Master of Arts in Visual Art

Purpose

The purpose of the Master of Arts in Visual Art is to enable learners to develop high levels of specialised knowledge and expertise in research within the fields of Visual Art or Art History and Theory. The qualification will prepare learners for entry into the diverse careers in the visual industries by enabling learners to produce creative solutions to complex problems within a specialist area of studio practice and to conduct research under supervision. Qualifying learners will gain the contextual relevance of meaning-making in Visual Art practice and Art History, within the ambit of a broader South African social, political, and cultural milieu. Successful Master learners can function professionally as practising artists or contribute professionally to other cognate modes applicable to the creative and visual-cultural industries. The Master of Arts (Visual Art) further prepares learners to embark on doctoral studies in the Art and Design fields.

Rationale

The Faculty proposes this qualification as a way to provide graduates from the BA, and the existing Bachelor of Technology: Fine Art Degree, the opportunity to continue their studies with an Honours Degree and eventually a Master's Degree in Visual Art. Currently, approximately 25% of Visual Art Bachelor of Technology learners continue with the current Master of Technology: Fine Art qualifications and this number is augmented by more than double the amount of external candidates from other institutions. Anticipated demand for the Master Arts (Visual Art) will come from the institution learners of the Bachelor of Arts Honours (Visual Art) qualifications, as well as learners of equivalent qualifications from around the country. The Visual Art Department's Master of Technology: Fine Art qualifications has always been very well-subscribed. We expect this interest to continue with the new qualification.

This qualification presents research-based Postgraduate study which prepares learners for entry into diverse careers in the visual industries, by enabling them to produce creative solutions to complex problems within a specialist area of studio practice, to exhibit this work professionally, and to explicate their work coherently through a supervised research dissertation. The curriculum accommodates learners who wish to pursue a studio-practice Master of Arts (Visual Art) Degree which would include practical work and a professional exhibition, as well those who wish to pursue a fully theoretical research dissertation and thus can accommodate learners from relevant disciplines in the Faculty of Humanities. Today's expanded context for creative work requires artists to understand various modes of practice and critical engagement in the field of Visual Art. The institution offers different modes in which the research project may be carried out for the Master of Arts (Visual Art). Learners in the qualifications are encouraged to investigate the relationship between thinking and to make, as well as to engage their world of art practice. The Postgraduate qualifications is broad enough to accommodate candidates from diverse academic backgrounds, from outside the institution as well as from relevant departments within the Faculty.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The institution accepts Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) as an integral part of education and academic practice. It is acknowledged that all learning has value, and the Faculty accepts the challenge to assess prior learning and award credits, as aligned to Faculty qualifications to promote life-long learning.

The purpose of the institution's policy that directs the Faculty's RPL procedure is to recognise prior learning, to provide access into qualifications, grant advanced placement in qualifications, and credits for modules on the principles and processes that serve as a basis for faculty-specific RPL practices:

• Through RPL, a learner may gain access, or advanced placement, or recognition of status, on condition that he/she continues his/her studies at the institution;
• Recognition takes place in terms of requirements and procedures applied by the institution;
• RPL in the case of a Learners not complying with the formal entry requirements is based on other forms of formal, informal and non-formal learning and experience;
• RPL is considered only where prior learning corresponds to the required National Qualification Framework-level;
• RPL takes place where prior learning in terms of applied competencies is relevant to the content and outcomes of the qualifications.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Bachelor of Arts Honours in Visual Art, NQF Level 8, 120 Credits.

Or

• Bachelor of Fine Art Honours, NQF Level 8, 120 Credits.

Or

• Bachelor of Arts Honours (Art History), NQF Level 8, 120 Credits.

This qualification comprises of compulsory dissertation at NQF Level 9 totalling 180 Credits.

Compulsory Module, Level 9

• Dissertation, 180 Credits.

