The Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG) is a state

art college An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

founded in 1992 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, Germany. It focuses on

media art New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies. It comprises virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D ...

communication design Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is concerned with developing the message and aesthetics in media. It also crea ...

product design Product design is the process of creating new Product (business), products for businesses to sell to their customers. It involves the generation and development of ideas through a systematic process that leads to the creation of innovative products ...

, exhibition design and scenography, art research, and media philosophy, with a strong

interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

between the departments. The university has about 400 students.

History

The university was opened on 15 April 1992 as a reform college in Karlsruhe. Together with the

Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe The ZKM , Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (until March 2016: ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology), a cultural institution, was founded in 1989 and, since 1997, is located in a former munitions factory in Karlsruhe, Germany. The ZKM (Germa ...

(ZKM) it was founded during the years 1989 to 1992 by Heinrich Klotz. This combination of teaching, research and exhibition institutions corresponds to the self-imposed artistic and pedagogical task of relating the traditional arts to media technology and electronic manufacturing processes. Classical forms such as painting were only represented with a professorship until 2004. Interdisciplinary work should be promoted by linking artistic, applied and theoretical courses. With bringing together media art, art theory and design Klotz wanted to found an "electronic Bauhaus". Since 1997, the HfG Karlsruhe as well as the ZKM is housed in a listed former ammunition factory. After the death of Klotz in 1999, Gunter Rambow took over the provisional management of the university. In early 2001,

Peter Sloterdijk Peter Sloterdijk (; ; born 26 June 1947) is a German philosopher and cultural theorist. He was a professor of philosophy and media theory at and Rector from 2001 to 2015 of the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He co-hosted the German tel ...

was appointed rector, which he remained until his retirement in 2015. After a transitional phase under Deputy Rector Volker Albus,

Siegfried Zielinski Siegfried Zielinski (born 1951) is a German media theorist. He held the chair for Media Theory: Archaeology and Variantology of the Media at Berlin University of the Arts, he is Michel Foucault Professor for Techno-Culture and Media Archaeology a ...

's term of office began in February 2016. In December 2017 according to own information Zilinski asked the Minister of Science, Research and Art Baden-Württemberg for the early termination of his contract. As a reason, he stated that his reform ideas were not enforceable. Since 1 April 2018 Johan F. Hartle has taken over the position of acting Rector at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design.

Study

The interdisciplinary framework of the early years is still being preserved by the four practical departments * Exhibition Design and Scenography, * Communication Design, * Media Art and * Product Design as well as the theoretical department * Art Research and Media Philosophy Common to all degree courses is the project work practiced from the beginning, as well as continued cooperation with the neighboring ZKM. In-house workshops and studios were also set up for the practice-oriented training of the HfG students. For the students of the theoretical subjects the choice of a practical secondary subject is obligatory. The students of the practical subjects are obliged to study a theory subject such as art research or media philosophy as a minor subject. The four practical study programs of the HfG Karlsruhe are permeable fields of study, which allow intensive connections to other subjects and, depending on the research and development focus of the specific university teacher, receive different emphases. The media-theoretical analysis permeates the practical events, on the other hand, the media-theoretical and art-research training is concretized by an immediate practical relevance. Prerequisite for admission to the program is the general or subject-related higher education entrance qualification as well as the successful completion of an entrance examination.

Degree

At the HfG Karlsruhe, no Bachelor/Master programs are offered, as from the first semester on the project study with contents that can not be modularized, is practiced. The HfG Karlsruhe still awards the internationally recognized diploma or Magister's degree. On the basis of the Magister's degree a doctorate (Dr. phil.) in art theory, media theory and philosophy is also possible. The international Bologna compatibility of HfG degrees is guaranteed. In 2008, the Wissenschaftsrat certified the HfG Karlsruhe an "excellent training concept" in its evaluation report.

Departments

Name of the degree in brackets. * Media art (Diploma) with the teaching areas ** Digital Art/InfoArt ** Movie ** Photography ** Sound ** 3D-Laboratory ** Game-Lab * Product design (Diploma) * Communication Design (Diploma) * Exhibition Design and Scenography (Diploma) with the teaching areas ** Scenography ** Exhibition Design ** Curatorial Studies and Dramaturgical Practice * Art Research and Media Philosophy (Magister) with the teaching areas ** Art Research and Media Theory ** Philosophy and aesthetics

Professors

* Matthias Bruhn (Philosophy and Media Theory) *

Céline Condorelli Céline Condorelli (born 1974) is an artist who works in London and Lisbon and is best known for her publications The Company She Keeps and Support Structures and her artworks which work across the spheres of art and architecture. Support Structur ...

(Media Exhibition Design) *

Filipa César Filipa César (born 1975 in Portugal) is an artist and filmmaker. She lives and works in Berlin, and studied at the Faculty of Arts in Porto and Lisbon (1996–99), the Academy of Arts in Munich (1999–2000) and MA Art in Context, University of ...

