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Slovensky

Study Programs

All study programmes are taught in Slovak.

Field of study Art:

Study programmes:

Digital Arts

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main aim of the programme is to prepare graduates for employment in the dynamic and interdisciplinary world of digital creative practice. It is a space that is changing rapidly, where new professions are disappearing and new ones are emerging, where the technological basis on which this space is based is constantly coming up with new approaches, tools, devices. Our programme also reflects the increasing overlap between art and technology, which blurs the boundary between the creator of the work and the creator of the tool, between the artist and the programmer, between human creation and artificial intelligence. The aim of our education is to teach graduates the knowledge and skills that will enable them to adapt to future changes in the world of digital arts.
  • The interdisciplinary and dynamic nature of the digital world is no longer compatible with the traditional rigid form of educating a narrowly specialized graduate. Therefore, the program aims to link diverse modes of artistic production with new creative competencies in digital culture, computational thinking, design and programming. Emphasis is placed on the ability to ask questions, to work independently with information resources, to think critically about one's own and others' work, as well as the ability to present oneself and one's work.
  • Students acquire artistic skills using modern digital technologies, learn to work independently, learn the principles of creative planning. The theoretical education contained in the curriculum overlaps with the domain of digital humanities and forms critical thinking and ethical principles important for functioning in the digital world. The studio part of the curriculum serves to shape students' independence, their ability to search for information sources and inspiration, to discuss, to present themselves and their works. Supplementary lectures and workshops from visiting experts bring experience from practice, thus providing access to the most modern knowledge and expertise in the field. It also helps our students to be recognized by their future colleagues in Slovakia and abroad.
  • The program does not set out a single, unchanging set of skills for all. Nor does it assume a uniform set of skills from applicants. It is not limited to graduates of art schools; it is also suitable for graduates of grammar schools and industrial schools. A significant part of the activities in the program reflects students' individual interest in various fields and branches of digital arts, which are then addressed as needed in studios, workshops, excursions and joint projects with partner institutions.
  • The main outputs of education
    • Graduates are able to work independently and as a team in the domain of digital creative activities such as visual arts, 2D/3D graphics and animation, digital media, interactive applications and installations, video games, data visualization, and infographics. The graduate is proficient in software and hardware tools for processing and displaying graphic information and multimedia. The student is able to independently analyze existing works and synthesize the knowledge into his/her own works. The student is able to critically analyze the works of others, present his/her works, discuss and defend his/her positions. Is able to learn new technologies and practices, and to adapt to new conditions in the future.
    • After graduating from the program, the graduate can directly start working in creative practice (see indicated professions below) but also continue his/her studies at the master's level in related study programs (in the fields of visual arts, design or visual art theory) or apply for a master's degree at other universities in the field of humanities, social and historical sciences, but also in the field of computer science and information technologies.

Applicability:

  • Freelance visual artist. Author of interactive installations, projections, digital presentations. 2D/3D graphic designer and animator. Designer and art creator for video games. Programmer. Curator of digital archives of art and cultural heritage. The program also takes into account the dynamic labor market and the rapid emergence of new professions that are not even named yet. This is reflected in the two pillars of the curriculum: building the capacity for continuous learning and the flexibility of the curriculum.
  • They can also work in creative teams (with an overlap into various visual arts media, mass media, advertising etc.). Further carrer paths include gallery pedagogy and education, either in education institutions or cultural institutions (galleries, museums, theaters, cultural and creative centers).

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • The curriculum in the Digital Arts program is made up of 3 categories of courses/activities:
    • Studios, workshops and internships create space for independent creative activity, individual growth, and for building soft skills such as the ability to discuss, present, and continuously learn.
    • Compulsory courses provide students with the necessary common ground in professional and
      theoretical areas.
    • Elective and optional courses allow students to specialize in any of the chosen fields in depth,
      to gain insight into the diverse aspects of the visual arts in breadth, or to combine the two
      approaches in various ways.
  • Studios, workshops and internships:
    • Activities in the studio make up for the largest part of education in Digital Arts program. The merit of the activities, their difficulty and the alloted time translate to the large number of credit awarded for the studio courses. Studio courses are taken by students throughout all four years of the program and include the following courses: Preparatory Course of Digital Arts, Studio Guide to the Galaxy and Multimedia studio, which is an optional studio course in third and fourth year offered as an alternative to the main Studio Guide to the Galaxy.
    • Alternatively to the core studios of Digital Arts, students can elect to visit a different studio for a semester. This is made available under the course Supplementary studio. Relevant supplementary studios where digital arts students can broaden their horizons and increase their interdisciplinary potential are e.g. Intermedia, Visual Communication, Photography or Design.
      In second to fourth year of the study the students can also replace their studio course with an
      Internship in an external institution within the digital arts domain.
    • The main activity during a studio course is individual students' work on an assignment. Usually  during the whole semester. Discussions and consultations are a large part of the studio sessions and the teachers usually invite external guests to give talks on the topic of the assignment. Students make their own research on the topic, define the goal of their work and then work on their own art piece with intermediate consultations through the whole semester. Several checkpoints are instituted over the course of the semester and eventually a final defence of the art piece.
  • Compulsory courses
    • The compulsory courses are mainly concentrated in the first two years of study and aim to  balance the diversity of applicants and provide students with the necessary foundation for further studies, which already emphasise the individuality and diversity of the digital arts field. A program that moves at the already emphasise the individuality and diversity of the digital arts field. A program that moves at the intersection of fine arts and technology must account in its curriculum for the diversity of students who straddle the spectrum between technology and art. The plan therefore includes in the introductory years both subjects focused on visual expression - Drawing, Project Drawing, 3D Design, Multimedia - as well as more technically oriented subjects, the most important of these being Creative Programming, Working with Microcontrollers, and Prototyping and Fabrication.
    • Compulsory theoretical courses focus on providing a context for students' work in the studio. They put side by side philosophical, historical and cultural contexts that shape students' artistic, aesthetic as well as critical thinking. The supporting course here is Fine Art in Cultural Context. A supporting course is Introduction to Studies, which introduces students to the specifics of the various art majors at the college and to academic practice. Later on, the theoretical courses focus more specifically on the field of digital arts and on critical thinking in the context of the arts (Issues in Visual Media and Image Analysis (Digital Arts)). They also function as preparation for the independent art-theoretical activity that is part of the students' final BA thesis in the fourth year.
  • Elective and optional courses
    • The interdisciplinarity and broad scope of digital arts is reflected in the extensive selection of compulsory electives and elective courses. The curriculum here leaves quite considerable freedom of choice. Students can tailor their plan to their focus and can create a plan that combines, to the extent appropriate for them, both deepening skills in an area of interest and gaining breadth in other related fields.
    • In the case of elective subjects, the curriculum focuses more on subjects that deepen and develop the skills acquired in the lower grades (3D modelling, programming, drawing, multimedia), but also includes extension subjects such as Photography and Sound. For optional courses, our plan benefits from the offer of extension courses from other departments of AFAD, which are a suitable complement to Digital Arts. These include practical graphic skills (bitmap and vector graphics, design) or more conceptual skills in working with space and materials.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisors of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Painting

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main content of the Painting study programme is the artistic and professional specialisation of bachelor's degree students in the study field of Art. The main goal of the study programme is the autonomous artistic creation of students and the development of the ability to connect one's own artistic statement with acquired technological experiences and skills. At the time of completion of the study programme, students are ready to use a wide range of technological procedures and creative means resulting from the content of the study programme. The practical and theoretical experience gained at the bachelor's degree allows not only to realise their own artistic programme with the intentions of authentic creation, but also provides opportunities to orient themselves in social and cultural areas that require this kind of practice and knowledge, and especially simultaneous thinking about the hierarchy of values in human life and society. Education aims at forming a creative personality with an authentic relationship to their own work, but also to the work of other artists. The
    studies enable the qualitative growth of students, the development of their communication and interpretation skills, as well as the ability of self-reflection in reviewing their own decisions. During the bachelor's studies, students become familiar with the language of the painting medium, while attention and a focused search for the meaning of the transformations of the artistic material and its reflection are initiated. By using adequate expressive and material means, students discover the way to their own artistic expression, in the interest of a meaningful and authentic articulation of their own artistic statement.
  • The goal of education is the gradual acquisition of individual skills. The basis is formed by classical forms, through which students learn the regularities in the representation of reality. The study part of the education is focused on developing methods of vision and imaging through traditional subjects such as landscape painting, portrait, figure, still life. Through this process, students not only acquire basic experience with image creation (work with format, proportions, composition, visual anatomy, drawing, colour), but at the same time, through these primary stimuli, they become familiar with a number of contexts and ways of perceiving reality comprehensively, as a source of other possibilities for expressing their own opinion, vision and feelings. They recognize the character of the relationship of the emerging work as a new reality - the reality of the image, the reality of painting.
  • Education at the bachelor's level leads to respect for the boundaries of the medium of painting, as well as to the possibility of consciously crossing them. The study takes place in an open range from classical painting to its most contemporary tendencies. Students master classic procedures in painting technology, which are the foundation for every painting practice. At the same time, they are able to apply them in an innovative way in their own artistic work and are ready to integrate painting principles into complex spatial presentations. Cultivation of the work of art as a whole, both in active laboratory work with the form of a classic hanging picture, but also in the creation of concepts using intermedia expansions, expanding the painting, is the main goal of the educational process.
  • The studies take place in a continuous dialogue not only in relation to the dominant painting medium, but are also supported by critical thinking about the contexts and potential of the traditional, analog medium in the world of art, in which digital media fundamentally influence ideas about the world and the concept of reality.
  • Students are oriented in the theory and history of fine art, understanding fine art in a cultural context, including Slovak fine art. They have an overview of contemporary art and can perceive contexts that allow different framing of its current forms, such as theory of perception, relational aesthetics, sociology, anthropology, environmental studies, etc.
  • The main outputs of education: 
    • Examining the painting medium from the traditional hanging picture to expanded painting positions. The study is a methodical extension into various overlaps that enable the creation of hybrid forms of painting.
    • Creation of artistic concepts in response to tasks that cooperate with the high demands of artistic
      discourse on topicality of topics in a cultural and social context
    • Mutual expansion of horizons (teacher ↔ student) by looking at painting as a medium compatible with the present
    • Cultivation of sensitivity to the materiality of the image, the language of painting and the creative process
    • Encouraging receptivity to oneself and to the world
    • Recognizing and using different nuances and combinations of approaches in the possibility of
      expressing oneself through a painting image
    • Recognition of procedures that are manifested through examples from artistic and related fields
    • Professional mastery of painting technology practice
  • While studying in the Painting study programme, students can respond to stimuli and given topics, experiment in the field of art and independently develop their own creative potential resulting from the content of the study programme. They are able to work conceptually and systematically in the field and can estimate the possibilities of the medium in the implementation of their semester assignments and their own projects. They can connect experience gained in technical and technological visualisation and design with artistic intention. They acquire systematicity and discipline in completing tasks, but gradually formulate their own conditions for image creation and are able to generate them.
  • The basic teaching units are the Preparatory Painting Course (1st year), the Preparatory Painting Studio (2nd year) and three profile studios (3rd-4th year), where the main emphasis is already on the principle of individual free creation reflecting the current contents of contemporary art within the painting medium, with the possibility of overlaps with intermedia work. The aim of the bachelor's study is to reflect the positions of contemporary painting, which cooperate with a wide range of media-diverse images and incorporate them into their repertoire of starting points. Understanding these connections, differences and tendencies of the relationship between painting and other media within the framework of visual culture represents an essential phenomenon, determining the forms of the contemporary image. The demands applied within the study to the creation of a painting image are high, regardless of the dominance of digital technologies in contemporary visual culture, because the contemporary painting image is an independent visual form of the authors' statement. The composition of the study programme is complemented by professional profile subjects (drawing) designed so that graduates acquire technological skills in the painting medium and complete additional art disciplines (fundamentals of painting). The emphasis in teaching within professional subjects is not only on mastering the technological process, but also on the creative and content side of the realised outputs (Dramaturgy of visual material, Technological workshop - Neateliér workshop). During four years, students acquire professional skills, which are complemented by theoretical subjects, professional workshops, discussions and lectures by internal and external experts.
  • The main outputs of education
    • Graduates of the Bachelor's study programme in Painting can creatively transfer their thoughts and ideas into artistic research and professionally use and apply the technological processes and possibilities given by the study programme. Graduates have a sense for inventive solutions, the ability for critical reflection, the capacity for personal growth and development of creative potential, organisational skills, the ability to verbalise their own thoughts and communicate at the level of experience and knowledge achieved. Graduates are oriented in the issue of painting and are ready to accept the challenges arising from the mission of the traditional painting department. They can distinguish a wide range of techniques and technological procedures and know the principles of their application in artistic practice. Part of the study is also an understanding of the historical context with regard to the development of pictorial representation and the logic of the relationship between representation and visual thinking. Graduates of the bachelor's degree in Painting studies can apply themselves in their field and at the same time are ready to conceptually and openly develop their artistic projects, thus reacting to the cultural and social situation in which they live and create.

