MA/MFA Contemporary Art: Theory

Established in 2001, this postgraduate degree brings together ideas and materials from a wide range of disciplines to investigate contemporary art practices, art theory and organisational praxis. Contemporary art has been acclaimed as a means of encouraging audiences to challenge prevailing discourses and media. The multi-faceted roles of today’s creative professionals and the social opportunities attributed to their endeavours are founded on the supposition that art practices, theories, criticism, organisational contexts and cultural economies are mutually constitutive. The MA/MFA Contemporary Art: Theory seeks to examine critically the presumption that the roles of artists and administrators, audiences and curators, critics and professionals are as indistinct as they are globalised.

MA/MFA Contemporary Art: Theory encourages creative, holistic, and practicable knowledge of this increasingly polymathic field, situating a combined academic and practical schooling in contemporary art within broader cultural and historical contexts. It seeks to address the issues raised by the practices of contemporary art, criticism and curating as a means of encouraging you to contribute both critically and practically.

Students form an integral part of a larger community of Contemporary Art Master's studentswithin the School of Art and they make a vital contribution to the art ecology of Edinburgh. The School’s Master's students share many of the same teaching resources and opportunities and collaborate throughout the year on critical, creative and curatorial projects. This gives our students a unique opportunity to integrate the fields of art practice, artwriting and curating.

The programme aims to provide you with both an overall level of expertise in recent developments in art practices and theories, and a high degree of specialisation within this field, culminating in an original Research Project. As such, the programme has the following specific aims:

• To undertake a systematic examination of major international art practices since the 1970s.
• To analyse the major strands of theory and criticism that have informed art practices, institutions and related cultural ecologies.
• To explore some of the principal critical and theoretical positions informing the interpretation of contemporary art and its organisational contexts.
• To provide you with a set of critical tools necessary for the advanced analysis and creative organisation of art and contemporary culture.
• To provide you with a set of competencies, skills and understanding that will enable you either to undertake further academic research and/or to pursue a range of creative careers.

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