Call for applications—interviews with MA students at KABK

The KABK welcomes students from all backgrounds to apply for its master’s programmes for the 2025–26 academic year. The deadline of March 1 has already passed, but some spots are still available. Application is therefore possible until May 1. “I find it amazing how diverse all the students are. As a student, you learn a lot from this,” says Joseph Kennel, an alumnus of the Master’s Photography and Society. 

KABK students come from all over the world and have diverse (study) backgrounds. Joseph applied for the master’s programme without having a Bachelor’s degree in Photography. He studied Human Geography before. “Photography was always a passion for me, but at a certain point a few years ago, it got more professional and artistic. I decided to apply for the Master’s in Photography and Society at KABK. I found it so nice that they were open to students from different backgrounds that were not necessarily photography related. Of course, many of my peers did have a Bachelor’s in Photography.” 

Artistic research
Kennel: “The diversity of students also makes the conversations we have in class super interesting.” KABK’s study programmes address contemporary issues and are led by a diverse and socially engaged team with international practices and different backgrounds. Our tutors combine their passion for teaching with their practice in the cultural sector.  

 “The programme pushed me to learn how to develop my own practice and to figure out what I wanted to research. My practice is now very intertwined: I am using photography to work through the many questions I have from studying geography,” Kennel says. Teaching at the KABK takes the form of small-scale lectures, with a combination of practical and theoretical artistic research. “This master’s taught me how to not only ask the right questions in terms of carrying out my research, but also how to use photography as a way to research.” 

Creative and critical 
Hun Lee is a first-year student at the Master’s in Industrial Design and states: “At the department we have a catch phrase: ‘Redesigning the industry’. We are trying to get outside of the norm of just normal, typical industrial design. We dig in more on the creative and more critical side of design. Currently, I am building a water hotel. The concept is about rebuilding our relationship with water.”  

The KABK offers seven English taught master’s programmes: Artistic Research, ArtScience, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture, Non Linear Narrative, Photography & Society and Type & Media. All KABK’s master’s programmes last two years, with the exception of Type and Media which is one-year programme. Malin Neamtu studies Type and Media and feels that studying this master’s is intense but also great. “I do recommend studying Type and Media, it’s a commitment, but it’s the best time ever so far. I am learning things that I never thought to learn, of which coding is one. I never did it before and now I am fairly okay with it. Stone carving letters is also new to me. It was very hard in the beginning, but once you get the gist of it, it becomes therapeutic and a super nice activity to try. I also like my classmates, we have a nice collective.”  

Bachelor’s programmes & PhDArts 
Next to the MA programmes, KABK offers seven bachelor’s programmes, two of which have also part-time trajectories. All BA programmes last four years. The academy also offers the possibility to pursue an international doctorate programme: PhDArts. This is an international doctorate programme offered in collaboration with the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) of Leiden University. PhDArts functions as a platform for artists who regard theoretical reflection and artistic practice as intrinsically related and complementary. 

The deadline of March 1 has already passed, but there are still some spots available in our BA and MA programmes. Application is therefore possible until May 1. ​Please check the department page of your interest on our website.