Applicability:

  • Graduates have the skills for employment in a wide range of artistic and cultural operations on the local and foreign scene, in public or private organisations. They can act as independent visual artists in a freelance profession, professional painters with exhibition practice. They can also act as members of creative artistic teams (with expansions also to other fields, e.g. architecture, film, design), in managing culture, in gallery operations as part of a gallery team.
  • Graduates of the bachelor's degree have the skills for various types of artistic realisations that claim and apply the use of painting technologies, even in more demanding positions realised in public space. (e.g. wall painting, mural, stucco, mosaic).The bachelor's degree creates the skills for continuing the subsequent master's study.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • In the Painting study programme, profile subjects have a specific character, especially in the form of studio courses, which is divided into two phases of the educational process in the bachelor's degree. The 1st phase is aimed at first and second year students. Students in the first year complete the Painting Preparatory Course (winter and summer semesters) and in the second year the two-semester Painting Preparatory Studio. In this phase, studio courses are focused and through content and methodology adapted to the level of difficulty, which is intended for first and second year bachelor's degree students. It is oriented towards developing creative thinking, analysing the creative process and studio work. A mandatory component of the profile subjects in the 1st phase of the study programme are the compulsory technological professional subjects, which are connected to studio courses in terms of content and effectively develop the methodology of the educational process. During both phases of the study, the profile subject Drawing is important, which is the basis of the study for developing drawing skills. Compulsory historiographic subjects Visual arts in a cultural context, which prepare students in the fields of art history, philosophy, aesthetics and culture. Historiographical subjects end with a commission exam after the 4th semester, which means that they are included in the first phase of bachelor's studies. The second phase of the Painting study programme is aimed at students of the
    3rd and 4th year of bachelor's studies. Studio courses continue after the first two years of study, but are much more focused in scope and content on media specialisation, critical reflection of works and interpretive frameworks of topics assigned or chosen independently by students. Students already have the expected level of technological skills and are therefore ready to realise the semester work according to the requirements determined by the study programme.
  • In addition to technological subjects and studio courses, focus subjects are also subjects focused on the theory of art, which enables students to acquire knowledge for adequate professional development, for developing critical thinking and interpretation of contemporary art. (Problems of visual media (painting - printmaking), Image analysis (painting - printmaking)). Successful completion of studio courses, technological and theoretical subjects ends with the defence of the bachelor's thesis and successful completion of the state exam.
  • An important part of the education methodology in the Painting study programme is the possibility of an internship (an internship as a substitute for the compulsory Studio courses is rather exceptional, but predictable in the future) and an supplementary internship (students gain experience in galleries and cultural institutions, such as Medium gallery, Phoenix, Dot, Kunsthalle in Bratislava). As part of education, they bring students direct contact with a professional environment, where they can gain practical experience with exhibition practices and soft skills in organising exhibitions, running a gallery, which function as preparation for future professions. The internship is also an opportunity for students to gain new professional contacts and connections, as well as theoretical experience with applicability after graduation. At the same time, foreign student mobility is encouraged in the form of internships at foreign partner schools, where they are confronted with educational experiences in a different cultural and social environment and have the opportunity to become part of international artistic and cultural collaborative, participatory projects and networks. Part of the education in the Painting study programme is the possibility of an internal internship. Students have the opportunity to complete an internal study internship within another AFAD study programme and thus expand their skills and
    experience, which they are then able to apply in the Painting programme in the form of interdisciplinary and intermedia overlaps. As part of the wider educational process, bachelor's degree students are integrated into ongoing art and research projects at the AFAD in the form of direct application to teaching or through exhibition, publication and other presentation activities, which is also supported by grant systems (especially KEGA – Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic). and the presentation of creative and artistic activity (especially FPU - Slovak Art Council).

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisor of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Printmaking and Other Media

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main goal of education in the study programme is artistic creation with a specialisation in printmaking, illustration and drawing works, which includes the creation of an artistic concept, the use of specific printmaking principles, reflecting knowledge of the issue and analysis of the graphic image in art. Based on these skills is the ability to create graphic and illustration works and to interpret and present them. The goal of education is the ability to create an original work as an autonomous attitude of artists and to evaluate their talent. At the time of completion of the study programme, students are able to use a range of skills and create an art artefact.
  • The result of education is the acquisition of printmaking, illustration and drawing structural principles in various technological procedures. The ability to construct an evident, visible part of the work with selected means of expression and materials, which students organise with different compositional principles, in order to express the content of the work of art through a formal synthesis of material and means of expression and compositional principles. They can also use synonymous terms for the content of a work of art: message, statement, announcement.
  • At the time of completion of the bachelor's study programme Printmaking and other media in the field of study Art - students have practical and theoretical knowledge and skills in the field of printmaking, drawing and illustration based on knowledge of the history and current state of art, which they are able to use creatively in independent artistic activity or in continuation in subsequent university studies. Through education, they acquire drawing skills (capturing reality, stylisation in drawing, drawing symbols) and printmaking skills (letterpress, gravure printing, flat printing, vector and bitmap graphics). Graduates of the bachelor's degree programme will acquire expert knowledge of creating an image using printmaking methods in terms of technology (classical and digital) but also in terms of the inherent structure of image creation (building on a drawing/line, the issue of image reproduction, layering). They master the procedures and means of mimetic representation of reality in the media of drawing, printmaking, illustrations, the principles of the creation of an artistic statement and of the
    functioning of an artistic symbol. They have adequate knowledge of technological processes and creative materials, they know traditional and innovative printmaking techniques, digital media and computer programs for image processing.
  • The main outputs of education:
    • Bachelor's degree graduates are able to create works of art using printmaking and illustration techniques, drawing and digital graphics. They have artistic and technological knowledge in the field of printmaking, illustration and drawing. Graduates of bachelor's degree have the skills to conceptually create small-scale artworks on their own within the space of their own creative art projects in the field of graphic analog and digital media. They have the professional skills to create an artistic unit - cycle - exhibition, but also to realise illustrations on an artistic and technical basis at the same time. They can create and use the entire range of techno-logical and logic-technical procedures and media arising from the content of the study programme. Through their creative work, they participate in the formation and development of culture. Graduates are able to creatively use a wide range of technical and technological tools and devices, from analog to digital. They are able to work independently with technological tools and are constantly learning about them as part of their artistic focus.

Applicability:

  • Graduates are able to work with a wide range of professional illustration and printmaking partners – book and magazine publishers, advertising agencies, graphic and product studios, editorial illustration, creative industries with a focus on online, web, gaming. They can also act as lecturers, managers of artistic start-ups, workshops, galleries, or other cultural and artistic institutions. Of course, there is also an independent artistic and presentation activity - creative work.
  • Graduates have the qualification for employment in a wide range of artistic and cultural operations on the local and foreign scene, in public or private organisations. They can work as independent visual artists with exhibition practice, members of creative art teams, in gallery pedagogy, lecturing activities and lifelong learning, as experts in cultural institutions (galleries, museums, theatres, cultural and creative centres), workers in local self-government (departments of culture, education, popularisation of culture, cultural institutions abroad), creative workers in industrial and other commercial operations (advertising and marketing agencies, creative production in the creative industry). Graduates can be in positions in the creative industry, or as freelance visual artists.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • The four-year bachelor's degree in the study programme PRINTMAKING AND OTHER MEDIA begins with studies in the preparatory year and continues in four studios. Students of the 1st year of study complete the two-semester profile course Printmaking Preparatory Course, which, like the studio course, is the most important credit component of the study programme in terms of content, difficulty course, is the most important credit component of the study programme in terms of content, difficulty of output, and time allowance. The teaching of the Preparatory Course is closely connected with the teaching of the profile subject Drawing - Printmaking and the compulsory subject Graphic Techniques and continues with studio teaching as well. While completing the Printmaking Preparatory Course, students clarify their preferences based on specific tasks in which of the three studios - Studio of Free Printmaking, Studio of Illustration and Printmaking, Studio of Free and Color Printmaking - they will continue in the second, three-year phase of the study. With its programme, the studio courses follow after the first year of study, its content and scope are more concentrated, more consistent due to the specifics of the given studio. In these studios, teaching continues according to their programme until
    the end of the bachelor's degree, with the possibility of transfer, internal and external internship, completion of the Laboratory of Illustration and the Visiting Professor Laboratory. Students have the possibility to replace the studio courses in the 4th-7th year as part of the study programme with the subjects Laboratory of illustration, Visiting Professor Laboratory - 1st degree, Work internship, or complete an internal or foreign study internship. Bachelor's studies are also significantly strengthened by compulsory, compulsory optional and optional subjects that improve drawing and printmaking skills and their overlaps from position to space or object. Part of the study plan is the comprehensive theoretical preparation of students through the compulsory historiographic subjects Visual art in a cultural context, which prepare students in the field of art history, philosophy, aesthetics and culture. Historiographical subjects end with a commission exam after the 4th semester, which means that they
    are included in the first phase of bachelor's studies. They are followed (3rd - 4th year) by theoretical and interpretive compulsory subjects that develop critical thinking in the studied medium, Problems of visual media (painting-printmaking) and Image analysis (painting-printmaking), which are also a compulsory foundation ending with a state exam. Theoretical teaching is provided by teachers of the Department of Theory and History of Art. In collaboration with invited lecturers and experts from practice, short-term intensive educational courses and workshops are implemented in the teaching, which significantly enrich the study plan with current ways of experimenting and applying creative principles in the context of contemporary art.
  • From the group of compulsory optional professional subjects, students choose subjects that correspond to the specialisation of the chosen studio. Students of theStudio of Illustration and Printmaking expand their technical and intellectual skills and knowledge focused on working with paper and book construction (subject Medium paper - book binding), students of the Studio of Free and Colour Printmaking connect printmaking with ecological thinking and experiment with natural materials (subject Bioart and Nature art I, II), students of the Studio of Free Printmaking by extending the printmaking principle to space and graphic objects (subject Graphic space and object I, II). The mentioned subjects are prerequisites for the given studios, but if interested, students of other studios of the study programme can also enrol in them and thus expand their arsenal of knowledge. Students choose additional compulsory optional professional subjects without a studio focus and develops in them painting procedures (subject Basics of Painting Techniques), printmaking procedures (subject
    Printmaking Techniques VII), knowledge of materials and chemicals used in the printmaking medium (subject Basics of Chemistry and Toxicology), typography (subject Typography for illustrators I, II), marketing (subject Marketing for artists I, II), ........(subject Professional workshop). The set of professional subjects ensures the expected level of technological skills for creation in studios and professional mastering of the final bachelor's thesis. In addition to studio courses and professional subjects, the key compulsory theoretical subjects are focused on knowledge of the development of history and theory of art as well as on the specific issues of the study programme: Visual arts in a cultural context I - IV, Introduction to studies I - II, Anatomy I - II , Problems of visual media (paintingprintmaking) I – II, Image analysis ((painting-printmaking) I – II, Problems of Slovak visual arts I – II. These complement optional theoretical subjects deepening the discipline with regard to the world of art and culture, improve language preparation in the field of contemporary art and culture and in the field of soft skills such as knowledge of marketing in art and the ability of project and grant activities.Teaching in the field of soft skills is also planned in the form of block teaching and professional workshops for the topicality of information and knowledge from practice.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisors of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Photography and New Media

