Textile Art & Artefact
The Textile Art & Artefact programme is located within NCAD’s Department of Applied Material Cultures in the School of Fine Art. The programme is centred upon the fundamental principle of ‘making’ as a personal response to ‘materiality’. Students are challenged to expand on the diverse nature and the location of such textile processes to find new function and meaning. This enables students to realise outcomes which might have design interests, applied art, design or have a discursive context. Students are encouraged to have an awareness of a broad range of both new and hand-crafted textile processes.
What will I study?
Integral to the creative process is a deep and sensitive knowledge of materials. The TA&A programme at NCAD provides students with a basis to engage in a particular creative field and to contribute to interdisciplinary debate with others. You will continually expand your knowledge through ongoing practical studio work, where you will develop a suite of fundamental and complementary skills allowing you to connect your work to contemporary culture and audiences. The programme provides the perfect environment to experiment with new material considerations and explore the personal and public dimensions of making. Students develop a personal creative identity and proficiency in design principles and techniques, alongside theoretical positioning in relation to contemporary art practices. Through a mixture of workshops, lectures and tutorials, students develop professional approaches and relationships in the creative field essential for establishing and sustaining a professional practice.
Year 1
First semester explores interdisciplinary Art and Design research, observation and analysis. In the second semester, all Fine Art students get a working taste of subjects with six weeks of workshops in two pathways selected from: Hard Materials, Media, Painting, Print, Sculpture and Textile Art & Artefact. The remainder of the module is spent in the Applied Material Department, making work with student peers similarly interested in exploring different kinds of approaches, materials and processes, and developing skills in the language of Textile Art.
Year 2
The focus in the second year is on developing a personal visual language and the skills necessary to translate this into successful Textile Art & Artefact practice. You will also focus on researching and defining a specific audience and developing a market understanding through professional practice.
Year 3: Studio+ & International
An optional opportunity to gain experience in a range of social and cultural contexts in the world beyond NCAD. Build your skills as an artist while working with an organisation with links to the School of Fine Art. Studio+ can also include a period of study abroad through the Erasmus programme with internationally recognised art faculties partnered with NCAD. Students who choose Studio+ will complete a 4 year BA Fine Art or a 4 year BA Fine Art (International).
Final Year
In the final year, students are ready to develop their own programme of study, which reflects each individual’s skills and interests within Textile Art & Artefact. This will culminate in a substantial body of work for assessment and display at the Graduate Showcase, exhibitions and events.
How will I be assessed?
Assessment throughout the programme, in both your studio practice and in Critical Cultures, will be on a continuous basis, at the end of each completed module and at the end of each semester (half-year). Formal assessment results will be issued at the end of each academic year. Modes of assessment will include practical and written assignments, oral and visual presentations, portfolios and exhibitions.
Critical Cultures
Become a critically engaged, reflective and effective practitioner through studying the connections between history, theory and practice in modern and contemporary contexts.
Find out more
Opportunities after graduation
As a consequence of the skills acquired, TA&A graduates have a wide range of national and international opportunities open to them. Previous graduates have gone on to become successful visual artists, entrepreneurs, designers for couture, milliners and accessory designers, stylists, costume and prop designers, illustrators, and to work in art education and art therapy. Increasingly, graduates are bridging contemporary art practices, with many going on to pursue further study at postgraduate level to refine their creative abilities and approach. NCAD offers a range of innovative masters programmes, as well as a practice-based PhD.
Student & Graduate Stories
Nicole Kierans, BA in Education and Fine Art (Textile Art and Artefact) 2019
Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?
I had always heard so many positive things about NCAD, all the big designers and artists who had studied there. The excitement of creating a portfolio and the unknowing if you made the cut to be lucky enough to attend college there. When I was in school it was always seen as the place to be, and most teachers really push for anyone interested in art to attend.
However it was also one of the only colleges that offered me the opportunity to study both education and art together. Combining both fine art and education giving me a joint degree, a great fast pass into the big world without completing a masters.