Contemporary Art Theory MA

Established in 2001, this postgraduate degree remains unique in Scotland. It 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 multifaceted roles of today’s creative professionals and the social opportunities attributed to their endeavors are founded on the supposition that art practices, theories, criticism, organisational contexts and cultural economies are mutually constitutive. The MA Contemporary Art Theory (MA CAT) seeks to critically examine the presumption that the roles of artists and administrators, audiences and curators, critics and professionals are as indistinct as they are globalised.

The MA CAT 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. 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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