Master of Arts in Visual Arts

Programme Director: Dr CHUNG, Bryan W C

The Master of Arts in Visual Arts (MA in Visual Arts) programme is a 1-year full-time / 2-year part-time taught-postgraduate programme with two study-terms per year. It requires the completion of total 30 credit units, balanced across a spread of theory-based and studio-based courses. The MA in Visual Arts offers two concentrations - Studio and Media Arts (SMA) and Craft and Design (CD). The programme provides students the flexibility to employ and investigate diverse media in creative practice according to their declared concentration as well as to interact and explore cross-disciplinary possibilities among concentrations.

The programme aims (1) to nurture creative talents with contemporary research methodologies, in-depth professional knowledge and skills as well as cross-cultural and interdisciplinary awareness in diverse visual arts studio practices; (2) to locate students’ artistic and academic practices in global and local socio-cultural contexts; (3) to enable students to develop their own creative profiles according to their research interests in a specific visual arts discipline (their declared concentration); and (4) to meet the growing demand for professional practitioners in the cultural and creative sectors in Hong Kong and beyond.

Concentrations

1. Master of Arts in Visual Arts (Studio and Media Arts)
2. Master of Arts in Visual Arts (Craft and Design)

Curriculum and Programme Structure

The structure of the curriculum is as follows:

The MA in Visual Arts programme structure consists of two types of courses with different emphases:

Required Courses
Students from both MA in Visual Arts concentrations will jointly attend the four Required Courses (3 credit units each), which include two theory-based courses – namely Research Methodology for the Visual Arts and Visual Arts Theory and Criticism – as well as two practice-based courses – namely Critically Engaged: Creative Practices in Context and Arts and the Public: Interpretation and Presentation. The Required Courses introduce common knowledge and skills for practitioners in different visual arts disciplines (the two concentrations on offer), as well as encourage interdisciplinary integration through collaborative group projects.

Concentration-based Courses
Two Concentration-based Courses (9 credit units each) – namely SMA/CD Studio Project I and SMA/CD Studio Project II – will be offered for each individual concentration, Studio and Media Arts (SMA) or Craft and Design (CD) in the two semesters of the full-time teaching mode. In these two concentration-based courses, students have to continuously develop a self-directed project under tutorial supervision to investigate an identified issue / theme / creative approach in their respective creative practice. For the part-time teaching mode, the two concentration-based courses are year-courses spread across two semesters. Students have to successfully complete the SMA/CD Studio Project I in order to progress to the SMA/CD Studio Project II.

Students’ continuous development in the two concentration-based courses will form the final creative project to be presented in the Graduation Exhibition. For SMA/CD Studio Project II, final project works should be appropriately set up in the exhibition venue for assessment before the opening of the Graduation Exhibition.

Requirements

In both the full-time and part-time study schedules, the four required courses run in parallel with the concentration-based, self-directed studio projects (SMA/CD Studio Project I and II). The taught components in the required courses inform and inspire students' independent creative investigations, and simultaneously, students' continuous development in the studio projects enables them to exercise and articulate their learning.

To enable students to contextualize their personal creative practice within a broader theoretical framework, the two theory-based requied courses (Research Methodology for the Visual Arts and Visual Arts Theory and Criticism) are sequenced before the two practice-based required courses (Critically Engaged: Creative Practices in Context and Arts and Public: Interpretation and Presentation) in both study modes, though in the part-time study schedule students will take one required course per semester only.

In the first study term the two concentration-based studio projects (SMA/CD Studio Project I) emphasise research, idea development and conceptualisation in the trial execution of a personal practice work. After that, students realise and complete their creative project in the SMA/CD Studio Project II under the guidance of their assigned supervisor(s), in which they demonstrate their mastery of the knowledge, skills and professional attitude acquired throughout the programme.

Students who have not completed all courses may only be awarded Certificate of Attendance for the courses taken.