Program Overview

Global Contemporary Art MA

Course Overview

The Global Contemporary Art MA is a practice-led course designed to nurture the professional, critical, and collaborative skills needed to pursue impactful, globally-aware and socially responsible artistic and curatorial practices.

The course recognises that there has been a fundamental shift in the vision and purpose of contemporary art in global and translocal contexts. Informed by the work of the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM), the course will enable you to become a mobile and dynamic professional capable of developing artistic and curatorial practices that are sustainable, critical and imaginative responses to major global challenges.

The course has been designed for arts graduates wishing to further develop their practice, or professionals wanting to explore new opportunities for research-led initiatives and engagement with wider audiences. You’ll advance your artistic and curatorial practices through activities that emphasise learning through engagement with real-world scenarios, organisations, platforms and technologies.

You’ll be encouraged to experiment with collaborative and interdisciplinary artistic and curatorial methods. Additionally, you’ll be given opportunities to develop independent or collaborative projects across diverse sites, contexts and platforms, and remain connected with key research and practice themes developed by Westminster School of Arts research platforms and partners. These include sustainable ecosystems, alternative futures, and reclaiming collective identities.

You’ll study the year-long Professional Practice module, which aims to support your progression beyond graduation. The module provides mentorship sessions, career seminars and practical workshops alongside other opportunities.

Course Structure

This course is part of a suite of MA art courses which include the Art and Emerging Technologies MA and the Expanded Photography MA. You’ll tailor your learning through a set of shared optional modules that address contemporary challenges, advanced digital approaches and specialised professional contexts. You’ll also undertake the Professional Practice and the Master's Project modules alongside students from the other MA art courses, thus benefiting from collaborative opportunities and cross-disciplinary learning.

Core Modules

Contemporary Art and Collaboration

This practice-led module engages with key examples of social engagement and collaborative artistic and curatorial practices in dialogue with local and translocal contexts through real-world case studies and briefs.

You’ll develop skills for conceiving, implementing and evaluating specific collaborative methods that are relevant to your practice. The module will focus on making civic spaces, reclaiming collective identities and building sustainable ecosystems.

20 credits

Contemporary Art Platforms

This practice-led module takes the concept of artistic platforms as spaces for encounter and engagement. You’ll focus on artist-led collective approaches and publishing, developing your own strategic approaches to global challenges.

The module situates values of respect, care and social integrity that are key to collective production and experimentation across a range of artistic media, digital and curatorial approaches in this area.

20 credits

MA Arts - Master's Project

This module will support you to develop an independently defined practice-led project grounded in the contextual understanding of your area of practice, relevant theoretical debates and the wider creative industry. The output may take the form of either practical outputs, a written dissertation or a combination of both. The output format is negotiable in terms of the balance of written and practical elements but should be the equivalent of 10,000 words – you’ll work with your tutor to assess the balance between text and practice.

Workshops, talks and seminars are offered to introduce you to a range of research and practical skills, such as writing proposals, project management and dissemination strategies. Through continuous critical reflection, you’ll consider the societal impact, ethical implications and sustainability of your cultural practices.

60 credits

MA Arts - Professional Practice in The Creative Industries

This module offers a framework for you to reflect, develop and identify your professional interests and future career path, and to gain a working knowledge of the creative industries while supporting you to develop a range of relevant professional skills. Through a series of talks, seminars, workshops and external visits, you’ll be introduced to various working practices in the art and creative industries.

Support is offered through tutorials to monitor your progress and live projects, advise on your professional development needs and direction to relevant resources and networks. You’ll also be supported by the Careers and Employability Service and Westminster Enterprise Network (WeNetwork) to identify opportunities, develop skills and make informed decisions about your career plans.

40 credits

Option Modules

Curatorial and Social Practices

This practice-led module is hosted by the Global Contemporary Art MA and focuses on the range of practical and conceptual skills involved in curating for diverse contexts of global contemporary art and creative industries more widely.

The module’s emphasis is on new forms of curation which are collaborative, innovative and disruptive and where the concept of the ‘exhibition’ becomes a site of negotiation and challenge. You’ll be introduced to theories and histories about the artistic and social role and function of the curator in art practice in a shifting landscape.

20 credits

Future Archives

This module is hosted by the Art and Emerging Technologies MA and investigates the potential of digital art & design practices and advanced technologies such as 3D scanning and photogrammetry to expand and create the archive of the future. You’ll consider archives and source sites as curatorial tools to present and experience collections that employ transmedia approaches and interactive and immersive platforms.

You’ll also use participatory practices to democratise access, engage new audiences and create dynamic ‘living’ archives. You’ll work in cross-disciplinary groups and engage with live projects within archives, galleries and heritage sites. The module also addresses the societal, ethical and sustainable aspects of archival practices, including contested material and narratives.

20 credits

Global Arts and Sustainable Futures

This module is hosted by the Global Contemporary Art MA. It is a research-led module that may take either a text-based or practical approach to address concerns with global issues of climate, social justice and biodiversity. The module will include experimentation, fieldwork and/or digital/material investigations.

