Art and Craft
The Art and Craft department offers an art training in the fields of ceramics, textile, print and drawing, metal and jewellery, art and public space.
The department has an experimental approach to workshop-based art practices. We are a meeting place that invites interdisciplinary collaborations and the exchange of knowledge between material-based art and strategies for art and public space. Our study programmes emphasise the exploration of craft-based knowledge and the connections between art, society and the individual.
The Oslo National Academy of the Arts has some of the most advanced workshop facilities in Europe. At the Art and Craft department the workshop is a central arena for teaching, artistic development and research.
As a student at the department you will be part of an inspiring professional environment. Our teaching and research staff are an international group of practising artists with specialist knowledge within their respective fields. Seminars and lectures with prominent artists, curators and art critics are an important part of our study programmes. Students are expected to take an active public role by exhibiting and participating in the art scene.
BFA in Medium- and Material Based Art
The Bachelor programme offers specialist art training in ceramics, textile, print and drawing, metal and jewellery.
The programme consists of a number of core subjects that are complemented by various optional courses. Craft-based investigations of materials and the development of a relevant conceptual framework are central to the programme. Writing and theoretical reflection are important aspects of the studies. Over the course of the programme, students will develop confidence in one or more fields of specialisation and establish a considered relationship to craft, art history and contemporary art. The workshops are run by highly skilled technicians, and the students have access to both traditional tools and advanced, contemporary technology. The teaching staff impart their expertise and artistic research through practical demonstrations, specialist courses and individual supervision. The BFA programme in medium and material-based art is a three-year, full-time course.
Apply for admission
Søknadsweb (the application portal) and information about the admission process will be available two months before the application deadline.
MFA in Medium- and Material Based Art
In the MFA programme in medium- and material-based art, students work on developing their own artistic practice. They are given the opportunity to further their research and development in the disciplines of ceramics, textile, print and drawing, metal and jewellery. The programme’s interdisciplinary structure promotes collaboration and innovation across the various areas of specialisation. The study emphasises artistic independence and encourages an experimental and interdisciplinary approach to the department’s range of specialisation areas.
Students are assigned a main tutor and allocated a workspace in one of the specialisation areas. The programme combines individual tutoring with hands-on workshops, group critiques, seminars, lectures and student-led study groups. Exhibition Practice and Writing Practice are integral components of the MFA programme. As part of the studies students gain insight into methods of artistic research and development. The international learning environment accommodates English-speaking students. The programme is a two-year, full-time course.
Read more about the workshops.
Apply for admission
Søknadsweb (the application portal) and information about the admission process will be available two months before the application deadline.
MFA in Art and Public Space
The transdisciplinary programme Art and Public Space is situated in the intersection between art practice and art theory. It recruits students from various fields of art practice. The programme allows students to explore the role of art in the public space through their own artistic practice and in an international student environment. The core of the programme relates to the development and production of art projects in public spaces, as well as analysis and exploration of art’s encounter with various types of public spaces, reception conditions and social structures.
As a student you will develop and produce your own art projects and investigate art in various public contexts. The studies provide you with wide-ranging practical and theoretical knowledge about art, as well as insight into methods of artistic research and development. The programme combines individual supervision with seminars, lectures and student-led study groups. The studies accommodate English-speaking students. The programme is a two-year, full-time course.
Read more about related projects here.
Apply for admission
Søknadsweb (the application portal) and information about the admission process will be available two months before the application deadline.
Textile
Textile art represents a way of thinking, creating, writing and expressing ourselves. In this specialisation, you will learn to dye fibres using chemical recipes and plants, spin yarn and read philosophy, art history and political theory. Weaving, prints and embroidery all serve to express our ideas in multi-layered ways.
At the Academy, textile art is taught through practical instruction in workshops and through seminars where students learn about textile practices, dying, analogue and digital weaving, silk screens, digital/analogue textile prints and digital/analogue embroidery. We are regularly visited by national and international guest artists, curators and theorists. As a student you will be supervised both individually and in groups. We also have auditorium-based teaching in theory and art history.
Metal and Jewellery
We offer Norway’s only higher education art programme that specialises in jewellery art and object design. Jewellery creates identity and is personal, but it is worn and communicated in a social setting. Objects, corpora and sculptures are also conveyors of meaning, with tradition serving as the basis for innovation and artistic processes. This specialisation also explores site-specific art and public art.
The teaching is based on artistic praxis with a focus on craft and materials, in parallel with art theory and methodology. Experimentation and exploration, both practical and conceptual, are strongly emphasised. The Academy’s workshops are unique, and as a student you will have the opportunity to learn more about techniques such as soldering, founding, forging, welding and patinating. You will primarily work on individual projects under the supervision of professional practitioners. We organise seminars, lectures and discussions. As a student you will benefit from a large professional network and a wealth of international guest teachers.
Ceramics
Ceramic art encompasses a broad array of artistic approaches to the use of clay and ceramics. Ceramic art is closely connected to the field of contemporary craft as well as to fine art and design, and it has played an influential role throughout art history. In this specialisation you will work on your own individual projects under the supervision of professional, practising artists. The wide range of skill sets to be found among the section’s staff within ceramics allows our students to approach the field in a variety of ways. We actively draw upon our contacts in the international ceramics art community in lectures and seminars, as well as in the guise form of invited guest artists.
By working hands-on in the workshops, you will explore materials, techniques and conceptual strategies and methods with an eye towards becoming more aware of your own artistic idiom and style. The overall goal of the teaching is to provide broad insight into the field of ceramic art, in addition to providing you with the knowledge and skills that are needed to work as a professional ceramic artist.
Print and Drawing
The focus in this specialisation is on graphic techniques such as intaglio, lithography, screen printing and relief printing as well as photo-based processes in these media. The specialisation also includes drawing and book art.
The radical transformations in the field of printmaking in recent years have changed modern approaches to the medium. Printmaking is a democratic form of expression that may include everything from posters and inscribed buttons to clothes, cakes and graffiti. Prints may also include printed medium-density fibreboards (MDFs) and digitally manipulated silk screens, tapestries incorporated in installations, or woodcuts where the matrix itself takes centre stage in the work. Printmaking thus turns up in a variety of forms within the wider field of graphic art.
Drawing is closely related to graphic forms of expression and covers everything from sketches and drawing as developmental and conceptual tools to drawing as a unique form of art, and to drawing combined with other materials and techniques. Drawing has gradually become an important idiom in contemporary art, whether expressed on paper, walls or tablets, showcased in artist’s books, or conveyed through other techniques of mass production.
Discover more about our Print & Drawing students: grafikk.khio.no
Student exchange
If you are interested in becoming an exchange student at Oslo National Academy of the Arts, read more at the Student Exchange page.