(Time Based Media und Performance) * Anne Duk Hee Jordan (Digital Arts) * Constanze Fischbeck (Scenography) * Line-Gry Hørup (Communication Design) * Diana McCarty (Time Based Media und Performance) * Chris Kabel (Product Design) * Tereza Rullerova (Communication Design and Digital Practices) * Isabel Seiffert (Communication Design) * Wieki Somers (Product Design) *

Füsun Türetken Füsun is a Turkish feminine given name, and it may refer to: *Füsun Eczacıbaşı, Turkish supporter of contemporary art *Füsun Köksal (born 1973), Turkish composer of contemporary classical music *Füsun Onur (born 1938), Turkish artist *Füsu ...

(Product Design)

Former professors

* Werner Aisslinger (Product Design) * Volker Albus (Product Design) * Hans Beller (Film) *

Hans Belting Hans Belting (7 July 1935 – 10 January 2023) was a German art historian and media theorist with a focus on image science, and this with regard to contemporary art and to the Italian art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Biography Be ...

(Art Research) *

Michael Bielický Michael Bielicky (born 12 January 1954 in Prague) is a Czech-German artist working in new media, video art, and installations. He is a professor in the department of digital media and post-digital narratives at the Karlsruhe University of Arts ...

(Info-Art/Digital Media) *

Martin Bohus Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart ...

(Media Art/Film) *

Klaus vom Bruch Klaus vom Bruch (born 1952 in Cologne) is a German media artist who is considered a pioneer of German video art. Biography Vom Bruch studied conceptual art at the California Institute of the Arts with John Baldessari from 1975 to 1976, and philo ...

(Media Art) * Michael Clegg (Artistic Photography) * Didi Danquart (Media Art/Film) *

Louis Philippe Demers Louis Philippe Demers (September 16, 1863 – November 3, 1951) was a Canadian lawyer, professor, and politician. Born in St-Georges d'Henryville, Canada East, the son of Alexis-Louis Demers, a Quebec politician, and Marie Goyette. Demers wa ...

(Media Exhibition Design) * Anja Dorn (Curatorial Studies and Dramaturgical Practice) * Elger Esser (Media Art/Photography) *

Omer Fast Omer Fast (; born in Jerusalem, 1972) is an Israeli contemporary artist. Early life and education Born and raised in Jerusalem, Fast spent much of his teenage years in New York. He received his BFA from a dual-degree program at Tufts Universit ...

(Media Art) * Vadim Fishkin (New Media Art) *

Günther Förg Günther Förg (5 December 1952 – 5 December 2013) was a German painter, graphic designer, sculptor and photographer. His style was influenced by American abstract painting.

(Painting) * Chup Friemert (Design Theory and Design History) * Ludger Gerdes† (Painting) * Siegfried Gohr (Art Research and Media Philosophy) * Markus Grob (Architecture) *

Götz Großklaus Götz or Goetz () is a German name, in origin a hypocorism of ''Gottfried''. It remains in use as a short form of ''Gottfried'', but it has also become a surname. Surnames ;Goetz * Alphonse Goetz (1865-1934), French chess master * Arturo Goetz, Ar ...

(Media History) *

Boris Groys Boris Efimovich Groys (born 19 March 1947) is an art critic, media theorist, and philosopher. He is currently a global distinguished professor of Russian and Slavic studies at New York University and senior research fellow at the Karlsruhe Unive ...

(Philosophy and Media Theory) *

Byung-Chul Han Byung-Chul Han (born 1959) is a South Korean-born philosopher and culture theory, cultural theorist living in Germany. He was a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and still occasionally gives courses there. His work largely centers a ...

(Philosophy and Media Theory) * Johan Frederik Hartle (Art Research and Media Philosophy) *

Thomas Heise Thomas Heise (22 August 1955 – 29 May 2024) was a German documentary filmmaker. Life and work Heise was born in East Berlin on 22 August 1955, the son of philosophy professor Wolfgang Heise. He was a printer's apprentice between 1971 and 1973. ...

(Media Art/Film) *

Candida Höfer Candida Höfer (born 4 February 1944) is a German photographer. She is a renowned photographer known for her exploration of public spaces and architecture. In her career she transitioned from portraiture to focusing on spaces like libraries and m ...

(Media Art/Photography) * Stephan von Huene† (Media Art) * James Irvine† (Product Design) * Anna Jermolaewa (New Media Art) *

Isaac Julien Sir Isaac Julien (born 21 February 1960Annette Kuhn"Julien, Isaac (1960–)" BFI Screen Online.) is a British installation artist, filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor of the Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Early life Juli ...

(Media Art) * Ines Kaag and

Désirée Heiss Désirée or Desiree or ''variation'', may refer to: * Désirée (given name), a female given name People * Des'ree (born 1968), British pop/soul vocalist throughout the 1990s * Desiree Barboza, Venezuelan politician * Desireé Bassett (born ...