1. Demonstrate a comprehensive and systematic knowledge-base in research with specialist knowledge in a related field of visual art.
2. Demonstrate a coherent and critical understanding of the theory, research methodology, and techniques relevant to visual art; an ability to critique and evaluate current research and participate in scholarly debates in visual art; to relate theory to practice and vice versa, and to think epistemologically.
3. Demonstrate mastery of the application of research methods, techniques, and technologies appropriate to visual art and an ability to conduct a research project and write a research dissertation, under supervision.
4. Demonstrate an ability to identify, analyse and deal with complex or real-world problems and issues by drawing from the theory, research methods and literature of visual art/Art History and Theory, systematically and creatively.
5. Demonstrate advanced information-retrieval and processing skills, identification, critical analysis, synthesis and independent evaluation of quantitative and qualitative data and an ability to conduct a study of the literature and current research in visual art/Art History and Theory, under supervision.
6. Demonstrate an ability to present and communicate research results to specialised and non-specialised audiences effectively, using resources of academic/professional discourses in the production of a dissertation and, where applicable, an exhibition.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Produce final exhibition and present according to the requirements set by the Department.
• Process sophisticated primary source material into a visual statement through research and exposure to contemporary art practice.
• Articulate an idea in visual terms that displays maturity and sophistication in terms of national bench-marking.
• Demonstrate confidence with and integration of technical applications about the media of choice and a proficiency of materials, methods, and techniques of meaning-making in selected field such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, installation or digital photography/video sound media (whichever is applicable or a combination of these).
• Present evidence of advanced curatorial decisions in the work that includes appropriate installation of work and space, as well as critical awareness of the modes of contemporary art production and presentation including choices of lighting, inform the exhibition.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Demonstrate successful strategies of developing and sustaining an argument or hypothesis with suitable subject matter and examples of artwork to support the argument.
• Identify and integrate indications of collecting and assimilating information and visual imagery.
• Articulate the learners' academic writing and well-structured according to accepted writing conventions.
• Follow accepted academic referencing and bibliographic procedures.
• Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the importance of pertinent contemporary theories of practice-led and practice-based research methods and apply them appropriately and critically in the discussion of innovative practices and processes of selected social or educational contexts.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Demonstrate a critical application of advanced contemporary theoretical discourses to a discussion of selected art practice, indicating how they relate to, underpin, contextualize, and justify their art production or the production of others.
• Integrate and apply critical and sensitive analyses of data derived from engagement with the community.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Provide evidence of research competence, time management, professional presentation, and coherent argumentation on their chosen subject, related to the selected options for masters' study and selected in consultation with the research supervisor.
• Apply theoretical arguments and choice of appropriate research methodologies as suitable for the research problem.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of certain contemporary theories and be able to identify pertinent readings or material for their studies.
• Demonstrate an advanced awareness of the importance of certain current development theories and participatory methods of data collection and assessment.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• Articulate views both orally (seminar presentations) and in written form in a lucid manner were complex or sophisticated theories can be explained and thus understood by the receiver.
• Use of articulate and well-structured writing - i.e., according to accepted academic writing conventions such as accepted academic referencing and bibliographic procedures.
• Ethically and sensitively engage and share outcomes with the community using user-centred, action research, or participatory methods.
• Write an artist's statement to accompany the final exhibition that reflects a critical awareness of the relationship of material and technical decisions to the central theme or concept.

Integrated Assessment

All Master of Arts (Visual Art) learners will be required to meet their appointed supervisors or co-supervisors weekly or bi-monthly. Learners will present their chapters or practical presentations twice annually to a Departmental seminar for peer feedback and monitoring. Supervisors and/or co-supervisors also support individual studio practice, in which learners work independently on a self-defined project in order to produce a coherent and professionally-curated exhibition of practical work in a gallery space.

Learners will present chapters at a seminar each year and submit practical work for a group critique twice a year, for the Visual Art academic staff to monitor progress and quality of output. Supervisors report on learners' progress internally at a departmental level, and through progress reports submitted to the Faculty Higher Degrees Committee bi-annually. The summative assessment is conducted by two external examiners only, appointed by the Faculty Board. These examiners include academics from international institutions.