Postgraduate Study in Fine Art: MFA, MA - Art in the Digital World & PhD

Master of Arts - Art in the Contemporary World

This is a new programme developed jointly between the Faculty of Visual Culture and the Faculty of Fine Art. It provides a unique taught programme in international contemporary art theory and cutting edge practice and critical thinking. There are two pathways: (i) a theory pathway and (ii) a combined theory and practice pathway. If you would like to know more about this new programme which was delivered for the first time in 2006, contact Declan Long at longd@ncad.ie. Full and part-time modes of study are possible: full time 12months+ and part-time 24 months.

The Master of Arts: Art in the Contemporary World examines the critical, theoretical, historical and philosophical contexts of contemporary art practice and bridges the relationship between theory and practice providing pathways for both practitioners and theorists. This radically new programme, bringing artists and theorists, cultural practitioners and critics together was first delivered in 2006. The programme includes a variety of innovative study modules including:

Modernity in Fragments: covering the concept of modernity and critical moments in the elaboration of the art and culture of modernity.
Practices of Dissent: Avant-gardes, Sub-cultures + Elites: addressing the emergence within modernity of dissenting cultural practices with particular attention to the role of avant-garde, sub-cultural, counter-cultural and elite formations.
‘Being Different’: The Public Intellectual and the Claims of Art: investigating the relationship between art, the artist-role and the critical traditions of the “public intellectual”. This programme will address the public intellectual in a visual cultural context and not simply in the already familiar literary context.
Unfinished Work: Art, Anti-Art and Disciplinarity: covering the range and diversity of current international and local art practices with particular attention to those aspects of current art that do not easily accommodate themselves to established critical canons or interpretative practices. These works are considered “unfinished” in the sense that their cultural reception and evaluation is still in process and a matter of live debate. e.g. the Turner Prize work, recent Biennales, and emergent trends outside Western Europe.
Agon: Democracy, the Multitude + the Global Moment: engaging the globalised context of cultural consumption as this shapes both the consumption and production of contemporary art and visual culture; the complex interrelationships between global communications and commercial flows and localised cultural practices as well as the contested nature of cultural democracy in a globalised community. Issues addressed will include distribution networks/the nature of audiences/the new media publics/emergent cultural markets/ the multiple constituencies and stakeholders in new cultural production and the emergence of a global culture industry.
Agora: Cultural Situations, Spatial Practices and the Everyday: the relationship between spatial design, the construction of everyday spaces, situations and contexts and the elaboration of cultural practices; engaging architecture, urbanism and cultural work in urban renewal, as well as examining the critical relationships between art and the everyday.
Terror, Spectacle and Dangerous Ambiguity: the nature of terror, anxiety, shock and the uncanny in the experience of spectacle in media and art, with particular reference to the threatening ambiguity of visual imagery as addressed in mainstream debates (e.g. television violence) and as theorised in the context of artworks that play on themes of transgression, liminality and atrocity (e.g. representations of the Holocaust, genocide).
Fugitive Rhetorics: Art + Philosophy Now: the cutting edge of the intersection of philosophy and contemporary art, with particular reference to emergent voices in contemporary theory. This lecture series will examine the exchange and interaction of ambitious thought and ambitious art in the current cultural moment.
Research Methods: What are the research issues in the development of contemporary art? What does research mean for the practitioner? How does one go about developing a research project in contemporary art and visual culture?
Major Research Project: An opportunity for each student to evolve a self-set project examining themes and questions and engaging particular personal interests in aspects of contemporary art and culture.

Course Director: Declan Long

Visiting and contributing lecturers have included in 2006: Tim Stott, Dr. Francis Halsall, Declan Clarke, Georgina Jackson, Dr. Hugh Campbell, David Godbold, Brian Ward, Anna Moran, Prof. David Hopkins, Paul O’Neill, Jay Koh, Niamh Ann Kelly, Dr. Aislinn O’Donnell, Dr. Brian Elliot, and Dr. Mick Wilson. Partnership events have been developed in conjunction with IMMA Education, CityArts, UCD Architecture, Hugh Lane, NSF,and many other agencies.

Key Points

This is a taught programme.
There are lectures and seminars on two days of the week for full-time students, and on one day of the week for part-time students.
The duration of the programme is just over 12 months full-time, and 24 months part-time
Students attend classes from September to June, and then submit a major piece of work in the autumn.
Students can apply for ONE of two pathways:
1. theory pathway: This is an academic route which welcomes graduates from a variety of backgrounds, including fine art; art history; philosophy; film studies; communications; or design. We are actively interested in recruiting from across a range of disciplines, to generate a dynamic mix of student backgrounds.
2. combined practice and theory pathway: This route encourages students to produce both practical and academic work in response to various aspects of the programme. This is intended for artists and combines the making art work with a smaller volume of written work.
Typical fees for a taught masters programme in 2006-2007 were in the range of €3,986 without studio to €4,136 with studio. For non-EU students the fees were €16,520. This should be taken as a guideline only as the exact fee set will normally change from year to year.

Application Guidelines

Theory Pathway

You are required to submit a clear statement of intent (minimum of 500 words) which indicates your reason for wishing to pursue the programme and what you hope to achieve. (5 copies)

You are required to submit a recent example of written work. (5 copies)

Practice & Theory Pathway

You are required to submit a clear statement of intent (minimum of 500 words) which indicates your reason for wishing to pursue the programme and what you hope to achieve. (5 copies)

You are required to submit a recent example of written work. (5 copies)

The application must be supported by visual documentation or other documentation demonstrating previous practical work, e.g. slides, CD, video, catalogues, etc. Slides must be accompanied by a slide list.

Want to know more?

Come to our Postgraduate Open Evening

View our Guidelines for Applicants

Print out an Application Form

Download: View this year’s Visual Culture Postgraduate Student Handbook (PDF 220k)

Download: NCAD Postgraduate Prospectus 2009-2010 - (PDF 1.7MB)