Being(s): Artistic Research in Transformative Contexts of Health

Funded by the Landesforschungsförderung by the Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, the HFBK Hamburg is launching its first PhD in Art Practice program under the title “Being(s): Artistic Research in Transformative Contexts of Health”. The nine selected PhD projects will use artistic methods to explore how the profound social, political and technological dynamics of our time are reshaping concepts and understandings of health, the body and life on a planetary scale. The results of this three-year research initiative will be presented to the public through exhibitions, symposia and film screenings.

This artistic-practical PhD program will produce works that contribute from different perspectives to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research in the arts, including its methods, contexts and tools. In contrast to the artistic-scientific Doctoral Degree offered at the HFBK Hamburg since 2008, this new program focuses on promoting and strengthening aesthetic knowledge production in and through the arts. The PhD students will be supervised by HFBK professors Kader Attia, Angela Bulloch, Simon Denny, Jeanne Faust, Omer Fast, Jesko Fezer, Rajkamal Kahlon, Adina Pintilie and Angela Schanelec.

HFBK President Prof. Martin Köttering: “In collaboration with the Hamburg Ministry of Science, we have successfully introduced Germany’s first artistic PhD in Art Practice program, thus establishing a framework that meets international research standards in the visual arts. This development marks a significant advancement in both artistic and academic terms. I am very much looking forward to establishing a globally oriented practice of artistic research that will further strengthen HFBK Hamburg’s reputation as a research-driven art university. This is already reflected in the high number of international applications to HFBK Hamburg.”

About HFBK Hamburg
The HFBK Hamburg (University of Fine Arts) is a place of artistic and scholarly engagement with the issues of the rapidly changing present. Originating from artistic practice, research processes unfold here in an atmosphere of interconnected thinking and working, experimenting with new forms, languages, and methodologies. Founded over 250 years ago as an educational institution for applied design, HFBK Hamburg is now one of the most internationally renowned art academies. With its wide range of courses, it offers opportunities for interdisciplinary artistic and academic training. Around 950 students currently work, learn, and conduct research together in studios and more than 20 workshops. The curriculum is flexible, allowing ample space for individual and collective exploration and development of artistic research processes within a diverse, international network. The internationally aligned, consecutive Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in Fine Arts follow a transdisciplinary approach to artistic development processes, not confined to traditional boundaries between applied and free arts, nor between artistic and academic disciplines. Additionally, a post-graduate qualification is offered: Dr. phil. in artibus and PhD in Art Practice. Closely connected to contemporary artistic developments, HFBK Hamburg also initiates public debates, builds networks, and promotes knowledge transfer with various communities. HFBK Hamburg’s international initiatives are consolidated in the Art School Alliance program, which forms the core of worldwide collaborations with art academies in different countries.