Outputs could take the form of interventions, artworks, performances or presentations, supported by documentation and research findings. A key feature of this module is the development of ideas that are actionable in the context of future challenges and that provide audiences with an understanding of these issues and their global context.

20 credits

Image Futures

This module is hosted by the Expanded Photography MA and addresses essential aspects of future-facing photographic production: cutting-edge presentation and dissemination of projects for specific audiences and industries. The module will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to create and distribute photographs and related practices in a sustainable and ethical manner while remaining responsive to changing technological and cultural contexts.

Seminars and workshops will address a range of innovative physical and virtual spaces where current practices are disseminated, including but not limited to digital platforms, social media, galleries, pop-ups, site-specific public interventions, magazines and photo books. You’ll develop exploratory methods for presenting a self-directed body of work in a particular context, demonstrating a self-critical use of technologies, emerging research and understanding of the relevant creative industries.

20 credits

Interactive Art and Storytelling

This module is hosted by the Art and Emerging Technologies MA and investigates the scope and potential for digital art practices and emerging technologies to be used to develop new forms of experiences and approaches to interactive storytelling.

Through technical exploration and project development, you’ll critically engage with techniques, methods and concepts used in digital storytelling, interactive and immersive experience design, virtual environment creation and world-building, game design and digital simulation.

The module will further challenge you to consider cultural and industry-based audiences in the creation of their practical self-defined projects by emphasising the user experience and participatory elements of interactive technologies.

20 credits

Virtual Photography

This module is hosted by the Expanded Photography MA and aims to engage students with expanded notions of photography within virtual spaces, such as gaming, AR, VR, AI, creative coding and 3D visualisation. You’ll be introduced to the critical and ethical context of these practices in media and aesthetic theory.

Workshops are offered to deepen your technical understanding of specific virtual photography practices and how they function in the creative industries more broadly. You can choose to produce either a visual or written project in response to a self-directed research question to assess the functioning mechanisms of photographs and their ethical and legal challenges.

20 credits

Entry Requirements

• A minimum of an upper second class honours degree (2:1) or a lower second class honours degree (2:2) with relevant experience in related subject areas.
• Applicants are required to submit a portfolio of recent practice projects.
• This should be presented in digital form and be annotated to demonstrate the progression from brief or inspiration through to completion.
• All images should be fully captioned with date of completion, size and medium used.
• Applicants will also need to identify in writing (maximum 500 words) a specific area of personal interest, which they envisage studying in depth whilst on the course.
• Interviews will be held online.
• If your first language is not English you should have an IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.5 in writing and no element below 6.0.

Tuition Fees

• UK tuition fee: £1,322 (Price per 20-credit module)
• International tuition fee: £1,778 (Price per 20-credit module)

Funding and Scholarships

• The University is dedicated to supporting ambitious and outstanding students and we offer a variety of scholarships to eligible postgraduate students.
• Find out if you qualify for one of our scholarships.
• There is a range of funding available that may help you fund your studies, including Student Finance England (SFE).
• Find out more about postgraduate student funding options.
• There are a number of funding schemes available to help you fund your studies with us.
• Find out more about funding for international students.

Careers

• This course offers the opportunity to develop projects with external partners.
• You’ll be well placed to take up graduate roles within a range of professional settings, including policy development, research and development, third sector and artist-based cooperatives.
• The course concludes with a significant self-directed Master's project which develops your independence, project management skills and development of your portfolio to showcase your practice for future employers.
• Industry knowledge: You’ll be taught by a teaching team with a wide range of experience both in industry and academia.
• Professional development: A year-long Professional Practice module puts professional development at the core of your journey.
• Job roles: Depending on your area of creative endeavour – this course acts as a launchpad for careers that reflect changes in the growing global field of contemporary art and its related creative community.

Course Team

• Professor Neal White - Professor of Art/Science
• Professor May Adadol Ingawanij - Professor
• Shezad Dawood - Senior Research Fellow
• Professor Roshini Kempadoo - Professor
• Dr Uriel Orlow - Reader
• David Campany - Reader
• Raine Smith - Senior Lecturer
• Dr Sarah Pucill - Reader
• Lucy Reynolds - Senior Lecturer
• Stuart Cumberland - Senior Lecturer and Researcher
• Professor Clare Twomey - Professor
• Phoebe Cummings - Research Associate
• Kate Squires - Senior Lecturer

Why Study This Course?

• Learn from expert tutors: Our internationally-renowned academics have diverse experiences and a wealth of expertise working as artists, curators and researchers.
• State-of-the-art facilities: Enjoy industry-level facilities including the Emerging Media Space, computer labs, photographic green screen and film studios, editing suites, 3D workshops, 2D print and photographic printing and darkroom facilities.
• Fantastic location: With Central London only a 20-minute Tube ride away, you’ll enjoy the benefits of studying in a major capital for the creative industries.

Teaching and Assessment

• How you’ll be taught: Teaching methods across all our postgraduate courses focus on active student learning through lectures, seminars, workshops, problem-based and blended learning, and where appropriate practical application.
• How you’ll be assessed: Our postgraduate courses include a variety of assessments, which typically fall into two broad categories: practical and coursework.