In keeping with Shiv Nadar University’s emphasis on interdisciplinary research and situated experiential learning, the Department of Art and Performing Arts attempts to nurture rigorous and thoughtful praxis in these disciplines and their interfaces with questions of society and culture, history, politics, identity, philosophy, and technology. A vibrant visiting faculty and artist-in-residence programme encourages the development of creative alliances between practitioners, organizations and institutions both nationally and transnationally.
Organized visits to museums, archives, and other resource centres, as well as attendance at seminars and conferences at the national and international level further augment the process. The department follows a philosophy that is learner-centric. Faculty and students are peers working together in the production of knowledge through collaborative means and systematic processes of persistent and layered enquiry. The innovative and flexible course structure permits students of Art and Performing Arts to chart their own course of study as critical and self-reflexive scholars and practitioners, under the mentorship of experienced faculty. Continued pedagogical and historical research creates a fertile and dynamic environment for evolving forms of choreography and performance-making, visual art practice, design thinking and innovation. Shared facilities and open access to expert guidance across departments further enrich the symbiotic nature of learning processes in the University. The Masters Program in Fine Arts (MFA), will offer courses that would help students to develop bodies of work that address their questions, ideas, concerns and sensitivities. Each student will be assigned a primary mentor and two secondary mentors to help chart a course of study in accordance with the nuances of her/his individual practice.
Facilities
The Design/Wood/Metal/Clay workshops are equipped with tools and light machinery which would cover most student requirements. Shared laboratory facilities with other departments further widen the scope by providing possibilities for welding, sand-casting, terra cotta and ceramics.
Facilities specific to the visual arts include state-of-the-art media labs for projects involving video, sound and photography. Related equipment is available to students on the basis of project requirements under the supervision and guidance of expert technicians. Working studios and project rooms for individual research offer scope for intensive focus towards the development of radical creative trajectories.
Rehearsal rooms and auditoriums with varying seating capacities are available for theatre, performance-making and improvisational movement. Periodic workshops provide students with invaluable exposure to experimental and traditional theatre/dance forms from across the globe.