Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
FINE ARTS EDUCATION
The artistic and personal progress of the students is focused throughout the education at Trondheim Academy of Fine Art (KIT). Our teaching is based on openness, dialogue and critical reflection. The students move freely in a flexible environment. With support from teachers and guest teachers of different artistic orientation and background, the students may explore and challenge, gather knowledge, reflect and act. The Academy is actively engaged in an international contemporary art milieu and has contacts with artists, critics, curators and theorists from many areas of the world.
Trondheim Academy of Fine Art is an institute within the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and is one of three higher educational institutions in Norway offering courses in Fine Art. KIT is the only Norwegian art academy within the university system. This provides unique resources and possibilities to collaborate with other faculties such as polytechnics, architecture and the humanities.
The duration of the Bachelor of Fine Art course is three years, ending up in a BFA degree. After fulfilled BFA, there is the possibility of applying to Master of Fine Art studies for further development of the working process (2 years).
Teaching is conducted primarily on the basis of one-to-one discussion between teacher and student, but group discussion also plays a central role. Students are not formally divided into departments, but orient themselves to the teaching staff and studio areas that best suit the development of their practise. The Academy has an open structure allowing students to migrate between the areas of study; painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography and intermedia.
Each student has a personal tutor, but all are encouraged to discuss their work with several members of the academic staff. Group discussions of students’ work, involving both staff and students, take place in the school’s gallery where small shows are arranged most weeks. A comprehensive programme of visiting artists and lecturers provides the basis for a lively discussion and for the elaboration of a plurality of viewpoints.
Theory teaching is, as far as possible, integrated with the teaching programme in general, with a firm emphasis upon the theory and practise of contemporary art. Lectures, seminars and courses that combine both practical and theoretical work form the basis for a developing critical understanding of art, rooted in the student’s own practise.
Evaluation of students’ work is carried out every half year, and is based upon dialogues between tutor and student, participation in
student exhibitions and attendance at lectures, seminars and courses. The students shall take part in the semester exhibitions and the group discussion connected to those exhibitions.
The first year of study is based upon technical introduction courses, examen philosophicum and other introductory courses. A study tour is arranged to provide students with first hand experience of major museums and galleries. In their first year at the academy, the BFA students travel to a major art event to get a common frame of reference. The students are also provided time for developing their own work.
In their second year, the students are allowed to concentrate more upon their own work. In this year there are also possibilities for exchange to other academies in the Nordic countries or in Europe.
The third year of the BFA study: Students in their final semester of BFA take part in a graduation exhibition in KIT Gallery, which marks the completion of study. The students plan and develop the exhibition together with an internal coordinator, and the exhibition is evaluated by an external sensor.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR THE BFA STUDY
Applications for the BFA study are dealt within two phases:
1. Initial application
Formal examination results are not normally considered a priority. Some form of preparatory art education (Foundation Course or similar) is considered to be an advantage but is not mandatory. Selection is made on the basis of the applicant’s work. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of the application form and documentation of work submitted as slides/digital photographs
2. Entrance examination
On the basis of the initial application, between 40 - 50 applicants will be called in for a practical entrance examination and interview, usually the last week of May.
No formal tasks or exercises are set for the entrance examination. Applicants will work undirected in the Academy’s studios for five days producing work of their own choosing in the medium of their choice. Applicants may use technical workshops under the guidance of technicians and student assistants.
A jury will evaluate the working process during the week and the works produced during the entrance examination at the end of the week. During the week each applicant will be called in to a short informal interview.
Documentation will be retained by the Academy until the end of the exam week. The decision will be published on Saturday, exam week.
Application deadline is April 15th 2008
Please send applications to
Kunstakademiet i Trondheim, NTNU
N-7491 Trondheim
Norway
