MA Fine Art
Exhibition: Tiong Ang, Filip Gilissen, Aglaia Konrad, Joris Lindhout., VCH De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam. (March 8 – 30).
http://www.mahku.nl
http://www.sintlukas.be
Too many conferences currently being organized by art academies draw attention to the recent development of PhD in art trajectories. Yet, an even more important issue today pertains to the specificity of MA Fine Art programs of art academies.
After all, it is the master’s program, focused on research, that prepares artists for a possible PhD trajectory; it is the master’s program that offers artists various perspectives on their professional careers; and it is the master’s program and its strong emphasis on the specificities of its curriculum that forces the bachelor’s program to reflect on the particular structure of its own curriculum.
Moreover, in spite of the obligation to effectuate the Bologna rules by 2009, many European countries interpret the concrete implementation of the master’s program in various ways. In some countries, a one-year program is offered, while other countries concentrate on a two-year program. Some countries have had master’s programs in Fine Art for many years, whereas others hardly adhere to a deadline for the implementation of a master’s program. These clear-cut urgencies indicate a definite need for an international conference addressing the issue of the specificity of the MA Fine
Art programs.
The conference A Certain MA-ness will take place in Amsterdam on March 8, 2008 and will be organized by the Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design ( http://www.mahku.nl ) in collaboration with the Sint Lukas Academy Brussels ( http://www.sintlukas.be ).
PROGRAM
SYMPOSIUM
10.30 -10.45 Opening: Willem De Greef (director Sint Lukas Academy Brussels) and Henk Slager (dean Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design (MaHKU)).
10.45 Keynote presentation: Ute Meta Bauer (director Visual Arts Program, MIT, Cambridge MA).
In order to explore the specificity of an academic master’s program in Fine Art further, three more or less distinct issues will be discussed:
11.30 – 13.00: The issue of the specificity of MA-competencies. Is it possible to map the various skills required for the MA-program particularly with regard to a reflective and critical attitude, and a conception of both knowledge production and research?
Panel discussion: Jan Verwoert (Hamburg, Umea) and Clementine Deliss (Edinburgh College of Art).
1400 – 1530: The issue of didactic strategies. Is it possible to determine how a MA curriculum is characterized? What are adequate didactic strategies and educational models? What is the relationship between those educational strategies and models and the research practice of lecturers? Panel discussion: Simon Sheikh (Malmo School of Art) and Mick Wilson (DIT, Dublin).
1600 – 1730: The issue of the research environment. In what way -political, facilitating, infrastructural – could the Graduate School contribute to the development of a research climate in art education? Panel discussion: Daniel Birnbaum (Staedelschule Frankfurt) and Bart Verschaffel (Ghent University).
EXHIBITION
A parallel exhibition offers an interim presentation in which the research processes and reflective moments at MA Fine Art programs are explored. Participants: Tiong Ang (MaHKU), Filip Gilissen (Sint Lukas), Aglaia Konrad (Sint Lukas), Joris Lindhout (MaHKU). Location: VCH De Brakke Grond.
March 8 – March 30. More Information: http://www.brakkegrond.nl
PUBLICATION
In the forthcoming publication (summer 2008) of MaHKUzine, Journal of Artistic Research, a report of the project A Certain MA-ness will be included. More information: http://www.mahku.nl/mahkuzine.html
Location VCH De Brakke Grond, Nes 45, Amsterdam. Symposium March 8, 10.30-17.30. Information and Reservations: [email protected]
Image above:
Joris Lindhout, Untitled, 2008.
For more information go to: http://www.mahku.nl