Master of Arts [M.A] Print Featured Image

Universities United Kingdom Royal College of Art Courses Master of Arts [M.A] Print

Master of Arts [M.A] Print
at Royal College of Art

London, United Kingdom

Tuition Fee £ 32,000
Country Rank#123
Duration12 Months
Score IELTS: 6.5

Program Overview

The MA Print programme positions Print as an expanded field which situates the printing press as the prehistory of computing and the web. We collectively explore the many ways technically mediated images alter and expand the world. Students work from a range of positions, some working through print, making prints directly and others work with print, using archives, broadcast media, collage and installation to explore the rich cultural legacies of printed matter. We aim to develop the potential of each student in ways appropriate to their concerns and consciously select an extremely diverse group of students to creatively expand the field.

Seminars, visiting artists, publishing projects and the wider environment of the School, College and London help to provide a critical framework to question the nature of expanded Print practices. The multiplication of images always raises questions of originality, authenticity and value. Print includes industrial production and craft processes. Its history is inextricably linked to commerce, entertainment and education. As the demand increases for all Fine Art practices to be replicated and transmitted digitally, the difference between hard copy and screen-based images grows ever more complex as evidenced by current debates about NFT’s and the role of social media. How do shifts in the registers of different media affect our lives, ways of communicating and the stories we tell?

Engaging with a wide range of artists and archives places debates within the programme in a state of dynamic flux.

The faculty are all practicing artists working in a wide range of media who share a fascination with the centrality of print and replication to contemporary culture. Students have access to well-equipped technical workshops across the college. However, the programme is not primarily about technical skills, but about how technologies are used to communicate and distribute images, ideas and understandings.

Course Content
Term 1

The Orientation, Induction and Experimentation unit introduces the programme with a series of orientation sessions and technical inductions. Seminars and external visits to exhibitions and archives will help you understand the expanded field of Print in the context of the broad field of contemporary art. You will be encouraged to experiment with new ways of making to challenge existing models of thinking and demonstrate this through studio practice.

Across Terms 1 and 2, you will participate in the College-wide unit. This unit aims to support students to meet the challenges of a complex, uncertain and changing world by bringing them together to work collaboratively on a series of themed projects informed by expertise within and beyond the College. These projects will challenge you to use your intellect and imagination to address key cultural, social, environmental and economic challenges. In doing so, you will develop and reflect on the abilities required to translate knowledge into action, and help demonstrate the contribution that the creative arts can make to our understanding and experience of the world.

Term 2

The aim of the Development and Context unit is to focus on deepening an engagement with both producing work and through discussion, understanding the ways in which it might be read, displayed and contextualised. To this end the holding of a group exhibition/event, and a publication project give you deadlines and experience of professional contexts.

In term 2 all School of Arts & Humanities students will participate in the Urgency of the Arts, School-wide unit. Through this unit we ask: what does arts and humanities research and practice have to offer in our current socio-political climate? The unit introduces students to a diverse range of perspectives, approaches and practices relevant to contemporary practice and thought in the Arts & Humanities. The delivery is devised to help you identify and query your own practices and disciplinary assumptions through encounters with others and within the various practices undertaken by students in the School, and to raise awareness around contemporary concerns. You will be supported in understanding the ramifications of your own work and practice within a broad cultural context, and to recognise its many potentially unintended readings and consequences.

Term 3

Independent Research Project

You will have submitted a plan for your independent research project at the end of term 2 based on the experience of the exhibition and publications projects in term 2. The Independent Research Project emphasises the sharing of work with an audience. The focus is on completing work which synthesises and builds upon the work of the last two terms. You will be expected to make, curate and exhibit in the context of a group exhibition. Most MA Print students would work in exhibition though a few may choose publication as the principal form. The shift is towards identifying forms of presentation and understanding individual needs in terms of future professional development. In the closing weeks of term, professional development activities, applying for grants, setting up studios, self- employment and residency applications are the focus of school-wide events. MA Print students are required to participate in a public ‘Print Out’ panel discussion with invited guests.
Entry Requirement
Candidates are selected entirely on merit and applications are welcomed from all over the world. The selection process considers creativity, imagination and innovation as demonstrated in your portfolio, as well as your potential to benefit from the programme and to achieve high MA standards overall.

You’re expected to have completed a BA degree. In recent years, students have come from fine art, printmaking, painting, sculpture, photo media, conservation, illustration, design, textiles, architecture and interactive arts courses. While many students enter the course after years of independent work, we also accept students directly from undergraduate courses.

We are looking for candidates who are excited about the potential of engaging with the College-wide peer group, and making the most of the educational opportunities the Programme offers. You may not have made prints before but should have a keen interest in the nature of the multiplied image and the desire to investigate the ideas we engage with.

Portfolio requirements

Your portfolio is a showcase of your work as an artist or designer and can be made up of images, videos or writing examples. Your portfolio helps us to better understand your application and allows you to show evidence of your ability and motivation to undertake a given programme.

Generally, we’re looking for you to demonstrate your:
- Creativity, imagination and innovation
- Ability to articulate the intentions of the work
- Intellectual engagement in areas relevant to the work
- Technical skills appropriate to the work
- Potential to benefit from the programme
Fees & Scholarships
Overseas and EU - £32,000*

Cost Of Studying At Royal College of Art

Interest rates as low as 8.9% ^*

250K+

Students Assisted

800Cr+

Loan Amount Disbursed

5000+

Loans Sanctioned

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Master of Arts [M.A] Print at Royal College of Art