What are we doing?
We offer a full-time, two-year international MFA programme in Fine Art, taught in English at our academy in central Gothenburg. Our programme focuses on supporting students to develop artistic practices that have longevity and sustainability. We do this with a focus on three core areas: looking at ways in which artistic practices produce publics, and how artists engage with publicness—whether through the established institutions of art, or in other settings; investigating models of the role of the artist that speak to real-world challenges, and to the ethical complexities of contemporary society; establishing research practices that can continue to develop after the end of the programme.
We do not have fixed ideas of where artistic practice should be located, or to whom it should be speaking. We want to diversify our understandings of the terms of art by bringing together a group with divergent life experiences and expectations.
Teaching in the studio begins from students’ concerns and questions over contemporary society, and explores in depth how to think about and define artistic methodologies; how to approach ethical problems and questions; how to communicate artistic work in different contexts and operate within different modes of exhibition and circulation; and how to develop the professional partnerships required for a viable artistic career.
Our theory courses are built around readings and artistic case studies that can illuminate the history and practice of being public, and the many ways in which a social relevance is claimed for artistic practice today. We tie these concerns back into the students’ own artistic practice. Our aim is not only to create a learning environment in which theory and practice reinforce one another, but to encourage processes of learning-through-making, so that theoretical and philosophical insights are produced from an engagement with body, technique and material.
Students share generously sized workspaces and have access to project rooms, state-of-the-art production facilities and equipment, and technical support drawn from across the disciplines of the Academy. With class sizes of around 15 students in each year group, this programme offers a high student-teacher ratio.
As students at Gothenburg University, HDK-Valand students have access to a large range of facilities across the campus, and to current research expertise in all our many subjects and disciplines.
Who are we?
Ann-Charlotte Glasberg Blomqvist, art historian; Jason E. Bowman, artist and curator; Dr. Daniel Jewesbury, artist, curator and writer; Dr. Cathryn Klasto, trans-disciplinary scholar; and Dr. Maddie Leach, artist and writer.
We are a highly experienced, diverse team. We are artists, writers, curators, critical spatial practitioners, researchers—and committed teachers. We are one of the most research-active teaching teams at MFA level in northern Europe, and we bring experience from a broad range of local, national and international networks and partnerships.
Our aim is to create a supportive environment where we can all co-learn: we want to work with students to question what and who the artist is, what they do, how they do it, and for whom.
Who are you?
We welcome applicants with diverse knowledges and approaches to learning. Your prior experience may be in fields other than Fine Art, but you should be focused on applying your skills to artistic enquiry. Ours is a demanding programme, and we expect students to be highly motivated. Throughout their studies, students can expect to be seen, listened to, and taken seriously as they learn to unfold their investigations. Full details on admission requirements can be found on the web page for the MFA course.
Fees and application
The programme is fee-free to EU/EAA nationals. Apply via universityadmissions.se.
Virtual open house
On November 26, 2021, the Programme Director Jason E. Bowman, teachers and recent graduate Peter Nylund will present on and answer questions about the programme. For further information please visit our virtual open house page.
