LASALLE College of the Arts: Taking leadership in art, design and culture

08 Oct 2018

As Singapore’s only dedicated contemporary arts college, LASALLE College of the Arts is an integral part of an ecosystem that nurtures art leaders and cultural influencers for the country and region.

One of its best-kept secrets is its comprehensive suite of postgraduate programmes, designed to cultivate the next generation of fine artists, art historians, arts educators, leaders for the arts sector, art therapists, writers, authors and design thinkers.

With so many creative disciplines under one roof, LASALLE is a hotbed for diverse art forms to coalesce and co-mingle, providing an inspiring learning environment for students. Situated at the heart of Southeast Asia, with an enviable list of accolades and achievements, exclusive industry collaborations, internationally renowned faculty and visiting artists, a postgraduate degree with LASALLE promises to be an exciting journey of self-discovery where your passion connects with purpose.

MA Art Therapy

Art therapy is a hybrid mental health modality that blends the theories of both art and psychology to enhance an individual’s well-being. LASALLE’s MA Art Therapy is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, distinctive in its approach in defining the professional discipline in contemporary ways that are culturally relevant and meaningful within Asian contexts.

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts

The class setting focuses on attaining knowledge on psychotherapeutic concepts, while clinical placements and voluntary community service provides on-the-job training. Formally approved by the Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapy Association (ANZACATA), graduates can apply for professional registration (AThR) with ANZACATA and contribute to the range of mental health options available.

MA Arts and Cultural Leadership

With governments all over the world acknowledging the ability of the arts and creative economies to drive growth, leaders in these sectors are in demand. LASALLE’s MA Arts and Cultural Leadership, prepares graduates to steer the course of private or public arts foundations, organisations and cultural agencies worldwide.

Through local and overseas field trips and dialogue sessions with industry practitioners, you will be armed with the knowledge, skills set, spirit of inquiry and strategic connections to forge new directions for the arts to thrive.

Take alumna Yuni Hadi, for instance. As Executive Director of Singapore International Film Festival and co-producer of critically acclaimed Ilo Ilo, which took home the Camera d’Or Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and 2013 Golden Horse Film Awards, she has gone on to champion local films in the global sphere.

MA Arts Pedagogy and Practice

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts

Enhance your teacher and artist personas with Southeast Asia’s only multidisciplinary and cross-cultural arts education programme. From encountering a range of educational methodologies to exploring the artistic intersections of different disciplines, you will emerge with a critical self-awareness on what it means to unlearn and relearn knowledge, as well as to facilitate an experience steeped in the arts.

With your expanded capacity and perspective, you will be better able to support innovative learning in today’s ever-changing landscape and nurture the next generation of creatives. Alumna Kamini Ramachandran, a pioneer in Asia’s field of storytelling and Creative Producer of StoryFest: International Storytelling Festival Singapore and World Storytelling Day, continues to use experiential and drama techniques to draw out the creative potential of young artists today.

MA Asian Art Histories

The MA in Asian Art Histories at LASALLE is the world’s first taught MA programme on Asian modern and contemporary art. Here, students undertake original research and investigate recently emerged artists and movements. Regular field trips and support from a reputable faculty equip you with the knowledge and skills to make a valuable contribution to the discipline.

Alumni such as Loredana Paracciani and Vidhya Gouresan Nair have gone on to curate critical exhibitions that champion Asian art, while others like Elaine Cheong and Ivy Lam have used their newfound insight in curatorial practices to unpeel the layers behind art and history for audiences to better grasp and understand.

MA Creative Writing

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts

Do you class yourself as an avid wordsmith who wants to refine your craft? If so, LASALLE’s MA Creative Writing prepares you to be a published author or screen writer. With regular creatives visiting for reading sessions and lectures, you will ’ll study in a collaborative environment and obtain the feedback you need.

As the first taught master’s in creative writing in Singapore and Southeast Asia, the programme now boasts its first full-length published novelist in alumnus Olivier Castaignede, as well as a Golden Point Award-winning writer in Saleem Hadi, who walked away with Singapore’s top prize for an unpublished English short story in 2017.

MA Design

As a research-led, practice-based programme, candidates of LASALLE’s MA Design will learn by doing. While undertaking modules that contextualise design in relation to recent developments and examine the interdependency between design and other fields, you will immerse yourself in problem spaces and challenge your thinking and making processes.

With an expanded perspective and the ability to work across varied fields, graduates are highly sought-after as they bring a critical eye to bear upon numerous societal issues and thereby, re-imagine the world we live in for the better. In celebrating the plurality of design and acknowledging the fluidity of roles individuals play today, the programme has even seen individuals from non-design backgrounds applying.

Source: LASALLE College of the Arts

MA Fine Arts

As LASALLE alumna and Young Artist Award recipient, Genevieve Chua explained about her fine arts education: “I chose LASALLE because of its focus on conceptual thinking and critical discourse. The creative campus environment, the support from lecturers and the valuable studio time was very important to me as I now feel free to work across genres.”

Throughout this postgraduate programme, you will expand your art practice and research through studio experimentation and innovation. LASALLE’s MA Fine Arts is the only practice-based programme in Singapore that encourages multidisciplinarity, while generating individual self-discipline, knowledge and discovery.

Discover more here, or submit your enquiry to speak to LASALLE.

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