The two-year master’s program ranges between experiment, research, theory and critical self-reflection. The courses come in the shape of seminars, symposia and mentoring sessions that help you simulate and deepen your artistic practice and related questions. The core aspect of your studies involves the artistic engagement and examination in an ongoing discourse with your mentors and external art experts.

The master’s program FHNW in Fine Arts comprises 4 semesters and 120 ECTS. It is divided into into four modules, which offer, respectively, conceptual, methodological, theoretical, and practical methods for developing your artistic practice. It focuses on the conceptual and formal aspects of the creative process. Furthermore, the program fosters skills such as theoretical knowledge, academic work, research, and project management in an art context.

You acquire: Creative competence: openness for experiments, the ability to assess innovation and express it artistically. Aesthetic competence: the ability to reflect on one’s own artistic means, developing sensitivity and expressiveness in the search for an independent artistic position. Methodological competence: project-oriented mode of thought and work, the ability to translate an idea into a research method, finding a balance between experiment and conception.

→ Download Magazine Our Master’s Program — Art Institute HGK FHNW

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Requirements for the admission procedure

Applications by candidates with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts or the equivalent are accepted to the admission procedure. In case of a particularly convincing artistic potential, there is a possibility for lateral entry from another discipline (admission «sur dossier»).

The teaching in the master’s program is both in German and English. In general, spoken and written skills equivalent to level B2 in one or the other language are requested (a certificate is not required). The Art Institute can require students to attend language classes.

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Admission «sur dossier»

Candidates without a required training or degree can be accepted to the admission procedure if they demonstrate outstanding artistic or creative potential. In case of an application «sur dossier», ad hoc documentation—in the form of a portfolio and a motivation letter—is requested along with a written application and corresponding documents. The director of the master’s program decides on the admission to the procedure.

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Admission procedure

The admission procedure is structured as follows:

1. The submission of the registration form to the admission procedure completed digitally together with all required documents.

2. Once registration is completed, the admitted candidates are invited for an aptitude assessment regarding their creative and artistic skills. They are required to submit a portfolio and a motivation letter (until 25 March 2021). More details will be announced in the invitation to the assessment.

3. Up to forty candidates are invited to an application interview. The interview is conducted by a jury of teachers and a student representative of the Art Institute (20 – 23 April 2021).

Twenty candidates are generally accepted in the Master of Fine Arts program, which begins in September.

Applicable for the admission process are the «Studien- und Prüfungsordnung der Bachelor- und Master-Studiengänge der Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz», as well as «Studienreglement des Master-Studiengangs Fine Arts».

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Next application deadline: 15 March 2021

→ More information and registration on the FHNW website

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For any questions please contact the Art Institute’s secretariat
+41 61 228 40 77
info.kunst.hgk@fhnw.ch