INTRODUCTION
Sint Lucas Antwerp is an academic bachelor-master course which helps students in their development into an artist and designer.
Sint Lucas Antwerp puts the emphasis on topicality and experiment in arts and design and it offers broad room for artistic research.
Sint Lucas Antwerp distinctly pays attention to a general education and a theoretical reflection with respect to the conceptual foundation of the artistic work.
Sint Lucas Antwerp guides students through their individual learning pathway.
Sint Lucas Antwerp offers a unique master of research in art and design.
Sint Lucas Antwerp nationally and internationally creates a distinct profile for itself as an artistic lab in the field of visual arts and design.
FINE ARTS
SCULPTURE/SPATIAL ART
This is a course for creative students who want to materialize their visual language in three dimensions. The sculpture/spatial art workshop aims to help the student develop space and spatiality in all their aspects. The student will work with both traditional materials (clay, plaster, bronze, wood or stone) and contemporary materials (steel, aluminium, polymers). He will also use both traditional modes of expression (drawings, sculptures, maquettes) and contemporary modes of expression (installation, photography, video and multimedia).
In this fine art degree course the student will arrive at knowledge of “form” by means of assignments. Basic skills (observation, formal language, composition and technique) are integrated into the programme and serve as support elements. From the beginning (Ba 1 and Ba 2), material study, research and experiment, drawing and the use of critical faculties are a means to this end. Hence the student’s work cannot stand in isolation from our contemporary and constantly changing society. His or her artistic knowledge must result in a personal visual language with a solid content.
In Ba 3 and the Master Year the student concentrates on establishing a place for himself in the contemporary art world through his artistic practice.
PHOTO/VIDEO In the past few decades photography and video have earned a definitive place in the art world and it is precisely these media which are now responsible for the greatest number of innovations. Artists from other disciplines are also discovering the power and potential of this new visual culture.
Sint Lucas Antwerp has consciously chosen to give the foundation module photo/video a very definite place in the autonomous arts from Ba 1. You choose this workshop in order to develop your own personal visual language; your photo and/or video camera is your working tool.
In Ba 1 you are immersed in the experimental possibilities of this workshop, via an analogue and digital basis, in order to prepare the ground for your own personalized route to the Master’s degree. Students decide for themselves the path they wish to follow and the technical support which goes with these disciplines. From a critical attitude vis-à-vis what is going on around him or her, the student sets out to develop a personal standpoint using the direct power of these “new” media.
PRINTMAKING
How up-to-date can autonomous graphics be? What is its role within the autonomous arts and what is its future? By sustained research into content and innovation the graphics workshop claims its own specific and characteristic niche in the world of contemporary art.
The essence of this fascinating degree course consists in combining a personal interpretation with experience of the creative challenge of the medium. The emphasis is on thinking, seeing and representing graphically. Above all, the rich complexity of both the step by step printing process and the indirect creation of the image determine the originality, the diversity and the possible print-run. At the same time, symbols and problem-solving images constitute an important element in the development of your own graphic language via a thorough initiation and analysis. Project-style activities, research sessions, digital scanning, multi-media applications and thought-provoking guest lectures expand your vision of the perspectives of graphics. From Ba3 your degree course takes on a pronounced personal character. The field and vision of your graduation project is determined by your work around a concept of your own choice.
OPEN STUDIO
In this sense, ‘open’ means without boundaries. We regard art as something which is open and continually evolving, which is why no single technique or process predominates. Every question posed, or assignment set, forces you to look for personal solutions with a specific technical implementation, which is both logical and communicative. Hence, this is a workshop as a free space, a place where the main role is not reserved for any one discipline. Through drawing, photographing, installing, collecting, presenting… you learn to relate to the creation of visual images logically and communicatively. The continual interaction between content, form and image is a process of feeling one’s way, experimenting and determining. In this way you construct a personal methodology from your individual choices, thereby finding the most appropriate language. Your part of the workshop becomes an active research centre.
