Department of Art, Media and Performance

The Department of Art, Media and Performance (AMP) positions itself at the intersection of art practice and research, providing a distinctive platform for students to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and explore the rich interplay between creative expression and scholarly inquiry. Situated within the vibrant and interdisciplinary environment of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the department actively promotes cross-disciplinary dialogues, encouraging meaningful exchanges between the arts, humanities, and sciences.

Aligned with the University's commitment to interdisciplinary research and immersive experiential learning, the Department of Art, Media and Performance (AMP) strives to foster a comprehensive and insightful praxis in the realm of art. Our approach seeks to explore the intricate interplay between artistic expression and a wide array of critical inquiries, encompassing technology, politics, identity, philosophy, history, society, materiality, and culture.

At the core of our department's philosophy lies a learner-centric approach, where faculty and students are regarded as peers collaboratively engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. We attempt to facilitating an exceptional, fertile, multidisciplinary learning environment where students can chart their course of study as critical and self-reflexive scholars and practitioners.

Since its inception, our department has embraced a distinctive pedagogical approach that transcends the boundaries of traditional art-making. Our focus extends beyond the mere creation of artistic artefacts, emphasizing the generation of generative discourses that enrich the artistic process itself. We are deeply committed to providing a safe and nurturing space for students, encouraging them to embrace flexibility and uncertainty, take creative risks, and make decisions that resonate with their innermost expressions.  We prioritize creative risk-taking and active investigation, empowering our students to conduct rigorous critical examinations of the human condition. Our belief in the power of sensorial and material engagement drives us to create pathways for emancipatory change, using the arts as a means to impact and transform the world around us.

The key features of the pedagogical processes at the Department of Art, Media and Performance (AMP) are artistic research, making/doing as thinking, process as art, methodologies for transcending disciplinary boundaries to generate new areas of study. Our pedagogy acknowledges the importance of understanding the socio-cultural contexts in which art exists. We encourage students to critically engage with the world around them, exploring how art can be a catalyst for change and social transformation. Through arts practice, students are empowered to challenge and reimagine the social constructs that shape our realities. Art becomes a tool for (dis)locating existing narratives, (re)configuring perspectives, and (un)assembling preconceived notions.

The department sustains a thriving artistic ecosystem that embraces constructive critique, rigour, introspection, innovation, subversion, respect, and inclusion. These values underpin our approach to artistic processes and ensure that our students emerge as well-rounded and inquisitive artists, scholars, filmmakers, designers, performers, and innovators, uniquely capable of providing creative leadership, perspectives, and hands-on skills needed to shape a humanitarian world.

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