The Piet Zwart Institute is an international postgraduate programme dedicated to study and research in the fields of art and design. Named after the pioneering Dutch designer, Piet Zwart (1885-1977), who worked experimentally across media and contexts, the Institute offers a rich combination of in-depth specialisation and interdisciplinary exchange in an intimate learning environment.

The courses of the Piet Zwart Institute are located in the heart of Rotterdam’s city centre at Karel Doormanhof 45 and Blaak 10. While students and faculty come from across the globe, bringing with them a variety of cultural influences, there are also strong connections to the city, its history and ever-changing urban environment.

The Institute has four Master courses: Fine Art, Interior Architecture and Retail Design, Media Design and Communication, and Art Education. All are founded on a shared interest in the complex social, cultural and political underpinnings of each discipline. Through a uniquely tailored curriculum combining collective learning, individual tutorial attention, practice-based research and theoretical enquiry, our courses educate professionals who have a critically reflective, innovative, questioning, and imaginative approach to their work. Our graduates not only establish themselves in their field, but also challenge and creatively define the perimeters of their profession.

Most importantly, as an educational programme and cultural centre, the notion of ‘making public’ is core to our activities. Exhibitions, programming, conferences and publications are a means of expanding our research beyond the confines of academia, while simultaneously valuing the very necessary speculative space for reflection and knowledge building that is only made possible through an academic framework like the Piet Zwart Institute.

All applicants for the Piet Zwart Institute need to have a completed Bachelor as a minimum degree. The selection criteria per Master course are:

– Master Fine Art: Bachelor in Fine Art or equivalent undergraduate education
– Master Interior Architecture & Retail Design: Bachelor in the field of Interior Architecture, Interior Design, Spatial Design or Architecture
– Master Media Design & Communciation: Bachelor in the field of Communication Design, Interaction Design, Information Design, Photography, Animation, Audiovisual Design, Fine Art or Graphic Design
– Master Education in Arts: Bachelor in the field of Art Education, Fine Art, Design or equivalent undergraduate education

Candidates with a Bachelor’s degree in another discipline are accepted, but additional deficiency programmes can be made mandatory.

Priority deadline: Non European and European students: January 31 2014
Second deadline: Non European and European students: March 3 2014
Third and final deadline: For European students only: April 1st 2014

Application and information: www.pzwart.nl/