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MA Studies at KHiB: Diverse Practices

The first MA group consists of seventeen master students from eight different countries, seventeen individual projects conducted by individuals with widely differing backgrounds, writes Jeremy Welsh, MA Coordinator, Department of Fine Art and Department of Specialised Art, in the Yearbook 2004-2005.

MA studies in Visual Arts commenced in autumn 2004. The first MA group consists of seventeen master students from eight different countries, seventeen individual projects conducted by individuals with widely differing backgrounds.

The MA programme is centred upon the individual student's project. Each student applies to the course with a project description, as well as documentation of previously completed work, and it is this project description that provides the basis for a two-year period of investigative artistic work. The first semester of study is a trial period during which the project is tested both practically and conceptually. The remaining three semesters are devoted to an in-depth development of the project concluding with the MA examination and exhibition. The student's final examination is based upon presentation of artistic results, documentation of working processes and a written document that provides a conceptual and contextual framework for the project as a whole. Each student has a personal tutor/advisor who follows the project from inception to completion.

In addition to individual study and research, the programme includes a theory lecture programme for all students, seminars, writing tuition, professional development course and study tours. The theory programme is intended to provide the basis for group discussion and further individual reading by focussing on a range of issues that are relevant within a contemporary art discourse. Given the diversity of the student group, this programme is necessarily broad; in-depth study of a selected strand from the programme is the student's individual responsibility. Through tutorials and discussions with academic sta., students are given advice on how to deepen and extend their theoretical knowledge.

Students are actively encouraged to take part in exhibitions, festivals, seminars and other activities outside of the Academy. Network-building is also an important part of their education, and the experience of working in relation to a professional milieu will help to make the transition from student to practising artist a less traumatic event.

The first MA exhibition, entitled THIS IS ART, takes place at Bergen Kunsthall from 21st April - 7th May 2006. The exhibition will be accompanied by a substantial catalogue as well as a two-day seminar that is intended to place the work in the exhibition within a broader discussion of contemporary aesthetic theory.

This article is written by , MA Coordinator, Dept of Fine Art and Dept of Specialised Art, in the KHiB Yearbook for the academic year 2004-2005.

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