The honours program supports and develops your capacity as a practicing artist and active researcher in the field of contemporary art.
This program is designed for students who have successfully completed a three-year degree in contemporary art or craft, or an equivalent field, and who wish to undertake a further year of study to focus exclusively on an individual project.
At this level of study, you will engage within a high-level intensive program, deepening and enriching your practice through expertise, knowledge and criticality.
You will be guided through personalized mentor ship and individual supervision, as you are introduced to practice-led research and research methodologies.
A flexible curriculum provides opportunities for you to develop an individual project and to further your knowledge and capability for professional or highly skilled art practice, and/or further learning at a postgraduate level.
Study streams
There are five study streams to choose from:
- Contemporary art practices involves an individual contemporary art project within any medium, method or strategy, including painting, drawing, installation practices, moving image, photography, spatial practices, print image practices, or conceptual and post-object based art practices.
- Sound art practices allows you to focus on the development of a contemporary sonic art project, interrogating themes and practices derived from composition, performance, exhibition and audio-vision.
- Contemporary art and craft practices leads you to produce an individual contemporary art and/or craft project, with emphasis on object-based practices. This may include ceramics or gold and silversmiths, but may equally include other fields of craft related practice.
- Curatorial practices allows you to develop your curatorial practice, investigating the discourses and hybridized spaces between art practice and curator ship. Applicants are required to have undertaken prior studies in the field of contemporary art or craft.
- Trans disciplinary practices - A project may be solo or collaborative, specialized or trans disciplinary, in which multiple art forms and practices may converge.
Focus of the program
The program provides a supportive and consultative environment, emphasizing independent practice, research and development, where you will form your own project and personal course of study through consultation with academic staff.
All academic staff within the program are artists, theorists or curators with local, national and, in most instances, international experience.
The program is designed as a full-year course of study to build upon your previous undergraduate studies, with a refined contemporary art project as a final outcome. Consequently, having devised an informed and rigorous contemporary art practice, our alumni are ready for high levels of practice and are regularly involved in local, national and international art events, or in undertaking a postgraduate research degree.
Career
The arts and creative industries continue to grow in Australia, and particularly within Melbourne. This is due to increased interest, along with government support and a longstanding cultural focus across the arts in general.
Funding opportunities remain ample and established institutions – including the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Heide Museum of Modern Art and RMIT Gallery, combined with artist-run spaces and many commercial galleries – provide an exciting environment and many opportunities for our graduates.
Multi-skilled and employable in a range of creative industries, our graduates continue to make significant contributions to contemporary art and culture, nationally and internationally.
In the School of Art at RMIT University we pride ourselves in achieving outcomes that not only prepare for, but enhance the future careers of our graduates. ‘Work ready’ is a term often used to describe these qualities; with our graduates seen as future leaders, or indeed shapers of the ‘world of work’.
Many of our graduates have continued on to become:
- artists in every field of contemporary art, craft, sound and performance art
- photographers
- sound engineers
- musicians and sound performers
- teachers, academics and researchers
- curators and museum personnel
- arts writers and theorists
- arts administrators and cultural officers
- technical specialists within a wide range of creative and cultural fields
- moving image practitioners, including film making
