Contemporary Art Practice MA

The Contemporary Art Practice MA is designed to prepare you for continuous artistic, professional and academic development. We will support you to develop research methods and personal goals tailored to your creative practice and professional ambitions. You’ll be introduced to emerging trends in contemporary practice including presentation, installation, curatorial and representational issues, and learn how to develop research methods to inform your creative decisions.

You will be encouraged to ask questions and take a personal and critical position in the globalised creative world, equipped with the skills to produce and exhibit your work, to embrace change in the fast-evolving creative industries and challenge artistic conventions.

Teaching takes place in our creative studio environment with support from a highly skilled team of technicians, and you will have access to a range of workshops to experiment and innovate with materials and processes. Our exhibiting artists and research-active academics have interdisciplinary expertise in drawing, painting, sculpture, analogue and digital photography, digital media, printmaking, public art, installation and relational practice. You will build important professional practice skills throughout the course with opportunities to curate and exhibit your work. Develop a dialogue around your work by participating in discussion groups and seminars and be part of a dynamic cohort of visual arts students, from BA to PhD.

Entry criteria

Careers and employability

We want to help you develop skills that are based on real-world experience. Our Careers Team, are on hand to support you with finding placements, volunteering opportunities, CV writing skills, research opportunities and much more.

DMU students are encouraged to pursue their entrepreneurial spirit and the Enterprise Team can help you explore your business idea, business growth, the option of freelancing or being self-employed. There are lots of events, workshops, one-to-one consultation opportunities and enterprise competitions that you can get involved in to progress in your chosen career path. 

DMU Global

Our innovative international experience programme DMU Global aims to enrich studies, broaden cultural horizons and develop key skills valued by employers. 

Through DMU Global, we offer an exciting mix of overseas, on-campus and online international experiences, including the opportunity to study or work abroad for up to a year.

Previously, students have explored historical and contemporary Danish design first-hand in Copenhagen and examined the city’s art, artists and museums in Berlin to gain a broader design perspective. DMU Global trips have also taken students further afield to India and New York.

Graduate careers

The course will prepare you with the professional skills, flexibility and independence needed to adapt to the changing pressures and opportunities in contemporary art practice. Many of our graduates pursue careers as practicing artists, or in other closely related areas of contemporary art practice such as curation, public and community art, education, and cultural journalism. Others have used the transferable skills gained on the course in a diverse range of industries in the wider creative sector.