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main objective of the Bachelor's degree Program in Photography and New Media is the artistic and professional photographic specialization of the undergraduate. The program provides the undergraduate with professional knowledge, practical skills, technological readiness, and the artistic and critical ability to creatively develop an individual original artistic project or work as part of an artistic and professional team. The main objective of the study program is autonomous artistic activity. We place an equal importance on linking the artistic concept with the technological skills stemming from the medium. In the Photography and New Media programme it is important to teach graduates to from the medium. In the Photography and New Media programme it is important to teach graduates to be able to respond to stimuli and assigned topics, to experiment in the photographic medium and to innovatively develop their talents supported the content of the study programme. Following their interests and desires to further develop the photographic medium, he/she is ready to present their outputs and technological skills to professional and lay audiences in the form of exhibitions, lectures, workshops and symposia. Active work with the medium of photography will prepare him/her to use a wide range of photographic disciplines and thus contribute to the formation of contemporary
    photography in the context of contemporary visual art.
  • The basic units of education are: Preparatory Course (1st year), Protostudio (2nd year) and three profile studios (3rd-4th year). In the studios, the main emphasis is placed on the principle of individual student profiling process reflecting the current content of contemporary art within the photographic medium. Students are encouraged in the transitions of the photographic medium towards other visual processes. The wide variability of the study programme structure is complemented by profile professional courses designed to ensure that the undergraduate acquires technological skills in the photographic medium and completes all photographic disciplines based on applied and documentary photography. The teaching emphasis within the professional courses is not only on mastering the technological processes covering the analogue and digital spectrum, but also on the artistic and content aspects that are applicable in various positions of applied and documentary photography. The teaching of vocational subjects is gradually transformed in higher grades into modular and block teaching, which has proven to be a more effective module of the educational process in terms of learning outcomes. This module provides learners with more practical experience applicable in the professional zone. Over the four years, students acquire professional skills, which are complemented by theoretical courses, professional workshops, discussions and lectures. The attendees are able to adequately apply the acquired theoretical and technological knowledge in the given medium in their artistic practice.
  • Thanks to the acquired KEGA research projects, successful interdisciplinary cooperation with other study programmes (restoration design and visual communication) was established and interdisciplinary courses were created at the bachelor's level: Historical Photographic Techniques I, II and the course The Making of the Photographic Book, which provide the possibility of inter-media linking in the creative and educational process.
  • The undergraduates of the Bachelor's programs in Photography and New Media are able to apply themselves in the field of photography and are able to conceptually develop autonomous artistic projects both independently and as part of team projects. After completing the Bachelor's degree program, the student are ready to apply in professional practice or to continue their Master's studies in Slovakia and abroad.
  • The main outputs of education for the undergraduates of the Bachelor's degree programme in Photography and
    New Media:
    • can creatively translate their thoughts and ideas into photographic images and professionally use and apply technological photographic processes and given possibilities in a wide range of media
    • possess creative ability, capacity for critical reflection, capacity for growth and innovation of the medium, organizational skills, ability to verbally communicate and present creative projects, ability to collaborate within their creative processes
    • are ready to develop and implement their artistic intentions into the realisation of artistic ambitions
      and thus to express their own creative abilities
    • are able to contextualise and critically reflect on their own work and the work of others, are able to
      use external feedback and implement it positively in their own work - the ability of critical reflection
    • can practically integrate their skills into a wider team and thus apply themselves in the business sphere
    • have the perspective to convincingly present their vision, creative work, and attitude and thereby
      create a supportive audience and clients around them for their artistic and professional work
    • can interpret, present and critically analyse the content of his/her artistic work and participate in
      projects in the artistic context

Applicability:

  • The undergraduate meets requirements to be employed in artistic and cultural practice in domestic and foreign environments in public and private organizations. They can work as independent visual artists with exhibition practice, professional photographers, photography lecturers, critics, image editors, etc. Furthermore, they can also work as members of creative teams, as cultural managers for cultural institutions and civic associations. They have the professional background and training to work as independent authors in creative teams in advertising and media companies. They can also be employed by local government offices, by the culture department and by independent art centres (departments of culture, education, popularisation of culture, cultural institutions abroad).

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • In the study programme Photography and New Media, the profile courses have a form of Studio teaching and are divided into two phases of the educational process in the bachelor's degree, to which the compulsory professional courses are methodologically linked according to the degree of difficulty. The first phase is oriented towards students of the 1st and 2 -year. Students of Photography and New Media in the 1st year take a compulsory Preparatory Course. In the winter semester, Photography and New Media students can choose a Preparatory Course focusing on Intermedia or Sculpture (these Preparatory Courses are provided by the Intermedia programme and the Photography and New Media programme reciprocally provides a Preparatory Course in Photography in the winter semester for 1 - year students of the Intermedia programme). The Preparatory Course focusing on Intermedia or Sculpture allows students to choose an introductory experience with an overlap into these mediums and within the creative foundations of moving image or working with matter. In the summer semester, 1 -year Photography and New Media students will take a Photography Preparatory Course. In the second year, studio teaching is followed by a two-semester profile course, Protostudio. The content of the Preparatory Course and the Protoateliér is oriented on creativity according to the difficulty, which is intended for students of the 1st and 2 - year of the Bachelor's degree programme. Teaching focuses on basic awareness and progressive development of creative thinking in the medium of photography with the analysis of the creative process. A compulsory component of the profile subjects of the study programme are the compulsory technological professional courses, which follow the content and scope of the Studio Teaching and effectively develop the methodology of the educational process, so that the student is able to gradually use the expanding technological skills in the creative processes.
  • The second phase of the Photography and New Media study programme is aimed at students in the 3rd and 4 - year of their Bachelor's degree programme. The studio teaching of the main profile subject is focused on the creative and artistic process. The Studio Teaching programme follows the first two years of study, but its scope and content is more focused on media specialisation, critical reflection and visual and content analysis of the assigned topic. The student can choose from three studios, which, in their focus and profiling, allow the student to decide in which direction he or she wants to develop in the future in their profiling and trajectory.
  • The student already possesses an assumed level of technological skills and is therefore prepared to realize a semester work according to the demands determined by the curriculum and the specification of the individual profile courses of studio teaching. At the same time, he/she can begin to use these skills creatively and experimentally for his/her individual artistic work.
  • Another compulsory requirement for the profile courses for the 3rd and 4 -year of study are compulsory professional foursemester courses - Commercial Photography and Documentary Photography within which the student profiles himself/herself according to his/her own choice in the photographic medium, and after their
    completion he/she is ready to apply the completed and acquired technological knowledge in connection with artistic expression to professional application in the field of product, advertising, fashion and documentary photography. The student has the opportunity to choose one course as a compulsory component and the other course as a compulsorily optional component of the curriculum if interested.
  • A compulsory component of the curriculum, in addition to Studio Teaching and compulsory professional courses, are the compulsory historiography courses Visual Arts in Cultural Context, which prepare students in the field of art history, philosophy, aesthetics and culture. The historiographical courses end with a commission examination after the 4th semester, which makes them part of the first phase of the Bachelor's degree programme. In the second phase (3rd-4th year), they are followed by theoretical and interpretative compulsory courses developing critical thinking in the studied medium, such as Problems of Visual Media (Photography) and Image Analysis (Photography), which are also the profile foundation. Profile studio courses and profile theoretical courses in the medium provide a comprehensive education in creativity and photography theory within the methodology of the educational process. The profile courses of studio teaching and theoretical courses for the medium of photography naturally lead in to the defence of the bachelor´s thesis and the state examination with the completion of the given degree programme.
  • The study programme is complemented by a group of compulsory optional courses, which are divided into professional and theoretical courses. These courses provide a foundation towards media specialization and at the same time deepen interdisciplinarity with regard to the broad scope of photography as a discipline. The various interconnections and possibilities of image processing - analogue (historical-classical), digital up to the basics of virtual images with overlaps into applied photography, graphic design, video, sound, installation, drawing, etc. Theoretical compulsory elective courses offer further development of critical thinking towards analysis and linking creative thinking with historiographical and theoretical knowledge in art, philosophy and aesthetics. Soft skills such as presentation skills in English, rhetoric, argumentation, etc. (more in the syllabus appendix in the Handbook).
  • An additional group of compulsory foundation and compulsory elective courses are elective courses, through which students have the opportunity to transfer to other study programmes at AFAD. The elective courses are enriched by a number of courses which, through workshops, courses, excursions and short-term education, respond dynamically to current topics in photography and visual arts by using renowned practitioners from the artistic and cultural environment, or within the framework of the school's internationalisation with foreign teachers and practitioners.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisor of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Intermedia

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The Intermedia study programme was founded on the basis of the need to respond to the very development of art education in the field of visual arts, at least in the European area. However, at the same time, it was also a reflection of the interest of many applicants in education that goes beyond the boundaries of classical artistic types of visual art, which were not defined in the higher education system. The Intermedia study programme integrated elements, approaches, forms and expressions belonging to the field of e.g. dramatic arts (video, sound, text, performativity and others), new technologies (interactivity, virtual reality and others), but also methodologies and approaches of humanities and cultural operations.
  • The main educational goal of the Intermedia study programme in its bachelor's degree is to provide a general basis and comprehensive knowledge and competences for artistic creation in the field of visual art in the intentions of intermedial overlaps (to perform a wide range of creative and technicaltechnological activities). An important part of education is also orientation in the history and theory of art, philosophy, aesthetics, as well as other humanities disciplines, development of critical thinking, orientation in contemporary art and gallery operations, at least in the context of the Central European area. The goal of the education is thus the comprehensive preparation of graduates of bachelor's studies to perform the profession of an artist in the two specialisations of the Intermedia study programme - intermedia and sculpture.
  • It provides students with freedom in personal profiling on the media that are closest to them in artistic practice. The bachelor's degree ensures gaining of basic and general knowledge, skills and competences necessary for individual and group creation of art projects through the subjects of audiovisual technologies (courses of the creation of audiovisual works from the creation of a photo, audio or video recording, its subsequent editing, post-production in editing software and spatial installation), subjects on a digital basis (teaching 3D modelling, animation and presentation software and virtual reality), on an analogue and material basis (creating works from various types of traditional and contemporary materials, such as clay, wood, stone, plastic, metal) and objects, in which the focus is on moving the body, working with the voice, critical writing or creative writing.
  • In the process of students' studies, individual, group, studio or department exhibitions, presentations, cultural events are also held, in which students actively participate in the organisation (in the form of PR, installation, selection of works, curatorship, exhibition architecture, communication with the curator or institution, etc.). At the same time, during their studies, they participate in professional workshops (with lecturers from various fields of visual art, theory or related humanities) and internships, which are an invaluable tool for direct contact of students with practice. Students can further complement their specialisation with internships in specialised studios within the Intermedia study programme, but also within other study programmes of the AFAD in Bratislava. After completing the studies, graduates have the necessary awareness of all components of the creative process, conceptual, research, material, technical and technological, and can employ in the scene of physical or virtual galleries, cultural centres, art groups, artist-run galleries and realisation of works in public space.
  • The study programme is thus based on the synergy of traditional art media and elements from other areas of art (e.g. dance, music, film, etc.) with various scientific, professional and social areas of life. The programme offers a wide range of possibilities, procedures and tools with which to reflect on the reality around us, to respond to current social issues and problems, or to comment on the basic questions of life. Intermedia can be briefly characterised as a dynamic experimentality between media and environments.
  • The main outputs of education: 
    • Graduates of the Intermedia study programme are versatile creative personalities – artists, with the ability to produce their own outputs and projects in the specific scope of production of an object work, production and post-production of a digital moving image, performative expressions, text art, sound or virtual works. During their studies, they will acquire the ability to think independently and create a work of art, from idea concept through realisation to public presentation. Graduates are able to create, analyse, interpret and present their works in their native language as well as in English and can assert themselves in the local and international creative environment. They are able to critically rethink and further develop their knowledge, abilities and skills in the second or third level of study and lifelong learning. They have the possibility of employment within a wide range of creative disciplines and humanities. They are capable of reflecting contemporary art and society, organisation of exhibitions and events, at least as part of a creative and organisational collective. They can participate in active cultural, social interaction, within which they can develop individual work and teamwork. They acquire the prerequisites to understand, respect and support diversity, difference and the unique contribution
      of people across cultures and societies.