In Ba 1 this foundation module is combined with sculpture/spatial art, photo/video, graphics or painting, which permits you to situate the various methodologies and processes on the broad platform of autonomous art. From the second year (Ba 2) the student begins to concentrate more on a self-chosen route in which the visual disciplines are used either in isolation or in combination.
Graduation projects acquire a personal logic in the structure of the degree course and their materialisation in the form of a painting, an installation, a performance… is the ultimate consequence of this.
PAINTING
Research into painting is carried out both from observation and imagination.
Painting and the painted image are investigated in all their facets: representation, material, metaphor, content and illusion.
Painting as a visual language is situated within a contemporary visual culture and this visual language is used to develop a personal and creative working process.
JEWELLERY DESIGN/GOLDSMITHING
JEWELLERY DESIGN/GOLDSMITHING
The graduation subject for the Jewellery Faculty at Sint Lucas Antwerpen is designing and producing contemporary jewellery as well as small objects. Objects that aren’t necessarily functional, but have a clear reference to human and its size. That is why we see ‘the body’ as the red thread in these two different parts of the curriculum.
The preference lies in making jewellery and objects that express one’s own fascinations and the way one deals with them. Starting point is always the meaning, the idea, the question. Affinity with material and technique is important, but subordinate.
We work in a research manner; in depth, width and height. We ask ourselves questions, as questions are more important than answers… We never stop looking for the combination between thinking and doing, between research and intuition, between content and execution.
The entire process is documented in sketch books, on photos, film,… because other disciplines are involved as well. This process-like research results in strong images. Images that communicate with the outside world, with people, in a powerful and authentic manner. As a jewel or as an object.
During the first Bachelor Year, the emphasis is on the experiment. Expressive assignments will confront you with the unexpected and dare you to get to know your own boundaries and push them back.
During the second year, focus shifts to the profession itself. You will research the specific language of jewellery and objects in connection with f.i. tradition, value, luxury, memory, wearability, status, protection and more. In short, everything that refers to content and meaning.
In the third year, you will mainly work independently and try to find your own position within the international professional field. You will by then have developed an authentic language and your own signature.
The emphasis on responsibility and personal initiative gets even stronger during the Master Year. At this point, you are required to formulate your own research proposal and to explore the research aspect in depth.
Hilde De Decker - faculty head J|E
GRAPHIC DESIGN
ADVERTISING DESIGN
Powerful images touch us, evoke emotions, seduce and convince. You can see this over and over again with superb advertising campaigns such as those of Diesel, Benetton, Absolut Vodka, Nike, etc. The list is endless. Effective yet creative, they constitute part of our cultural heritage.
If you choose advertising design at Sint Lucas Antwerp you will soon be drafting your own campaigns in the best advertising agencies in the country. An enthusiastic team of experienced practical instructors will guide you into this fascinating world of creative thinking, manipulating concepts and playing with language and images.
Your degree course will be like your future career: one long challenge. Studying, researching and discovering what works creatively, communicatively, strategically and technically. Avoiding clichés and the well-worn tracks beaten by others, your ideas will shine in national and international campaigns with adverts, billboards and radio and TV spots. We will give you the best entrée into this dynamic world with a one month work experience placement in a top creative agency during your graduation year.
BACHELOR/MASTER AT SINT LUCAS ANTWERP
At Sint Lucas Antwerp you can graduate as:
Bachelor and Master of Art and Design, in the specialist field Autonomous Arts
Bachelor and Master of Art and Design, in the specialist field Jewellery Design|Goldsmithing
Bachelor and Master of Art and Design, in the specialist field Graphic Design
Master of Research in Art and Design
WITH A VIEW OF THE (ART) WORLD
Sint Lucas Antwerp is right at the centre of contemporary culture and aims to play a pivotal role in the enormously wide world of the contemporary fine art and design.
