MA Programme Scenography The study

MA Programme Scenography

About the study

Study
Master Scenography
Mode of study
Full-time
School
Theatre
Grade
Master of Arts
Duration
2 years
ECTS
120
Type
Master
Language
English
CROHO-code
49114
Location(s)
Pastoe Fabriek

Welcome to the Master’s programme Scenography

Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design, programme Scenography students at HKU Theatre are trained to transform any environment into a theatrical surrounding, through supervising and stimulating the development of their creative and intellectual capabilities.

"Scenography is not simply concerned with creating and presenting images to an audience; it is concerned with audience reception and engagement. It is a sensory as well as an intellectual experience, emotional as well as rational." (McKinney, Joslin (2009). The Cambridge Introduction to Scenography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

Master’s programme in brief

  • International context
  • Clear curriculum built around Making, Thinking and Sharing work
  • Keypoints are: Context; Disciplinarity; Research and Self-direction
  • Open and inclusive learning environment
  • An integrative approach of making and thinking, theory and practice
  • Individual responsibility and personal development through own studio work
  • Collaborative work in projects and workshop
  • Strong focus on scenographic practice through performativity of material; light and sound; a diversity of technological tools and media
  • Great studio to work in as a community, and ample use of performative spaces and black boxes

Is the Master’s programme Scenography something for you?

Are you a visual artist, a theatre designer, a theatre maker or director, a performance designer, a visual dramaturg, a multimedia artist, an architect or spatial designer, a curator of events, involved in scenographic art practice in any other way or ambitious to be so? Are you eager to develop your work through practice and research? At the MA programme Scenography of HKU Theatre, you work, think and share.

The course is suitable for students who have just completed their Bachelor’s degree and are capable of conducting research independently and in a broad context, as well as for artists who have already been working as professionals at Bachelor’s level for several years. The study program offers you conceptual deepening and broadening of professional skills, and frameworks for research. In the end you are to be able to critically reflect on the processes of your artistic production and to contextualise and present it.

Why choose the Master’s programme Scenography at HKU?

The MA programme Scenography at HKU offers a strong, open network for students and alumni to exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences. Its network includes a wide range of cultural partners in Utrecht as well as abroad. The MA programme Scenography participates in an international network with partners such as Prague Quadrennial which is the largest scenography event in the world, presenting contemporary work in a variety of performance design disciplines and genres.

The MA programme Scenography has a dynamic collaborative relation with Het Huis, Spring Festival, platform-scenography and UU, Theatre Studies. Research done within the framework of the MA programme Scenography is supported by the Professorship Performative Processes at HKU.We nourish a strong relation with alumni and a range of theatre makers and collectives. Our work is done within a strong learning community that stretches far beyond the walls of the school.

Exited? Apply now!

Stay tuned!

Sign up for HKU Next Step, the newsletter with information about the HKU masters.
Sign up for the HKU master newsletter

MA Programme Scenography

What will you learn in this course?

Artistic research, in-depth knowledge acquisition and reflection are the starting points of our degree course. The curriculum base is formed by encounters with professional theatre makers with diverse artistic practices; through workshops, group projects, round tables, theoretical study and excursions.

The Master’s programme gives you plenty of space to put your work and/or artistic practice centre stage for the duration of your studies. Cohesion is enhanced by the artistic research you do to develop your own work (investigation in both a practical and theoretical sense) and to develop your own artistic system (reflection). Research is done into and through the art work, in four distinct stages of research and development:

  • play and experiment
  • collection of meaningful material
  • formulation of the artistic system
  • communication and presentation of research results

New approaches, forms, contexts and diverse modes of (re-)presentation (performative, narrative, context
responsive, interactive, generative) are explored through both making and critical reflection, and different forms of sharing.

The team of MA Scenography

  • Ariane Trümper – course leader, lecturer (think, share)
  • Tjallien Walma van der Molen – core lecturer (make)
  • Nirav Christophe – lecturer (think, share)
  • Daniela Moosmann – lecturer (think, share)
  • Vinny Jones – lecturer (make)
  • Maze de Boer – lecturer (make)
  • Joris Weijdom – lecturer (make, think) (Bekijk zijn keynote speech op IETM Amsterdam)
  • Joost Segers – lecturer (share)
  • Philipine Hoegen – lecturer (think)
  • Han Ruiz Buhrs – lecturer (make)
  • Marloeke van der Vlugt – lecturer (think, make)
  • Hilda Moucharrafieh – lecturer (share)
  • Guido Jansen – lecturer (think)
  • Goeleke Naaijkens – study coach
  • Rita Hoogland - course coordinator

Every year we invite a range of further national and international guests that are on the fore front of contemporary scenographic and/or artistic research and practice: Dorita Hannah, Thea Brezjek, Rachel Hann, Lotte van den Berg, Julia Wilms, Julian Hetzel, Liesbeth Groot Nibbelink and many more.

MA Programme Scenography

Examples of student work

Discover the work of our students

Class of 2023
Class of 2022
Class of 2021
Class of 2020

Off to work!

This is a program that will enable you to attain a high level of practical expertise and knowledge of scientific disciplines and professional theatre practices and how to apply them.

Having an enterprising attitude, the scenographer is someone who likes to break out of established patterns and realize social value, who deals with uncertainty, is alert and on his toes, creative and contrary. The scenographer as theatrical designer or performance designer has the ability to make an essential contribution to the contemporary performance practice. So after graduation you can pursue a professional career within the practice of expanded scenography and/or focus on further development of artistic research within a more academic context.

MA Programme Scenography

Application and admission

Admission date

Following your application, you will receive an assignment and uploading instructions.

There is one round of admissions. The deadline for uploading your admission documents is 23 March 2025.

Can you still apply?

You can still apply for the MA Scenography course for the academic year 2025-2026. Please keep in mind that applications received after 15 January can only be processed based on availability. It is therefore possible that the course is suddenly full.

Prior education

The course is suitable for students who have just completed their Bachelor’s degree and are capable of conducting research independently and in a broad context, as well as for artists who have already been working as professionals at Bachelor’s level for several years. The study program offers you conceptual deepening and broadening of professional skills, and frameworks for research. For more information about our general enrolment requirements, click here.

Studielink

Apply via Studielink for the Master’s programme Scenography.

Admission assignment

Following your application, you will receive an assignment and uploading instructions. You also need to upload your portfolio.

Interview

Based on your documents you will be considered for an interview.
Admission results will be communicated within two weeks after the interview.

Study costs

HKU has different rates for tuition fees. Depending on your situation, you pay either statutory or institutional tuition fees.

Calculate your tuition fee
  • The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science anually sets the statutory tuition fees. The statutory rate applies only to students from the Netherlands, another country in the European Economic Area (EEA*), Switzerland or Suriname, and students who meet the nationality criteria of the Dutch Student Finance Act (WSF 2000). (* EEA countries comprise the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein).
  • HKU sets the institutional tuition fees on the basis of the statutory rate. Students who have already completed a course in higher education and students from outside the EEA usually pay a higher rate. Partly as a result of legal changes, the rate for institutional tuition fees for non-EEA students may rise considerably in the coming years. When the changes are known, we will inform you here. The regulations referred to in the tuition fees wizard are subject to legal changes.