Applicability:

  • Graduates of the bachelor's study programme Intermédia have the prerequisites for employment primarily as independent or group artists in the field of visual arts and related creative fields, both on the local and foreign scene. In addition to their own creative and intellectual work, they should also have adequately developed communication, organisational and production skills, orient themselves in the history of art and contemporary cultural discourses. The knowledge, experience, skills and critical thinking acquired through study should be a source of self-confidence and sensitivity. The ability for constant learning and self-improvement, persistence in developing a creative programme, the courage to experiment and set high quality demands, should be accompanied by the motivation to contribute to society as a whole with their work, have clear civic attitudes, show empathy and share care.
  • Graduates have the opportunity to work in a broad artistic and cultural practice in public or private institutions (galleries, museums, theatres, cultural and creative centres), advertising agencies, design and architectural studios. They find their employmentin the spectrum of activities in the field of creative industry, where they can use the whole range of skills - creation of audiovisual recordings, photographic documentation, various applications using 2D and 3D software and virtual reality, creation of models, presentations, proposals for game design, but also theatre or film stage design, exhibition architecture, etc. They can work in the field of gallery education and lecturing in cultural institutions and as professional workers in local self-governments in cultural departments. They can benefit from acquired knowledge and skills as production and technical specialists. Graduates of the bachelor's degree programme Intermedia can create work, new types of employment by themselves in the form of startups, founding and organising new festivals, civic associations, galleries, cultural
    centres, i.e. non-profit culture.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • The program is divided into two specialisations: Intermedia and Sculpture. From this perspective, the composition of subjects is created in such a way as to create:
    • common platform of both specialisations;
    • sections of individual specialisations;
    • possibly their other possible mutual interactions and interactions with other AFAD study programmes and cultural organisations;

 

  • In the Intermedia study programme, the profile subjects in both specialisations (Intermedia and Sculpture) have the character of studio courses and are divided into two stages (the so-called preparatory phase and the specialisation phase), which are methodologically linked to the compulsory professional subjects according to the degree of difficulty. The first (preparatory) phase for 1st and 2nd year students is oriented towards acquiring basic knowledge and skills in media, techniques and procedures required by the Intermedia study programme and its specialisations.
  • Students of the Intermedia study programme in the 1st year complete the compulsory subject Preparatory course. In the winter semester, students specialising in Intermedia choose one of two courses - Preparatory course Sculpture or Preparatory course Photography (this Preparatory course is provided by the Photography and New Media study programme), and students specialising in Sculpture choose from two courses - Preparatory course Intermedia or Preparatory course Photography. Preparatory courses allow students of their own choice the first media orientation for their future profile, either - to put it simply - to work with digital and moving images, action, text, sound, etc., or to matter and space, digital sculpture, etc.
  • Summer - 2nd semester is completed by 1st-year students at the home department, depending on the specific specialisation, specialisation intermedia – Preparatory course of intermedia and specialisation sculpture – Preparatory course of sculpture.
  • In the second year, a two-semester (3rd and 4th semester) profile subject – Preparatory studio for the second year of Sculpture follows the Preparatory course of Sculpture in the Sculpture Specialisation.
  • Students of the specialisation Intermedia switch to a rotation of Studio courses, where each semester they complete a stay in one of the three studios of the specialisation (semester 3-5) in order to familiarise themselves with pedagogical, artistic and creative approaches that create different intensities towards specific content and media in the context of Intermedia.
  • Students of the 3rd and 4th year of the Intermedia bachelor's study programme continue with the main profile subject Studio courses (studios are specified in the list of profile subjects), which is focused on the creative and artistic process. With its programme, studio courses follow the first two years of study. However, the scope and content of the studio courses are more focused on media specialisation, critical reflection and visual and content analysis of the chosen topic and on more extensive final outputs. Students can choose between three studios in the intermedia specialisation, and two studios in the sculpture specialisation, which, with their focus and profile, allow them to decide in which direction they want to develop in the future in their profile and trajectory.

 

  • The supporting components to the profile subjects of the study programme are technological professional subjects, which are connected to Studio courses in terms of content and effectively develop the methodology of the educational process. Students gradually choose from the offer of compulsory optional subjects depending on the focus of the studio and its needs - their personal preference. The subjects thus create knowledge, technical-technological support, expand knowledge and technological skills in creative processes.

 

  • From the above-mentioned characteristics, the content of the study programme consists of the sum of subjects (A – compulsory, B – compulsory optional, C – optional) in order to cover the widest possible range of necessary knowledge and skills (within the staff and financial capacities of the programme), which are mainly indicated by individual studios (profile subjects), by their orientation to the given artistic medium and context.
  • The common basis of both specialisations:
    • The basis of the study plan of the Intermedia study programme and its specialisations is its openness, variability and the possibility of creating individual paths for students. This philosophy is fully in line with the essence of the Intermedia programme, which we characterise as dynamic experimentation between media and environments, and which emphasises the individual profiling of students, on which the pedagogical practice of individual consultations is based.
    • Professional subjects in the management of the study programme at levels A and B create a common basis for both specialisations, which enables significant individual profiling of students under certain conditions. The study plan of Intermedia is created in such a way as to create maximum openness in the creation of individual (student) or studio (leading teacher) recommended paths through the study plan.
    • Compulsory professional subjects form the core of the programme. They reveal its essence and indicate the context, which is characterised by content, form, material, place, environment.
    • Compulsory optional subjects (B) form the largest group of subjects and are shared by both specialisations. They enable students to have a more precise and targeted orientation to specific knowledge and skills while searching for their own path within the specialisation, and students can complete them during the entire duration of the bachelor's study, which we consider to be a
      significantly flexible and targeted element of the study programme. Subjects are not tied to a specific semester, except for some exceptions, resulting from the essence - gradation of skills and links to other subjects. The study programme contains a sufficient database of subjects that students can use for personal growth, specialisation and professionalism.
    • In addition to professional practical subjects, the group of compulsory optional subjects also includes professional theoretical subjects that expand the knowledge base.
  • Compulsory professional profile subjects - Studios
    • The main base for developing creative thinking and practical and other skills are the studios - (currently: Studio of Spatial Communications+, Studio of Intermedia, Studio vvv (visual, verbal, public), Studio of Sculpture in Architecture and Digital Space, Studio Sculpture where the profiling of graduates takes place in the context of the programme focus of a specific studio within the study programme.
  • Level subjects (Optional - C) allow students to acquire additional knowledge and skills.
  • In addition to a fixed subject composition compiled for at least one semester, the Intermedia study programme introduces short-term educational formats such as workshops, lectures with experts from various fields, not only from art.
  • In addition to the defined education in the study plan of the study programme, there are also activities
    that improve the quality of the offer of the Intermedia programme:
    • cooperation with local and foreign universities, teachers, experts from the fields of arts and social
      sciences,
    • cooperation with galleries and cultural institutions,
    • cooperation with the third sector.
  • The Intermedia study programme as a complex body provides knowledge, technical and technological skills for the needs of artistic practice and employment on the labour market.
  • The goal is to educate and professionally prepare a generation of young people for individual and group professional work in the field of cultural activity and for cooperation in this environment for the benefit of spreading information, education and tolerance.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisor of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Applied Arts

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main goal of the Applied Art study programme is artistic and design creation, in the field of ceramics, glass, metal and jewellery specialisations, which include a whole set of activities: from the artistic concept, theory to the creation of an original work of art as an autonomous attitude of the artist to collaborative design with industry. At the time of completion of the study programme, students, bachelor's degree graduates, are independent people with knowledge and skills, leading to high professional competence in their field. They are motivated to continue their education in the master's degree. However, students are above all qualified to start artistic practice, intellectually and professionally skilled and capable of conceptual and organisational activity in an international confrontation. They can create innovatively and experimentally, with awareness of sustainability and ecological potential. They can use a range of technological procedures and media resulting from the content of the study programme, thus work in different specialisations, ceramics, glass, metal and jewellery, both in classical and new contemporary digital technologies. They understand the devices, machines, and tools used in the sense of their usefulness for their creative work. They are able to create assignments and requests for service personnel if necessary. They are able to work independently with digital tools and are constantly learning about them as part of their artistic focus. They are able to work individually in their own studios, but also in a team, in cooperation with companies or clients. With their creative work and attitudes, they significantly participate in the formation and development of culture and society, honour the context, history and create the future. At the time of completion of the study programme, students can purposefully use a wide range of skills to their advantage and through them create strategies for their artistic growth. They are independent personalities, aware of free expression of opinion, aware of openness to a pluralistic society and discussion in it. With their work, they contribute to society's memory and become part of cultural awareness and social discussion.
  • The main outputs of education:
    • Graduates are able, either as individuals or as members of a creative collective, to create an autonomous work of art within their specialty of ceramics, glass, jewellery. Graduates are professionals with a high degree of theoretical and craft skills in the studied specialisation. Graduates are able to present their own work of art, critically analyse and interpret works of art and their meaningful contexts. They are able to interpret and present their work in a foreign language, and at the same time, thanks to their language and communication skills, they are able to apply themselves and work in an international context as part of artistic projects. Graduates are able to critically assess their abilities so that they are motivated to achieve their own professional goals, which they can identify and evaluate in their growth.
    • Graduates have the skills and competences of independent economic functioning in society. They can choose an appropriate form of artistic operation for their creative activities (SZČO, s. r. o., O.Z., etc.) or use the possibilities of support grant and residency schemes on the local and foreign scene. They can be part of a work team and support and initiate team cooperation. They respect the otherness and uniqueness of people and cultures, and are able to evaluate their ethical and social connections and the preservation of freedom of expression of each person.

Applicability:

  • Graduates have the qualification for employment in a wide range of artistic and cultural operations in the local and foreign environment, in public or private organisations. They can act as independent visual artists with exhibition practice, members of creative artistic teams (with expansions also to other disciplines, e.g. architecture, design). They can work as lecturers in cultural institutions (galleries, museums, cultural and creative centres), workers in local self-government (departments of culture, education, popularisation of culture, cultural institutions abroad), creative workers in industrial and other commercial operations (advertising and marketing agencies, creative production in the creative industry).

