Art and Ecology MA (PG)

Goldsmiths, University of London

The MA Art & Ecology is a fifteen-month studio-based post-graduate programme for emerging artists who want to engage in meaningful and transformative ways with the most pressing ecological questions of our time.

This is a unique programme located in the urban environment of South East London that seeks to develop new ways in which contemporary art practice can make interventions in a wide range of ecological contexts and extend the ways in which ecology is understood. During this MA we support artists to develop art practices in diverse sites and scales dedicated to imagining and shaping liveable futures.

Link art, ecology and social justice The MA invites artists to develop innovative art projects grounded in rigorous artistic research and a profound understanding of how ecological challenges such as climate breakdown, pollution, and biodiversity loss are inseparable from questions of social justice. Alongside media including painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation, performance, art writing, textiles, digital media and video, this course supports artists who engage with forms of practice such as food production, sustainable data, citizen and expert science, re-wilding, inter-species care and co-dependence, somatic work, and ritual.

This is one of very few postgraduate degrees specialising in art and environment, or art and nature. We actively encourage applications from students interested in working in all manner of ecological contexts, from rural settings to ocean habitats, and from social movements and to scientific institutions. As this programme is taught in South East London, there is also a unique opportunity to focus on urban ecology..

Learn real-world skills, and develop practical abilites Through the development of a year-long artistic project, students learn skills and build networks essential to pushing the boundaries of art’s engagement with ecology, for sustaining their artistic practice after graduation, for developing as educators, producers and leaders in a wide range of fields, or for pursuing doctoral research. While on the programme, students participate in an experimental laboratory, attend lectures and seminars in the history and theory of art and ecology, and learn best professional practice through talks and workshops.

You will also have access to workshops on how to develop your artistic practice after graduation, including on topics such as the ethical and legal dimensions of working in particular situations and environments, which will give you real-world insights into the kinds of negotiations and realisations that are part of having an expanded practice.

Study in a cutting-edge environment Goldsmiths as an institution has a strong understanding of specific issues such as environmental racism, climate justice and indigenous sovereignty, and approaches such as ecofeminism, black studies, queer ecologies, anti- and postcolonial theory and science and technology studies. These are topics that can be really important for any artist engaging with ecological and climate activism and academia. You will be surrounded by and have access to a great body of theoretical knowledge and criticality, allowing you to better situate your work in a self-reflective and expanded way.