The process of acquiring intellectual and artistic maturity is important for the student’s personal artistic development. This is where he or she can take on the challenge of developing new artistic insights and forms.
Sint Lucas Antwerp aims to give students an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of culture, both of Western and non-western culture and also the culture of the past as well as the present. We aim to provide students with a general education in fine art, but with an additional focus on cultural history in its broadest sense: philosophy, literature, theatre, film, dance... A personal processing of this cultural heritage is the starting point to looking at the world with real awe and from the perspective of an artist. This sense of awe seeks to express itself through a visual language and therefore the degree course tries to break open the full arsenal of artistic tools. Theoretical reflection and artistic practice thus go hand in hand.
At Sint Lucas Antwerp, exhibitions, symposiums, lectures, films, musical performances etc, provide students with a continual exposure to what is going on in the contemporary art world. Partnership with other educational institutions and cultural organizations serve to underpin this platform. We have various exhibition venues, such as the Sint Lucaspassage, available to us.
The international orientation of the department has resulted in partnership and exchange programmes with a large number of interesting art colleges in and outside Europe in the “Life Long Learning Program”: Falmouth and Bristol (United Kingdom), Oslo and Bergen (Norway); Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Maastricht (the Netherlands); Berlin, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf (Germany); Venice and Milan (Italy); Marseille, Toulouse and Quimper (France); Gdansk (Poland); Barcelona, Cuenca and Madrid (Spain); Rovaniemi and Lahti (Finland); Luzern and Sierre (Switzerland). Outside Europe: Boston (USA); Johannesburg and Stellenbosch (South Africa).
Master of Research in Art and Design
For particularly talented artists and designers (or other highly motivated candidates) who would like to go further in the field of research, this post-Master’s Master’s degree course offers students the space to develop additional insights and skills which stimulate the personal artistic development via an individual and self-chosen curriculum. The central focus is on research into or concerning fine art. As a research and support platform, the Master of Research in Art and Design aims to provide young people with the necessary coaching to further extend their personal artistic projects. Visiting lecturers from Belgium and abroad provide the necessary critical feedback. Only a limited number of candidates are admitted to this post-graduate course and admission interviews are held by arrangement with applicants. Further information can be obtained from the Students’ Secretariat.
STUDENT FACILITIES
Study help and student support
At Sint Lucas Antwerp we provide a highly effective student support network. Social assistance and primary care are directly available to all students.
Study support is primarily aimed at first year students and takes the form of helping them to plan and organize their studies. Additional classes with extra exercises are on offer for the general subjects. Group-based activities and individual support are also provided. Personalized lesson and examination programmes can be arranged (see study contract).
Ombudsman
The ombudsman keeps an eye on the legal position of the student in the hogeschool.
Any student can consult the ombudsman if he or she encounters problems relating to educational and examination activities on the degree course (see the examination regulations in the study contract).
The ombudsman acts as an intermediary between students and staff and between students and the examination committee.
He or she has a preventive function aimed at avoiding problems and conflicts between students and staff and works in collaboration with the student support service.
Social amenities
SOVO is the umbrella association for social amenities at the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool and offers professional financial, social and psychological support to all students.
KOTWEB (student accommodation), JOBWEB (for working students) and other support programmes are more or less continually available.
At Sint Lucas Antwerp, SOVO provides direct support to all students in the areas of cafeteria facilities, culture and sports, and supports a large number of activities aimed at students.
Student council
Student participation in the running of Sint Lucas Antwerp is not just a figure of speech. The student council and departmental council give students a say in the working and form of the degree course. Via the academic council and the inter-departmental student council students can also make a contribution at the level of the entire college. Students’ views are valued with regard to study days and study visits.
Library
All students have direct access to the library. Besides an extensive collection of specialist books, periodicals and catalogues, there is also an increasing range of visual and informative material on video and DVD. A rapid Internet connection (also available in all workshops) on PC and Mac means that students can engage in world-wide information exchanges.