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • In the study programme APPLIED ART (ceramics - glass - metal and jewellery specialisations) and its study plan, profile subjects have a specific character in the form of studio courses. Studio courses are the most important credit component of the study programme in terms of content, difficulty of output and time allocation. Studio courses are divided into specialisations according to the media specification: CERAMICS; GLASS; METAL AND JEWELLERY. Studio courses combine theoretical training with craft skills as a basis for every future work of students and graduates. Studio courses lead to the awareness of the historical context of creation and of new creation, with reflection of the present and the future. The scope and content of the most important profile theoretical subject: Fine art in a cultural context, Problems of visual media (applied art) and Image analysis (applied art), which prepare students in the field of theory and interpretation of contemporary art and at the same time reflect all listed media specialisations. Studio courses and focused theoretical subjects are a mandatory basis for every student of the study programme. Compulsory subjects, studio courses and theoretical subjects for applied art lead to the defence of the bachelor's thesis and the bachelor's state exam with the completion of the given degree of study.
  • The study programme APPLIED ART (ceramics - glass - metal and jewellery specialisations) is complemented by a group of compulsory optional subjects, which are divided into professional practical and professional theoretical subjects. These subjects give a foundation towards a media specialisation and at the same time deepen the expansions, with regard to the world of art and culture. The content also includes subjects that improve language training in the field of contemporary art and culture and in the field of soft skills such as knowledge of the basics of marketing in art and the ability of project and grant activities. A complementary group of compulsory and compulsory optional subjects are optional subjects, through which students have the opportunity to transfer to other study programmes at the AFAD. Optional subjects are enriched by a number of subjects that, through workshops, courses, field trips and in the form of short-term education courses, respond dynamically to current topics of applied art, with the use of renowned practitioners, or as part of the academy's internationalisation with foreign teachers and practitioners.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisor of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Design

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main learning objective in the study plan is a creative process in the field of design. In presence, this field is defined by a broad spectrum of approaches and tendencies. That requires deep knowledge in the rapidly developing area of contemporary design, prototype and production technologies. Further, this field requires good communication, presentation and managing abilities. Very important part of the education is a general overview of history and theory of art and design, as well as other humanities. The education aims to comprehensively prepare a BA student for the profession of a designer in various specializations. In the framework of the study program design, the education is realized in the four specializations – industrial design, transport design, interior design and experimental design. The student acquires a basic overview about the individual specializations in the course of the first grade. Eventually, he/she can choose a particular specialization for the rest of his/her BA study, or attend consequently all the specializations, adhering to the compulsory requirements. Certain extend of knowledge, skills and competencies are common for all the specializations: independence in search, processing and critical reflection of information relevant for an assignment realization, independent research in a topic, formulation of a concept, ability to formulate ideas by means of drawing and digital designing methods, using 2D and 3D software, and by means of a basic virtual reality. The BA student is able to individually consider suitability of a proposed realization, in regard to ergonomics, economics, considers ethical principles of design production and its social function. The student is able to work with the basic visualizing tools, has command in drawing documentation, and is able to use both for communication with a potential partner – producer. He/she has a basic understanding of production
    technologies widely used in practice. He/she has a general knowledge in materials´ qualities and treatments by means of analogue and digital technologies, for realization of a model, prototype or product. The BA student is able to communicate outcomes of his/her work, giving arguments and using various media interfaces and types of software for his/her presentation. He/she has basic knowledge in the field of business enterprise and marketing, and in theory and history of art and design, philosophy and aesthetics. In the framework of the mentioned specializations, he/she acquires further skills in specialized studios and in connection to his/her selection of compulsory optional specialized and theoretical courses (please, refer to the study plan and courses information sheets). The student´s specialized professional skills are developed in the form of series of assignments, accentuating specificities of serial production, some of the being realized directly with a particular producer or institution. BA graduates are trained to communicate with a customer and pursue the profession of a designer in regard to possibilities and needs of a client. This is achieved in the practice of students´team work, courses in specialized technologies focused on furniture design, courses in extended 3D modeling, animation and presentation software and virtual reality. In the process of the students´training within the specializations, there are specialized workshops with lecturers from various fields of design practice and traineeship, offering valuable experience in practical aspects of the profession. The BA student can broaden his specialization by traineeship in specialized studios within the study program Design, as well as other study programs at AFAD. The BA graduate has necessary overview in all aspects of the designing process and is able to work for big and small companies, prototype and experimental studios, either as a member of creative teams, or as an independent designer – specialized or universal.
  • The main outputs of education:  
    • Based on acquired knowledge, skills and competence, the BA graduate of the study program Design is able to work in a design team, realizing specialized partial assignments. He/she is able to analyze client ´s assignments, respecting his production program, technological and economical possibilities, considering ecological and social aspects of the assignment. The graduate participates in the designing process, using analogue, advanced 2D and 3D visualizing software, or virtual reality. He/she has command of a model/prototype construction on an excellent level, analogue or digitally. He/she is able to communicate with engineering professions, using basic knowledge in relevant software and production technologies. He/she has a broad overview in materials, used in design practice, and their qualities. He/she is able to communicate the final solutions by means of appropriate presentation software in combination with verbal argumentation. The graduate has an overview in history and current situation in the study field, as well as art and culture. He/she is ready to continue gaining knowledge and is flexible in reacting to dynamic changes not only in society, but also in the area of technologies and new materials.

Applicability:

  • The BA graduate is trained to work in a team of designers, either in a design, prototype or experimental studio, realizing assignments for production companies and individual clients, or in design studios by car manufacturing companies or automotive industry, or in interior studios. He/she is also able to work as a self-employed designer, start his own company or civic association, working for clients or realizing solitary designs, prototypes, or limited series. Further professional possibilities include a gallery educator, lecturer of courses in visual arts, a broad spectrum of positions in creative industry – development of applications in 2D and 3D software and virtual reality, realization of models, design and realization of presentations, proposals for game design, etc.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • The profile courses in the study program Design have the character of Studio Courses. These are preceded by the compulsory course in the 1st-grade Preparatory Course in Design. The Preparatory Course prepares a student for the studio form of education and offers insight into specializations of design that are selected by the student from the 2 grade. As for its content, requirements, and time consumption, the Studio Course has the most significant credit value. The Studio Course is divided into specializations, according to the areas of the designing: Studio Industrial Design, Studio Transport Design, Studio of Interior Design, and Studio of Experimental Design.
  • Additional to the profile courses, there are compulsory specialized courses that represent an essential and inevitable framework of knowledge, skills, and competencies for the student in this study program. Detailed information in Study Plan.
  • Another compulsory part of the study plan is the compulsory historiographic course Visual Art in Cultural Context which prepares students in art history, philosophy, aesthetics, and culture. The historiographic courses are completed by an examination by the examination committee after the 4 semester to close the first phase of theoretical education in the BA study. In the second phase (3 and 4 grades), they are followed up by the compulsory theoretical and interpretational courses Problems of Visual Media (Design) and Image Analysis (Design) that develop critical thinking in the studied medium and represent the profile basis. The profile courses in studio education and the profile theoretical courses in the medium provide a complex education in the creativity and theory of design within the education process. They lead to the defense of the BA thesis and the state examination as a completion of the BA degree.
  • The study program Design is completed by a group of compulsory optional courses, divided into specialized practical and specialized theoretical courses. These courses build a basis for further media specialization and deepen the interdisciplinary character of the study program, copying the broad scope of design as a discipline. The specialized courses reflect the focus of individual studio specializations therefore their prerequisites are linked to the particular studio course. In this group, there are also courses focused on language skills in the field of contemporary art and culture and in the field of soft skills. The courses in soft skills are planned in blocks and specialized workshops to reflect the up-to-datedness of information and knowledge used in practice.
  • In addition to the compulsory basis and compulsory optional courses, there are optional courses for students to get insight into other study programs in AFAD. They are enriched by a series of courses in form of workshops, excursions, or short-term courses that dynamically react to current issues in design and visual art; usually employing professionals from the artistic and cultural environments or foreign pedagogues in the process of the school internationalization.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisors of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Textiles

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main objective of the Bachelor's degree Program Textiles is to educate the undergraduate student in the independent artistic work, which includes the whole set of activities: from the creation of an artistic as well as theoretical concept to the creation of an original work of art (artefact, design or collection), the materialization of the artist's/designer's autonomous attitude and the evaluation of his/her talent.
  • The aim of education is a student who at the time of completion of the study programme is capable of independent presentation, promotion and coordination activities and open confrontation of the outcomes of his/her creative work. The graduate who is able to create independently within the textile medium, using the full range of materials, techniques and technological procedures resulting from the content of the study programme. Through his/her creative work and attitudes, he/she participates in the formation and development of culture and society. The graduate who can analyse the contemporary cultural direction of society in a social, economic and ecological context.
  • The main outputs of education:
    • The graduate of the study programme Textiles has both theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in the field of design of textile materials and/or products and works made of them - i.e. clothing, clothing accessories, textile design and original textile artefacts. The student is able to use the acquired knowledge creatively in independent design practice, independent creative activity and is also able to apply it in design in various areas of economic (textile, clothing and creative industries), cultural and social life.
    • The graduate - bachelor has the qualities to create  independently and conceptually and design designer products and artworks of a smaller scale using the form of their own original projects or reflections of external assignments, in the field of textile materials, craft and digital technological processes and their overlaps into related artistic disciplines.
    • The graduate is able to use creatively a discipline-specific spectrum of technical and technological devices from analogue to digital and to use the acquired skills in artistic and design practice. He/she understands the technological devices used in terms of their applicability to his/her creative work and is able to create assignments and formulate requirements for service personnel. He/she is able to work independently with digital tools and is able to continually educate himself/herself in these tools as part of his/her artistic focus. He/she is proficient in the basic relevant materials and technologies in the field of textile design, including their wider contexts.
    • The graduate has the necessary theoretical knowledge of the history and theory of the history of fine arts, aesthetics, applied arts and design, as well as the history and development of the history of the textile medium, and on the basis of these abilities is able to conceptually create their own art and design works, interpret and present their work. As part of his/her studies, he/she receives a targeted training in related areas such as the basics of marketing and management. The graduate has the skills and competences for independent economic functioning in society. He/she is able to choose an appropriate form of artistic operation for his/her own creative activities (self-employed, Ltd., civic association, etc.) and to use the possibilities of supporting grant, scholarship and residency schemes in the domestic and foreign environment. The multi-layered profiling gives the graduate the skills for practical application in the domestic and international labour market.

Applicability:

