it is common for otherwise strong candidates to lose relatively easy marks by not following the focus of this criterion. Some lower-scoring CRs use the majority of the text to discuss and describe their intentions: justifying intentions is important, but this is not all that is required for a high-scoring CR.

Some lower-scoring CRs went far off task, presenting personal biographys or artist’s statements. Some listed a range of artists that had apparently influenced their work but did not go on to demonstrate or explain these apparent links in any great depth or detail.