Contemporary Arts China – MA

Developed with our internationally-renowned partners, this course offered by the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts (CCVA) will enable you to gain expertise in contemporary arts in China, as well as professional experience, while developing your own research and practice.

The course is aimed at ambitious researchers and practitioners who want to pursue an international career in the arts, and want to become research-led practitioners and professionals. Its focus on professional development makes it ideal for recent graduates, curators, artists, designers, art historians, writers and others.

What’s covered in the course?

This award has been developed with our industry partners, galleries and museums in UK and China, who are also engaged in course delivery.

It has been designed to support individuals who want to gain specialist knowledge, while working in an interdisciplinary research environment. The course offers you the opportunity to conduct original research in an exciting and expanding field, cutting across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

You will learn about the complex issues and challenges within Chinese contemporary arts in in its local, regional and global context, while developing your own practice/research and gaining professional experience through an extended work placement, live research project or residency.

You will have the opportunity to work closely with the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts at Birmingham City University, as well as our prestigious partner organisations in China, UK and EU.

You will also be introduced to broader issues of transcultural communication and the global arts ecology, and you will be encouraged to respond creatively to a wide variety of cultural contexts and stimuli.

You will be located at Birmingham School of Art in Margaret Street, where you will have access to a wide range of workshops and facilities and be welcomed as part of a diverse, exciting postgraduate community.

Why Choose Us?

• The MA Contemporary Arts China offers a unique provision which blends research and practice with a strong focus on professional development.
• Birmingham School of Art provides a distinctively dynamic, stimulating and diverse artistic and intellectual environment.
• The course has been developed with our industry partner organisations who include:
  • Academy for International Visual Arts AIVA (Shanghai)
  • Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (Manchester)
  • Chronus Arts Center (Shanghai)
  • Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangzhou)
  • Ikon Gallery (Birmingham)
  • New Art Exchange (Nottingham)
  • OCAT (Xi’an), OCAT (Shanghai)
  • Primary (Nottingham)
  • Swarovski (Wattens in Austria)
  • Tate Liverpool (Liverpool)
  • Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (Beijing)
  • White Rabbit Collection of Contemporary Chinese Art (Sydney)
  • The staff team consists of a professional and dedicated group of researchers, practitioners, curators, artists and educators with extensive expertise their individual specialist subjects in the field of transdisciplinary practice and curating, contemporary China, Chinese contemporary arts, design and visual culture and working.
  • MA Contemporary Arts China students will encounter a diverse range of staff members depending on the modules you take and you will also be able to request tutorials from other academic and technical members if relevant to your particular project.
  • The programme includes presentations from guest speakers, academics, curators, artists and designers from China, Europe and UK, and the opportunity to assist on major curatorial projects and conferences. Our students will also have an opportunity to visit the top art galleries in the UK as part of their course.