  • A graduate of Textiles study programme acquires the professional competence to perform the profession of a visual artist or designer at the level of Bachelor of Arts. The graduate can be employed in the textile and clothing manufacturing and processing industry in general, as well as in the field of creative industry (advertising and marketing agencies, creative production in the creative industry) and artistic creation at home or abroad.
  • Graduates find employment as independent designers responding to current trends, engaged in the original creation of collections, or as creative workers in the design team in existing design studios or textile production at home and abroad.
  • By the time they graduate with their Bachelor's degree, they already have more experience in presenting their work at national and international art forums, exhibitions, fashion shows, fashion weeks, design weeks and trade fairs.
  • The graduate has the potential to be employed in artistic and cultural operations in both domestic and foreign environments, in public and private organizations. He/she can work as an independent artist with exhibition practice, a member of creative artistic teams (with an overlap also within other disciplines, e.g. architecture, styling, film and theatre production, product, interior and furniture design).
  • Graduates also work as lecturers and practitioners in institutions (ÚĽUV, cultural centres, galleries, museums, theatres, cultural and creative centres).
  • Graduates can also continue (after successful completion of the entrance exams) in the Master's degree programme in a follow-up or related study programme.
  • Many graduates maintain contact with members of the department even after their graduation and thus provide not only feedback on their personal employability, but also contribute to the expansion and content innovation of the educational curriculum and teaching approach, especially by offering collaborations between the school and the external environment of companies from the clothing and textile industry, as well as design studios.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • Studio teaching in the study programme Textiles has a profile character and is thus the most important credit component in terms of content and difficulty of the outcome and is also subject to internal grading and gradation: Preparatory Course of Textile Design (1th and 2 semester) Preparatory Studio of Clothing Design, Preparatory Studio of Textile Design (3rd and 4th semester), Studios with the specializations on Clothing Design, Textile Design and Fibre Art (5th-8th semesters). Studio teaching develops conceptual thinking, theoretical knowledge and craft skills. The aim is the graduate who will have comprehensive knowledge and skills in the field, who will understand the historical context and who will have a general knowledge of current developments in the field. Studio teaching helps profile the graduate and leads him/her to creative thinking and work.
  • The Preparatory Course of Textile Creation provides a general introduction to the subject of textile design (1st semester) and prepares students to work with artistic concepts, in the intent of free textile design (2nd semester). It provides students with basic information and skills, theoretical knowledge of textile materials as well as practical skills in basic textile techniques and technologies. Overall, the teaching focuses on the understanding of textiles as an artistic medium and on the rich variety of its expressive artistic value. Further, its specialization serves as a preparatory step for the work in the Studio of Fibre Art.
  • The profile courses Preparatory Studio of Fashion Design and Preparatory Studio of Textile Design (3rd and 4th semesters) prepare students more specifically and provide a deeper insight into the specializations of fashion and textile design, they deepen theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding of the textile materials used, techniques and technologies of production, processing (analogue as well as digital), design methods, and design processes. They focus on an understanding of the basic principles, frameworks and processes of apparel and textile design (or collections). They discuss basic concepts such as: internal and external form of garments, pattern, structure and haptics of materials; etc.
  • The profile course Studio teaching (5th - 8th semester) is divided into the specialisations of Fashion Design, Textile Design and Fibre Art. Studio teaching in each specialisation focuses on the specific development and deepening of students' knowledge of practical as well as theoretical knowledge and skills they use and creative experimental manipulation of textile materials, processes, techniques, creative and design procedures and methods. The aim of teaching is to find the student's/graduate's own language of expression.
  • Studio teaching and core theoretical courses are a compulsory basis for every student of the Textile Design study programme.
  • The group of theoretical and practical courses complementing each other in content is a compulsory component of the profile courses of the study programme:
    • the most important theoretical subjects in terms of scope and content: generally formative historiographical subjects: Fine Arts in Cultural Context I - IV; which prepare students in art history and theory, philosophy, aesthetics and culture. The historiographical courses are completed with a committee examination after the 4th semester, which makes them part of the first phase of the Bachelor's degree programme. In the second phase (3rd-4th year), they are followed by Theoretical History and the context of the development of the field mapping and interpretive compulsory courses developing critical thinking in the studied medium Issues in Visual Media (Textile Art) and Image Analysis (Textile Art). The teaching of the theoretical courses is aimed at gradual deepening of the range as well as the depth of knowledge, the ability to interpret and analyse this knowledge in the history of clothing, textiles and design.
    • the scope and content of the most important practical courses: Drawing I, II, III, IV, V, VI; Theory of Textile Materials and Textures; Digital Textile Design I, II; Textile Technology I, II, III, IV, V, VI.
  • Practical professional courses are used for the one´s own creative application of the progressively acquired knowledge of technologies, processes and materials; their main aim is to acquire basic skills in drawing and textile design, such as various (hand) craft techniques to digital design and processing. In the field of fashion design, these include the construction of basic garment patterns, pattern manipulation, basic tailoring techniques and garment processing technologies. In textile design, for example, the fundamentals of printmaking technology (direct, reserve, etching and devore printing in various fabrication processes), design and construction of basic and more complex knits and woven fabrics. In the field of free textile creation, for example, various craft and experimental manipulations of textile processes, design and realization of jacquard fabric and digitally processed machine embroidery. All of these practical skills form the foundational pillar for students' ability to create original works and collections.
  • Studio teaching (in the structure: Preparatory Course, Preparatory Studio, Studio) and the main theoretical courses Textiles: Fine Art in Cultural Context I - IV; Issues in Visual Media (Textile Design), Image Analysis (Textile Design); they make a compulsory basis for every student of the Textile Design study programme, they are of a more general nature, they provide students with a basic overview and orientation. They are an essential theoretical foundation for their further own creation.
  • Successful completion of the compulsory courses Studio Teaching, Issues in Art Media (Textile Creation), Image Analysis (Textile Art), ends with the defence of the bachelor´s thesis and the bachelor ´s state examination. For more detailed information see the table in annex Study plan.
  • The Textiles study programme is complemented by a group of compulsory optional courses, which are divided into professional practical and professional theoretical courses. These courses provide the basis for specialisation in the field and at the same time deepen interdisciplinarity with regard to the world of art and culture. The content of the programme also includes courses that improve language training in the field of contemporary art and culture and in soft skills such as the basics of marketing in the arts and project and grant activities.
  • A complementary group of the compulsory foundation and compulsory optional courses are elective courses, through which students have an opportunity to overlap to other study programmes at AFAD such as design, applied arts, photography, printmaking, architecture, intermedia, painting, digital arts and restoration. This group also includes courses that enable direct practice in an external environment directed at the broader field of cultural professions. The elective courses are enriched by a series of courses that, through workshops, courses, excursions and short-term education, respond dynamically to current topics in the field of art and culture, including textile creation, by using renowned practitioners from the artistic and cultural environment, or in the context of the school's internationalisation with foreign teachers and practitioners.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisor of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Visual Communication

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main learning objective in the study programme is to create in the field of visual communication and graphic design, which includes a wide range of knowledge in the field of theory and history of art and design, design thinking, analytical and critical thinking, and skills in proposing design concepts, their prototyping, implementation and preparation for production. Learning includes the acquisition of soft skills in communication, management and presentation.
  • The learning objectivei s a undergraduate´s comprehensive competence to perform the profession of a graphic designer in various specializations. Within the study programme of Visual Communication, teaching is carried out in four specializations - visual identity, typography and type design, multimedia and visual communication in space.
  • The student acquires a basic understanding of the nature of each specialization in the first and second year, during which he/she completes one semester in each specialization. He/she can then choose a particular specialization for the rest of the undergraduate studies or undergo all specialisations during the undergraduate study adhering to compulsory prerequisites. All specializations require a certain amount of knowledge, skills and competences: i.e. independent search, processing and critical evaluation of information necessary for elaborating the assignment, own research of the problem, formulation of the concept, ability to express ideas through drawing but also digital design methods using 2D and 3D software, basics of UX (user experience) and
    UI (user interface) design and basics of augmented and virtual reality.
  • The student is able to evaluate independently the adequacy of the proposed solution in terms of  communication, aesthetics, ecology, ethical principles and social value. The student harnesses advanced imaging tools and digital outputs through which he/she communicates his/her designs to a potential client-partner. He/she understands the production fundamentals and prototyping technologies used in practice. The student is well versed in the material types and properties and their technological processing used in the production of tangible forms of the final products of graphic design and visual communication. For digital forms, the outcome defines the types and properties of digital formats used in digital and online environments. The student is able to communicate, argue and present the outcome of his/her work appropriately using a variety of media interfaces and presentation software.
  • He/she has a basic knowledge of business and marketing and a general knowledge of the theory and history of art and design, philosophy and aesthetics. In the framework of the above mentioned specialisations, he/she acquires additional skills directly in specialised studios in connection with a selection of compulsory optional professional and theoretical courses. (we refer to the Study plan and Subject Information Sheets)
  • The undergraduates develop their specialised professional skills e.g.: via a set of assignments from real clients-institutions with an emphasis on the real use of design in a real environment. The undergraduates are prepared to communicate with a client and design practice with respect to the capabilities and needs of the client. The implementation of teamwork among students; teaching specialized software aimed at the creation of multimedia applications, type design, animation, design of 2D and 3D environments, augmented and virtual reality and teaching how to work with production and prototyping digital devices also help develop the undergraduates professional skills.
  • In order to be prepared within the specializations, students can attend professional workshops with lecturers from various areas of design practice and work placements, which are an invaluable tool for direct contact between students and practice. Students can further complement their specialisation with internships in specialised studios within the Visual Communication study programme, as well as within other study programmes implemented at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. After completion of study, the undergraduates have the necessary awareness of all components of the design process and are employable in the environment of large and small graphic studios, advertising agencies, in-house graphic departments of companies and institutions as part of a creative team, they are able to set up their own graphic studio, or can work as independent designers - freelancers either in are able to set up their own graphic studio, or can work as independent designers - freelancers either in a highly specialized or universal position.
  • The main outputs of education:
    • The undergraduate is able to create a design work such as the design of a font, a book, the visual identity of a product or an event, visual communication in space, UX and UI, multimedia applications, or create an animation, in the context of the current requirements for the design of visual communication, either independently or as a member of a creative team.
    • He/she masters methodical and creative procedures in type design, typography, graphic design of books, magazines, comic books and other print or electronic media, content and visual concepts of visual identity and communication strategies, visual communication in space, information, navigation and other communication systems for both physical and virtual environments, animation and multimedia projects.
    • The undergraduate is able to analyse the client's assignment and propose a solution, which follows the client's intention, respects technological and economic possibilities, a solution, which is in a broader context in line with the social, societal and urban aspects.
    • He/she has a basic knowledge of current findings in the field of visual literacy, design thinking and visual communication trends. He/she masters a wide range of materials and technologies used in
      production. At the same time, he/she is capable of professional dialogue with other professions in the field of printing, computer science and production.
    • The undergraduate is able to communicate his/her design outcome using appropriate presentation software in combination with verbal expression emphasising argumentative competence. He/she has a general knowledge of the history and current events within the field of study, as well as art and culture, and is able to continue further in his/her education and respond flexibly to dynamic changes not only in society but also in the development of technology and new materials.

Applicability:

  • The undergraduate meets requirements to be employed in design and cultural practice in domestic and foreign environments in private sectors, public organizations and institutions. He/she can work independently or as a member of design or interdisciplinary teams (with overlap into other fields of art, e.g. architecture, visual arts, film), in creative production within the creative industry, as an expert in cultural institutions (galleries, museums, theatres, cultural and creative centres).
  • Undegraduates are employable in graphic studios and agencies specializing in advertising design, creation of advertising campaigns and marketing, creation of visual identity (corporate identity and event branding), in publishing teams of print and electronic media, multimedia companies specializing in the creation of computer games and motion design. They can cooperate with architects and create design of communication systems for interior and exterior spaces, work as web designers, design communication materials for state and public administration offices, educational institutions, private companies, work as graphic designers creating book design for various publishing houses, as comic book creators, design packaging design for products in small and large series production, or work as freelance authors.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • In the Visual Communication study programme, students complete the first four semesters in the socalled preparatory courses - Preparatory Course Typo; Preparatory Course Identity; Preparatory Course Multimedia; Preparatory Course Space. They then continue in profile courses of a specific nature and focus on the Studio Teaching. The teaching in Preparatory Courses and Studios is one of the most important credit given parts of the study programme in terms of its content, difficulty of outcomes and time allocation. Studio teaching is divided into specialisations according to the media specification: Typography and Type Design; Visual Identity; Visual Communication in Space; Multimedia.
  • A compulsory component of the profile courses of the study programme is a set of compulsory professional courses, whose content forms the basic and necessary framework of knowledge, skills and competences that the undergraduate of the study programme should master.
  • A compulsory component of the curriculum, in addition to Studio Teaching and compulsory professional courses, are the compulsory historiography courses Visual Arts in Cultural Context, which prepare students in the field of art history, philosophy, aesthetics and culture. The historiographical courses are completed with a committee examination after the 4th semester, thus concluding the first phase of the theoretical knowledge of the undergraduate study. In the second phase (3rd-4th year), they are followed by theoretical and interpretative compulsory courses developing critical thinking in the studied medium, Issues in Visual Media (Visual Communication) and Image Analysis (Visual Communication), which also make the profile foundation. Profile studio courses and profile theoretical courses in the medium bring comprehensive education in creativity and design theory within the educational process. The profile courses Studio Teaching and theoretical courses for the medium of visual communication lead to the defence of the Bachelor's thesis and the state examination with the completion of the given degree.
  • The Visual Communication study programme includes a group of compulsory optional courses, which are divided into professional practical and professional theoretical courses. These courses provide the basis for a media specialisation and at the same time deepen the interdisciplinarity within the scope of the sphere of visual communication design, art and culture. The content also includes courses that improve language training in the field of contemporary visual communication design, arts and culture improve language training in the field of contemporary visual communication design, arts and culture and in soft skills such as the fundamentals of marketing in the arts and basic grant-making skills. Teaching of soft skills is also planned in the form of block teaching and professional workshops to keep the information and knowledge up to date with practice.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisor of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