(Designduo ''Bless'') (Product Design) * † (Media Theory, Sociology and Philosophy) * Dieter Kiessling (Media Art) * Stephan Krass (Literary Art) *

Susanne Kriemann Susanne Kriemann (born 1972 in Erlangen) is a German artist, photographer and professor at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. Life and career Susanne Kriemann graduated from the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart in 1997, where she ...

(Media Art/Artistic Photography) * Mischa Kuball (Media Art) * Wilfried Kuehn (Exhibition Design und Curatorial Practice) *

Marie-Jo Lafontaine Marie-Jo Lafontaine (born 17 November 1950) is a Belgian sculpture, sculptor and video artist. She lives and works as a Professor of Media Arts at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Brussels. Lafontaine is from Antwerp (Anvers), Bel ...

(Sculpture and Multimedia) * James Langdon (Communication Design) * Urs Lehni (Communication Design) *

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

(Architecture) * Armin Linke (Photography) * Hansjerg Maier-Aichen (Product Design) *

Christian Möller Christian Möller (born in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, West Germany in 1963) is a German artist and painter. He studied at the Academy of fine arts (Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste) in Karlsruhe by Horst Antes Horst Antes (born 28 Octo ...

(Exhibition Design) * Andreas Müller (Exhibition Design) *

Marcel Odenbach Marcel Odenbach is a German video artist. In the 1970s, with Ulrike Rosenbach and Klaus vom Bruch, he formed the producer group ATV. Odenbach's works criticize the conditions of German society. Life and work Odenbach was born in 1953 in Cologne ...

(Media Art) * Dietrich Oertel (Architecture) * Jai Young Park (Sculpture and Multimedia) *

Matteo Pasquinelli Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escend ...

(Media Philosophy) *

Florian Pfeffer Florian may refer to: People * Florian (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Florian (Marcus Annius Florianus), Roman emperor in 276 AD * Saint Florian (250 – c. 304 AD), patron saint of Po ...

(Communication Design) * Beatrix von Pilgrim (Scenography) * Tania Prill (Communication Design) *

Răzvan Rădulescu Răzvan Rădulescu (; born October 23, 1969) is a Romanian novelist and screenwriter. His first novel, ''The Life and Deeds of Elijah Cazane'', won the Romanian Writers' Union prize for best debut novel. His second novel, ''Theodosius the Small'', ...

(Film) * Gunter Rambow (Visual Communication) * Chris Rehberger (Communication Design) * Manfred Reichert (Music) *

Edgar Reitz Edgar Reitz (born 1 November 1932) is a German filmmaker and Professor of Film at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (State University of Design) in Karlsruhe. He is best-known for his internationally acclaimed Heimat (film series), ''Hei ...

(Film) * Lois Renner (Media Art/Photography) * Peter Anselm Riedl (Art Research) *

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

(Composition) * Sereina Rothenberger (Communication Design) * Rolf Sachsse (Theories of Design) * Michael Saup (Media Art/Digital Media) *

Michael Schirner Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

(Communication Design) * Heike Schuppelius (Scenography) * Helmut Schuster† (Painting) *

Johannes Schütz Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

(Scenography) * Michael Simon (Scenography) *

(Philosophy) * Lothar Spree (Media Art/Film) * Rebecca Stephany (Communication Design) *

Thomas Struth Thomas Struth (born 11 October 1954) is a German photographer who is best known for his ''Museum Photographs'' series, black and white photographs of the streets of Düsseldorf and New York taken in the 1970s, and his family photographs series. ...

(Media Art/Photography) * João Tabarra (Media Art) *

Andrei Ujică Andrei Ujică (born 1951 in Timișoara, Romania) is a Romanian screenwriter and director. Life and work Ujică studied literature in Timișoara, Bucharest, and Heidelberg. He moved to Germany in 1981. In 1990 he began making films. Together wi ...

(Film) *

Ulay Frank Uwe Laysiepen (; 30 November 1943 – 2 March 2020), known professionally as Ulay, was a German artist based in Amsterdam and Ljubljana, who received international recognition for his Polaroid SX-70, Polaroid art and collaborative performan ...

(Uwe Laysiepen, Media Art) *

Wolfgang Ullrich Wolfgang Ullrich (born August 27, 1950 in Vienna, Austria) is the former Head of Audi Motorsport, the sporting division of German automaker Audi since November 1993. Under his leadership, Audi won the 24 Hours of Le Mans thirteen times: 2000-2002 ...

(Art Research and Media Philosophy) * Sven Voelker (Communication Design) *

Peter Voß Peter Voß (29 June 1891 – 9 January 1979) was a German film actor. His acting career started in the late 1920s in the last years of the Silent film, silent film era and continued into the sound era until 1959. Partial filmography * ''Love an ...

(Media) * Penelope Wehrli (Scenography) * Hannes Wettstein† (Product Design) * Beat Wyss (Art Research and Media Philosophy)

References

External links

* {{authority control 1992 establishments in Germany Art schools in Germany Design schools in Germany Educational institutions established in 1992 Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design