Build Your Concentration
The flexible structure of the Master’s program allows students to concentrate their studies on a chosen field by selecting 2 elective units. Specialist subject areas in which Sotheby’s Institute of Art - London faculty have high level of expertise include Contemporary Design, Photography, East Asian Art and Curating. Students can also create their own path by combining elective units to suit their own interests and career aspirations, from art law and strategic management to East Asian ceramics and performance art.
Concentrations in which Sotheby’s Institute faculty have a high level of expertise include:
- Curating - This concentration is intended for students who want to hone their curatorial skills and their understanding of global trends and debates in curatorial practices, including expertise in curating in the context of museum strategy and display, curating contemporary art and curating in the Asian context.
- Contemporary Design - An ideal path for students looking towards a career in the design world, this concentration examines the rich and exciting plurality of approaches which have emerged in design since 1980 in terms of concept, materials and process. Subjects of study include Postmodernism, Narrative and Critical Design, Sustainability, the rise of computer-aided and digital design, and the cross-overs with fine art embedded in the Design Art phenomenon.
- Photography - The electives of this concentration are dedicated to two main areas of study: Network Studies and Documentary. Under the first heading, students will examine the question as to how photography became recognised as an art form and gain insight into photography’s place within the art market. Under the second, students will examine the interplay of politics and aesthetics in global photography since 1968. The concentration provides an insight into the ever-expanding network for art photography today, including photography’s place within the art market.
- East Asian Art - This concentration reflects our strong expertise in the particular contexts of China, Japan and Korea. The electives offered within the concentration cover both specialist material on traditional art forms such as Chinese painting and ceramics, as well as contemporary Chinese art and curating in the Asian context. Students will develop skills that will be highly transferable to the ever-growing need in the expanding Asian art world within galleries, museums and auction houses in the main cultural centres such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo.