Master of Arts in Visual Arts

Purpose and Rationale of the Qualification

• To equip students with a specialised understanding of the issues and problems pertinent to the visual arts and design as fields of human endeavour and a domain of research, debate and artistic creation.
• To this end it aims to supply them with the intellectual, cognitive, communicative and creative skills with which to participate successfully in such processes.
• To ensure that South Africa has sufficient highly skilled and creative individuals to assume leading roles in and have an impact on, the arts and design industry as artists, designers or teachers.
• To this end the aim is to equip students with a set of specialised artistic a technical skills, focus on an elected area of specialisation.
• To provide students with the advanced academic training and communication skills required to qualify them for more specialised academic study at Doctoral level in the humanities (including the social sciences).

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

• Access may be gained to the qualification through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Entry Requirements

• Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours (BA(FA) Hons) or equivalent qualification, Level 8.

Generic/ Critical cross-field outcomes

The successful Master of Arts in Fine Arts MA (FA) student will have

1. The ability to think in terms of theory, and to integrate such knowledge with an understanding of the practicalities and problems of the arts and humanities.
2. The ability to work systematically, independently and creatively.
3. The ability to organise ideas and communicate them effectively using visual, linguistic and kinetic skills in oral, written and media formats.
4. The ability to participate in scholarly, artistic, policy-making and other debates in the humanities.

Specific outcomes

On completion of the programme, the successful MA (FA) student will have the ability to

1. Create an innovative and coherent body of visual art work.
2. Present and co-ordinate a professional art exhibition.
3. Produced a well-researched and -written thesis which demonstrates an understanding of traditional and contemporary visual arts methodologies.
4. Pursue a career in the visual arts and/or related areas of cultural production.
5. Contribute to the community as creative and innovative thinkers.
6. Make unique contributions (also outside of the visual arts) in a wide range of societal contexts.

The assessment of the Master of Arts in Fine Arts MA(FA) falls into two broad but related categories

1. The assessment of scholastic skills and knowledge, which takes the form of a thesis and papers read in formal seminars, where the content is subjected to critical discussion by members of the academic staff. Competence in this category will be demonstrated if the information, conceptual thinking and communication by the student are correct, innovative and demonstrate a clear ability to interpret questions, to analyse and interpret information, and to communicate the resulting deductions clearly and logically, using the appropriate discipline-specific conventions.
2. The assessment of creative, technical and other practical skills, which takes the form of an assessment of practical work assignments. Throughout the course of study, students are required to present exemplary exhibitions of work in progress, and these are evaluated and criticised by competent members of the academic staff. At the end of the course of study, the student is required to submit and to present a professional exhibition of work completed during the course of study. The final submission is evaluated by two internal examiners and at least one external examiner. Competence in the practical work will be demonstrated if the student demonstrates a significant degree of competence in the specific skills required of the student's particular area of specialisation, a thorough knowledge of the related theoretical concepts and conventions, and a clear ability to apply these skills, theories and conventions in a persuasive and creative manner within the broader context of the practical works produced.

Integrated Assessment

• A thesis and an exhibition of work produced are submitted by the student at the end of the period of study, and an evaluation of the execution of the projects assessed the student's ability to integrate the theoretical knowledge and practical skills learnt over the course of the programme.