 

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Conservation and Restoration

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • AFAD – Department of Conservation and Restoration as a full member of ENCoRE (European Network of Conservation-Restoration Education) respects the rules of the organization and follows its recommendations in the field of conservation-restoration educational programme. It adheres to strict conditions for the structure of the educational programme and implements it in regard to the ratio of theory and practice, as well as to the required ratio of the number of students per teacher.
  • The main educational goal of the study programme Conservation and Restoration in the bachelor's degree is based on a comprehensive understanding of the issue of restoration, which students acquire through the necessary theoretical knowledge and manual skills. Bachelor's studies in the 1st and 2nd year are within preparatory studios primarily based on developing the fundamentals of the students' artistic skills in the field of traditional techniques of painting and sculpture disciplines and craft habits cultivated in symbiosis with thinking. The acquired knowledge and skills represent an essential foundation for the restoration of works of art in the further process of education. During this period, students also acquire a general overview of basic restoration and technological issues of various restoration specializations. Subsequently, in the 3rd and 4th year of study, student learn the basic principles of the restoration process, acquire practical skills and knowledge in the field of restoration and conservation of artworks of various material nature, also in the field of restoration research, as well as knowledge of the philosophy and methodology of monument protection. Based on their preferences, at the beginning of the 3rd year, students choose in which of the specialized studios they will deepen their restoration skills - they can choose among the Studios of both 2D and 3D disciplines.
  • In the fifth, sixth and seventh semesters, students complete their studies in three Studios (or Laboratories) of their choice, present in the department, following the principle of rotation (one semester = one studio). They choose from five specialized studios and one laboratory: Studio of Stone Sculptures and Stone Elements of Architecture Restoration, Studio of Wooden Sculptures Conservation and Restoration, Studio of Artwork on Paper and Photography and Other Media Restoration, Studio of Textile Conservation and Restoration, Studio of Painting Conservation and Restoration, Laboratory of Wall Paintings Conservation and Restoration.
  • Students' individual orientation is expressed within the bachelor's thesis in the eighth semester, which is realized in one of the three studios completed during the rotation in the previous semesters
  • The programme of the Studios and the Laboratory is formed by the concept of the head teacher. At the bachelor's degree, the studies consist of creative participation in the teacher's assignments and individual dialogue with students. The main purpose of the studies is to acquire general foundations in a whole set of specialized activities: from various types of non-destructive and destructive research methods, including chemical-technological research, through the restoration itself to the development of two-stage restoration documentation. Students are led to the highest artistic and ethical responsibility and become familiar with the autonomous role of the restorer in the structure of monument protection, gallery and museum practice.
  • Based on the studies following the principle of rotation in several specialized studios, graduates master practical skills and knowledge in the field of restoration and conservation of artworks of different material nature, as well as restoration research. They know how to use technologies and materials according to the focus of the specialized Studio of the Department of Conservation and Restoration. Moreover, graduates have knowledge of the history of fine arts and architecture, aesthetics and the theory of art and architecture. They are able to creatively use the acquired skills and knowledge and also maintain contact with developments in their discipline. They know how to take a stand and present attitudes in the field of culture, organize their further professional growth and cooperate with other professions in the realization of restoration work. Graduates are usually employed in team restoration professions in the realization of restoration work. Graduates are usually employed in team restoration projects, or continue a subsequent master's degree study, since generally, all bachelor's degree graduates apply for a master's degree as it is a regulated profession.
  • The main outputs of education:
    • ENCoRE for the bachelor's degree in the field of conservation-restoration, within the framework of mastering certain parameters of skills, knowledge and competences, assumes level EKR 6, as defined by the partner international association E.C.C.O. (European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers Organizations) in the publication Competences for Access to the Conservation-Restoration Profession © E.C.C.O. 2011 – European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers Organizations A.I.S.B.L. / Confédération Européenne des Organizations de Conservateurs-Restaurateurs A.I.S.B.L.; Susan Corr, (coordinator) and co-authors, 2nd edition ISBN 978-92-990010-7-3, p. 35-38 (Available at: https://www.ecco-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ECCO_Competences_EN.pdf).

Applicability:

  • Graduates of the study programme Conservation and Restoration in the the bachelor's degree have a level of manual skill and sufficient problem-solving skills to handle technical tasks in the field of conservation-restoration of artworks. A critical understanding of theories and principles enables the individual to work in conservation-restoration field in a specific limited area under the supervision of a professional conservator-restorer. Graduates master the basic restoration skills and knowledge necessary for chemical-technological and restoration research and its evaluation, elaboration of a proposal for restoration, as well as the restoration realization and its detailed documentation. They can apply them creatively when performing the restoration profession as part of team restoration projects, or when continuing their studies according to the master's study programme. Graduates have knowledge of the philosophy and methodology of the restoration process, general knowledge of the history of fine arts and architecture, as well as of the theory of art, aesthetics and the history of culture. They are able to carry out restoration research, to restore works of art and use the entire range of
    technological procedures and materials resulting from the focus of the study programme. Students are able to cooperate in professional activities with other professions, maintain contact with developments in their discipline, adopt and present positions in the field of material culture, follow appropriate practices in accordance with the professional, ethical, legal, economic and ecological framework of their profession and present their activity also in a foreign language. Graduates are able to critically assess their abilities so that they re motivated to achieve their own professional goals, which they can identify and autonomously evaluate for their own benefit and growth.
  • Graduates have the skills and competences for independent economic functioning in society. They can choose an appropriate form of artistic operation for their creative activities (SZČO, s. r. o., O. Z., etc.) and use the possibilities of supporting grant and residency schemes in the local and foreign environment. They can lead technical procedures within clearly defined areas of conservationrestoration and are able to take responsibility for technical tasks that are not complex. Even though they are able to manage technical equipment and take over basic management duties, they do not yet reach the qualification level to be able to oversee the entire conservation restoration process. With their level of competence, they are able to manage technical workers who have a lower qualification level.
  • The type of education that the AFAD provides under the name of Restoration corresponds to the content to which the profession, which is also internationally and globally predominantly referred to as Conservator or Conservator-Restorer, appertains.
  • The possibilities of employment of a graduate of the bachelor's degree of the Restoration study
    programme are in practice partially limited by two laws: Law no. 49/2002 Coll. and Law no. 200/1994
    Coll.
    • Law no. 49/2002 Coll. (Law on the protection of the monument fund) in § 33 Restoration of a cultural monument par. 7, stipulates that: Restoration of cultural monuments can be carried out by a) a member of the Chamber of Restorers or b) a university within the study programme Restoration carried out in the field of study Restoration.
    • Law no. 200/1994 Coll. (Law of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on the Chamber of Restorers and on the execution of restoration activities of its members) in § 4 par. 2 to 3 stipulates that the restoration of artworks of painting, sculpture or applied art that are collection objects or are national cultural monuments may only be carried out by restorers who are members of the chamber, unless a special regulation states otherwise. § 5 par. 2 letter d) specifies that a person can be listed in the list of members of the chamber if they have the education according to § 5a and at least three years of professional experience. § 5a in par. 1 stipulates that: "Minimum requirements for restoration education according to § 5 par. 2 letter d) is a second-level art university restoration education completed by successfully passing the state final exam (...), which lasted at least five years of full-time study or at least six years of total study, of which at least four years of full-time study."
  • The statutory text of the above-mentioned legal provisions defines the field of activity for the graduate of the bachelor's degree study programme Restoration in the execution of the profession. As independent restorers, they can participate in the restoration of only those objects and works of fine art that are not collection objects or are not listed as a national cultural monument. Bachelor's degree graduates also find employment as assistant restorers in restoration collectives led by a restorer with membership in the Chamber of Restorers, whether in the private sector or in institutions for the protection of monuments, museums and galleries. Within the institutions, a bachelor's degree graduate can be employed as a Conservation and Restoration Technician (in the Slovak statistical classification employment listed within the group Professional and technical workers in galleries, museums, libraries and archives - 3433008). In this way, graduates are able to participate in restoration projects in the full range of their complexity, from restoration research to restoration realisation. They can also find employment in planning departments or outreach activities.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • The four-year bachelor's degree consists of two equal parts divided into two-year blocks. In both, studio courses are the most important credit component of the study programme in terms of content, difficulty of output and time allowance.
  • The first part - including the first and second year of study - can be described as preparatory, aimed at developing skills in the field of traditional techniques of painting and sculpting disciplines, also taking into account the needs of restoration practice. In accordance with admission exams for bachelor's studies, in which applicants are admitted to one study programme (i.e. without distinguishing painting or sculpture specialisation), the concept of the first part of the study is also oriented. In the first year, every student must take the Preparatory Course of Painting and the Preparatory Course of Sculpture - both courses have a time allowance of one semester. In the second year, instead of courses, students have a focus subject within the studio courses and must complete one semester in the Painting training studio for restorers and one semester in the Sculpture training studio for restorers.
  • Simultaneously in the first and second year, in the form of lectures, students also acquire a general overview of the basic restoration and technological issues of different restoration specialisations and restoration research.
  • By completing the first two years of study, students thus acquire the identical practical and theoretical basis, which forms the starting point for their further studies. During this period, in addition to developing and establishing their artistic skills, students have the opportunity to decide the direction of their further studies. In the 2nd year, at the very end of the fourth semester, based on proven abilities and their own preferences, they choose in which specialised Studios they want to develop their professional growth and skills during the next two years. Theoretical lectures focused on different specialisations of restoration also help students to make the optimal choice.
  • In the second part - carried out in the third and fourth year of study based on their choice - students primarily acquire practical skills and knowledge in the field of restoration and conservation of artworks of various material nature, as well as restoration research. Studio courses of both basic fields pass according to the specialisations represented by different studios, or so-called Laboratory that replaces studio courses.
  • Students complete the fifth, sixth and seventh semester in three different Studios or Laboratories of their own choice, based on the principle: one semester = one Studio/Laboratory. Students have the opportunity to choose from five specialised Studios and one Laboratory: Studio of Stone Sculptures and Stone Elements of Architecture Restoration, Studio of Wooden Sculptures Conservation and Restoration, Studio of Artwork on Paper and Photography and Other Media Restoration, Studio of Textile Conservation and Restoration, Studio of Painting Conservation and Restoration, Laboratory of Wall Paintings Conservation and Restoration. The individual focus of students is defined during the preparation of bachelor's thesis in the eighth semester, which is realised in one of the three Studios completed during the previous semesters.
  • The programme of the different Studios and the Laboratory is formed by the concept of the head teacher. At the bachelor's degree, the study consists primarily of work on studio assignments, which are continuously consulted in the form of an individual dialogue between a teacher and a student. At the same time, the head teachers complement the studio courses with theoretical lectures devoted to various issues within their own specialisation. The main part of the studio assignments consists of the restoration of historical artefacts - monuments that come from various sources: galleries, museums, private collections, churches, public spaces, etc.; in the case of wall paintings, they are part of immovable monuments. The assignment may consist of an individual work intended for restoration or a complete set of works or, on the contrary, several unrelated works, depending on the nature, character or extent of damage and the expected difficulty of restoration/conservation work on selected monuments. In the case of more monumental monuments (e.g. altarpieces, large-format paintings, wall paintings, stone sculptural groups, etc.), students can participate in the ensemble by comprehensive restoration of a selected part of the ensemble, or only by selected actions within the framework of cooperation with other students participating in the restoration of such a work. The assignment also takes into account the difficulty of realisation of the specific restoration issue, which must be adequate to the students' abilities and level of study. Suitable works for restoration as part of studio courses are provided by the head teacher of the Studio/Laboratory. If the nature of the restored artefact requires it (e.g. its multi-material composition), for the success and complexity of the professional intervention, inter-studio cooperation will naturally be created; in the case of other specific needs, the responsible teacher ensures cooperation with the external subjects. The intention to include the widest possible spectrum of different issues in the specialisation during studies in the given Studio or Laboratory is also followed by the selection of works for restoration or various additional exercises.
  • The main purpose of studying in the different Studios and the Laboratory is to acquire general basis in a whole set of specialised activities: from various types of non-destructive and destructive research a whole set of specialised activities: from various types of non-destructive and destructive research methods, including chemical-technological research, through the restoration realisation itself to the preparation of two-stage restoration documentation in accordance with Law no. 49/2002 Coll. as amended.
  • A mandatory component of the profile subjects of the study programme is a professional subject, the most important one in regards of the scope and content: Restoration research I – VIII, which prepares students comprehensively in the chemical-physical-technological areas of restoration research. The complexity of training in other fields of theoretical and practical skills of future restorers is complemented by other mandatory professional subjects: Technological copy I - VIII, Drawing I - VII, Introduction to restoration I - IV, Restoration documentation I - VI, Photography basics for restorers, Introduction to law and protection of cultural heritage, Creative stay in country.
  • A comprehensive base of knowledge from historical and art studies focused on the history of art from the earliest times to the present, as well as on specific areas of the selected study programme, is provided by an extensive set of compulsory theoretical subjects: Visual arts in a cultural context I - IV, Introduction to studies I - II, Issues of visual arts techniques (restoration - monument care) I - II, Image analysis (restoration - iconography) I - II, Issues of Slovak visual arts I - II.
  • Successful completion of Studio courses and successful completion of theoretical subjects ends with the defence of the bachelor's thesis in the bachelor's and state exams.
  • The study programme Restoration is supplemented by a group of compulsory optional subjects, which are divided into professional practical, which expand the basis for one's own specialisation, and theoretical subjects, which deepen the overlaps between the world of art and culture with philosophy, aesthetics, religion or psychology. The content also includes subjects that improve language training in the field of art and culture.
  • A complementary group of compulsory basis and compulsory optional subjects are optional subjects, through which students have the opportunity for extension to other study programs at the AFAD. This group also includes a subject enabling direct practice in an external environment. Optional subjects are enriched by a number of subjects that, through workshops, courses, field trips and in the form of shortterm education, respond dynamically to current art topics by including renowned professionals from the artistic and cultural scene, or as part of the school's internationalisation through foreign teachers and practitioners.
  • From the 4th to 7th semester of the bachelor's studies, if students are interested or need to expand their knowledge with another framework of another restoration specialisation, they have the opportunity to take the optional subject Additional Studio in another specialised Studio or Laboratory in the study programme Restoration.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisor of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

