Presentation
This MA proposes a practical approach to research in which a close collaboration is fostered between theory and praxis in the field of visual arts and performing arts. By means of the student’s participation on a variety of formats such as laboratories, workshops and seminars, the student’s creative praxis is integrated with relevant theoretical discourses, in order to reach a productive cooperation among conceptual methods, critical instruments and creative research practices. In this context the student’s autonomous work is extremely relevant and is developed throughout the programme in a continuous dialogue with mentors, supervisors, teaching staff, invited artists and fellow students. It takes the form of an immersion in a process of interdisciplinary dialogue in which students have the opportunity of collectivelly reflecting on their own work, as well as on research instruments and methodologies.
In this MA, performing arts are enhanced and enriched with visual artistic practices. In order to allow the emergence of this interdisciplinarity, the programme is structured around two lines of work: audiovisual work and relational practices. Addressing creative praxis in this crossdisciplinary way allows students to gain a comprehensive understanding of their field of research.
The participation of a great number of professionals coming from different areas within the field of performing arts such as creation, curating, critique, research and the academy offers the students an access to the reality of contemporary tendencies and developments, as well as to the professional world after completion of the MA.
This degree is based on the affirmation that creative practices can be considered research processes. The integration in Spain of arts education in the European system of higher education implies the consideration of the arts as disciplines that generate knowledge. The goal of this degree is to open a space for research conducted by artists, theoreticians and pedagogues in the field of performing arts, providing specific areas of work and methodologies that encompass the uniqueness of performance.
The field or performance practice has been transformed and today it shows a strong tendency towards research. While the 80s and 90s witnessed a praxis more focused on production and marketing of pieces for the stage, creative activities are understood, conceived, proposed and organized nowadays as research processes. This can be seen especially in the work of a number of artists who have explored and challenged the limits and the ways of functioning of the theatrical device. For such an exploration, they have made use of artistic fields and disciplines more or less connected with their work, which has taken performing arts practices to a radical interdisciplinary situation. Expressions such as “body arts” or “action arts” are a proof of this tendency; by using them we show how diverse the field has become and how it is admitted to use hybrid practices from different sources.
These transformations have generated new ways of working and acting in the areas of program design, cultural policies, production and aesthetic reflexion. On the other hand, education cannot stay unaware and should adapt its training programs in performance practice to the changes described. Our degree in Performing Arts Practices and Visual Culture is the answer to these demands. It follows a multidisciplinary approach with an artist/researcher profile which acknowledges the changes we have described.
From a professional point of view, educational programmes in performing arts need to adapt to the developments that the concept of artistic creation has undergone in recent years. The artist is no longer a virtuoso in one or two specialties, but a researcher accustomed to moving between interdisciplinary fields, who knows different methodologies and who has the ability to adapt to different forms of action. The professional interest of the Master in Performings Arts Practices and Visual Culture lies on its capacity to prepare new generations of artists and researchers for the interdisciplinary conditions which define contemporary practice. Our program sets a kind of research which is closely related with contemporary creation and allows the student to acquire first hand knowledge about artistic processes and contemporary tendencies, while providing the flexibility and scope needed to adapt to this changing reality.
Both the interdisciplinary approach and the integration of creative and research practices allow the program to establish a framework for the generation of new artistic research projects in the field of performing arts. The student finds the conditions in which he/she can question methods and models, expand the boundaries of theatre and dance trough dialogue and interaction with other creative areas, with forms of communication and expression of contemporary culture and with social and discursive practices.
