In its broadest sense, sculpture involves the process of aesthetic formation in space and includes practices such as the plastic arts, sculpture, installations, object art, conceptual art and performance. The Bachelor's degree course taught in the Department of Sculpture gives its students the opportunity to establish an independent artistic vision and reflect on and engage with practical and conceptual/theoretical issues of sculpture in the past, present and future.

The artistic categories covered by the course include all fields of sculptural design, from the conception of form to colour and space, including their manifold levels of modulation. Students are also required to engage with contemporary art theoretical discourses and a wide range of historical and contemporary visual and form languages. They investigate spatial and environmental relations, issues of sustainability and learn to situate their own artistic articulations and those of others in the specific socio-cultural context of their development.

Learning and research on the degree course is structured by students’ completion of an artistic development project, in which they work independently or in groups to develop their individual artistic vision through the interplay of practical and conceptual work.

Practical sessions in the HFBK workshops and laboratories enable students to engage intensively with aspects of material and form and to acquire the design techniques requisite to the implementation of their artistic ideas. Working with a range of traditional materials – plaster, ceramics, plastics, wood and metal – they also learn 3D printing, media technology and electronics skills.

The interdisciplinary nature of the degree course provides students with the opportunity to engage with related disciplines, thereby situating their artistic endeavours within this broader methodological framework. The HFBK encourages and enables its students to widen their cultural horizons by spending part of their studies at a partner university abroad.

We also provide our students with the opportunity to gather experience in a range of contexts both within and outside the art world. Working in an in-house setting – such as the HFBK annual exhibition and in-house gallery – and at events organized by external partners, students gain experience in the presentation, communication and discussion of artistic works.

Supplementary courses taught in the Department of Theory and History enable students to explore a range of issues in art theory, history and method in further depth. Relating this to their own artistic vision and experience, students are able to establish their artistic approach and historical understanding.

The Master’s degree course taught in the Department of Sculpture gives its students the opportunity to consolidate their independent artistic vision and develop their critical reflection skills to engage with practical and conceptual questions drawn from the past, present and future of sculpture.

Students of the degree course can work in a wide variety of fields of visual design, ranging from conception to realization. This can touch on issues of form, colour, spatial conception and its many levels of modulation. Students will engage with contemporary discourses of art theory, historical and contemporary visual and formal languages, relations with space and environment and issues of sustainability. They also learn to situate their own artistic articulations and those of others in the specific socio-cultural context of their development.

Learning on the degree course is structured by students’ completion of an artistic development project, in which they work independently or in groups to develop their independent artistic vision through the interplay of practical and conceptual work. Working independently and autonomously to explore a range of artistic expressions and the techniques deployed to realize them constitutes a central focus of the Master's degree course.

Students participate in projects conducted with museums, galleries and the HFBK gallery and annual exhibition to develop skills in the presentation, communication and discussion of artistic works. Master’s students can also study at one of the HFBK's many partner universities.

Supplementary courses taught in the Department of Theory and History enable students to explore a range of further issues. Together with the interdisciplinary nature of the degree course, students have the opportunity to engage with related disciplines, thereby developing and refining their artistic approach.