Link to the Chamber of Restorers

  • President of the Chamber of Restorers:
    • Mgr. art. Barbara Davidson, ArtD.
  • List of members of the Expert Commission for Restoration Education of the Chamber of Restorers:
    • Mgr. art. Juraj Puškár
    • Mgr. Peter Gomboš, academic painter – restorer
    • Tomáš Lupták, academic sculptor

 

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Architecture

Graduate profile and learning objectives:

  • The main goal of the education in the study program Architectural Creation in its Bachelor degree (BA) is to provide a general basis and complex knowledge, skills, and competence in the field of architectural designing. Formulation of an architectural concept, design, and the project is realized alongside the study and creation of visual art and design, the study of mathematics and geometry in architecture, of construction and technical disciplines and materials, the latter ones being synthesized at the end of the study within this program in a complex architectural project. The Bachelor's degree provides the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for the creation of architectural and urban works based on particular courses in typology, space structuralization (geometrization and mathematization), contraction (building constructions, statics, and construction physics), visualization and representation (physical and digital), a materialization of work, including projects of urban and landscape environment. Architectural designing is realized in the preparatory course and afterward in particular architectural studios, according to their specializations. The studios are the center cores of the Bachelor study. The students acquire introductory and essential knowledge, skills, and abilities for
    architectural designing in the contexts of historically approved, established and up-to-date, and tested
    procedures of creation.
  • The education in architectural studios is realized in cooperation with other artistic, scientific and technological disciplines, with regard to a broader context and the autonomy of architectural creation. It leads to overcoming conventional standards and to the ability to formulate autonomous procedures, strategies, and programs in the Master's degree of study. The education in basic designing is supported by the cooperation of the studios, as well as by knowledge in other subjects focusing on philosophy, aesthetics, cultural history, theory of art, architecture, urbanism, and land art.
  • The main outputs of education: 
    • The Bachelor graduates can work as members of a creative group/studio and are able to design architectural and urban work, according to the demands of authorized design studios, companies, and consortiums and in accordance with the requirements of the Slovak Chamber of Architects (SCA). With the following work experience in designing and project coordination, and after successfully passing exams, they are capable of acquiring the authorization certificate issued by the SCA. The BA graduates are able to understand, critically analyze, evaluate and interpret the contents of art, design, architectural and urban work (text, object, or a collection of objects), including the problems that might result from them.
    • The BA graduates are able to formulate, analyze, interpret and present their works in their mother language and in the English language. Thanks to their abilities in designing, presentation and coordination, they have the potential to work in the domestic or international environment, particularly in architecture and urbanism. They are able to critically evaluate and further develop their abilities and skills in the second or third degree of study and in life-long education.
    • The BA graduates are able to interact culturally and socially. They are able to pursue individual and teamwork and take responsibility for their individual part and the overall outcome of the project task. During their study, they acquire a basis to understand, respect, and support diversity, otherness, and the unique merit of people across cultures and societies.

Applicability:

  • The Bachelor graduates (BA) of Architectural Creation (AC) are able to create designs and realize projects individually or in a team, in all their fields (artistic, technical, and technological) and stages (from preparatory to a complex project). The graduates are further able to critically reevaluate traditional interpretations of history, theory, and design, as well as to interpret their own work in the domestic or international context.
  • The Bachelor study course prepares the students for further higher education at home or abroad. It allows them to develop basic standard and experimental analog or digital visualization, modeling, and designing procedures and tools.
  • The graduates are qualified for work in a broad artistic, architectural-urban and cultural practice, in private or public institutions, or in Civil Service. They can work in inter- or transdisciplinary teams (overlapping with the fields of design, visual arts, video, photography, film, scenography, etc.). Further, they can work in the field of exhibition architecture (gallery, museum, Kunsthalle), as professionals in the services of a municipality (in the field of architecture, territorial development, landscape development, monuments preservation, and nature protection).
  • In order for a bachelor's degree graduate to meet the condition of a regulated profession, he/she must also complete a master's degree. Almost 100% of bachelor's degree graduates continue their master's degree studies at VŠVU or at another university specializing in architecture. Otherwise, they would not be able to practice the profession of architect.

Structure and content of the study programme:

  • In the study program Architectural Creation, the profile courses have a specific character in the context of the art study, particularly in the case of education in studios. The education in studios is the most important segment of the study program, due to its content, the character of procedures, the complexity of outcomes, and time requirements. Among the compulsory specialized subjects of the study program, there are the key courses from the exact sciences and constructional courses (Mathematics and Geometry in Architecture, Civil Engineering, Constructions and Materials), as well as the complex history-based course Visual Arts in the Cultural Context that prepares students in the area of art history, architecture, philosophy, aesthetics, and culture. The history-based courses are concluded with an examination by an examination board after the 4th semester. The follow-up theoretical and interpretational courses Problems of Visual Media (Architecture) and Picture Analysis (Architecture) and Studio course belong to the compulsory basis of the BA study in the study program Architectural Creation. The successful completion of Architectural Creation concludes with the defense
    of a BA project (a complex project and civil engineering). The successful completion of the subjects Problems of Visual Media (Architecture) and Picture Analysis (Architecture) concludes with the common state exam after the 8th semester.
  • Further compulsory courses in architecture develop skills of classical drawing specialized in architecture and design (Drawing-Design and Architecture), digital skills oriented to architectural designing (Basics of Digital Drawing for Architects, Basis of Digital Modeling-Rhino), and last but not least important knowledge in the relationship between architecture and urbanism (Urbanism - projects for a city).
  • At the beginning of their study (1st grade), the students attend the compulsory course (Introduction to the Study) that offers information, orientation, and knowledge from all study programs of the BA studies at AFAD. The goal is to develop relationships among study programs and interest in the overlaps of media in the course of study. The compulsory theoretical course Problem of Slovak Visual Art contributes to the complex knowledge in the field of visual art in Slovakia.
  • The study program Architectural Creation is completed by a group of compulsorily optional courses, divided into specialized practical ones (Drawing-Design and Architecture, Digital Depiction, Modelling and Designing, Digital Fabrication/Robotic Lab/CAM, Creative Programming, Creation of Games and Interactive Environments) and specialized theoretical courses (Foreign Language, English Conversation - 1st Grade, Psychological-Philosophical Exploration of Presence, Reading, writing and Argumentation, Religion and Art, Philosophy of Culture, Philosophical Hermeneutics, Phenomenological Aesthetics). These courses offer the basis of specialization in required skills and knowledge, and at the same time, they deepen the interdisciplinarity of the program Architectural Creation at the art school.
  • Additional group to the compulsory basis and the compulsory optional courses is represented by optional courses (Basics of Computer Modeling, Modeling in MAYA Program, Digital Image Processing (Photoshop), Vector Graphics (Illustrator), Layout Basics (InDesign), Photography Basics I, II, (Photoshop), Vector Graphics (Illustrator), Layout Basics (InDesign), Photography Basics I, II, Screenprinting on Fabric, Painting Basics/ Color Theory, Marketing for Artists, Graphic Space and Object, Bioart and Nature Art, Dramaturgy of Visual Art Material, Basics of Design, Models Constructions Technologies, Painting and Decoration Techniques in Glass Processes, TECHNO-logy, Video clip and Postproduction, Design and Construct - 1st Grade, Introduction to the Chinese Culture and Language – 2nd Grade). These courses offer basic knowledge and skills in the study and in reflection of other media from other study programs at AFAD.
  • The optional courses are broadened by additional ones (Specialized Workshop - 1st Grade, Specialized Excursion - Biennale Venice - 1st Grade, Specialized Excursion - 1st Grade, Short-term Educational Course - 1st Grade). In the forms of workshops, courses, excursions, or short-term education, they dynamically react to current issues by inviting renowned professionals or through the internationalization of the school in cooperation with foreign pedagogues and professionals. Here also belongs the course Supplementary Internship - 1st Grade that allows the opportunity to practice in an external environment of a broader spectrum of architectural, urban, design, and cultural professions.
  • The specificity of the learning process in this study program is an external traineeship (Traineeship - 1st Grade) that can take place in architectural, urban, or design studios and companies. The traineeship is intensive during the whole semester and the main intention is a creative process. As such it can be accepted as a supplement to studio education. More information is on AFAD website.

 

The main pedagogue responsible for the study programme:

Person responsible for the delivery, development, and quality of the study programme:

Other pedagogues providing the study programme:

Outputs of the creative activity of the study program

Study advisors of the study programme:

Student representatives who represent the interests of study program students:

 

Description of the study programme:

Study plan of the study programme:

Subject information sheets of the study programme:

Link to the Slovak Chamber of Architects

 

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You can also find the study plans of the individual study programs in the Handbook – Bedeker.

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Bedeker for study planning 2022/2023PDF, 1.35 MB