Tromsø Academy of Landscape and Territorial Studies

Info

The Department for Contemporary Art and Creative Writing in Tromsø is the world’s northernmost fine arts college. The Academy was started in 2007.

Historie

The Department for Contemporary Art and Creative Writing in Tromsø is the world’s northernmost fine arts college. The Academy was started in 2007 and accepts only a small number of students each year for courses in fine arts and creative writing. The first MA students were enrolled in 2012 and, in the autumn of 2013, the Academy has its first PhD students. The Art Academy is a department in a faculty comprising the department of music and drama and from autumn 2013 also a MA programme in Landscape Architecture, which allows for collaborations and exchange between the departments. The faculty aims to maintain a high international level and to develop its own particular characteristics, thus offering an alternative to other degree courses in the arts.

The Academy moved in september 2013 to new premises in the form of a purpose-converted factory building centrally situated in Tromsø. The city with its 70 000 inhabitants facilitates personal relationships and close contacts with other institutions and collaborations.

Being the northernmost institution of its type in the world is a unique characteristic but should not obscure the fact that the Academy is also part of a multi-facetted global arena. The Department for Contemporary Art and Creative Writing in Tromsø is for example a member of educational networks that offers collaboration and opportunities for exchanges. The Academy also has various other collaborative partners as well as guest lecturers from different parts of the world which means that students will be offered the combination of local roots and international insights and opportunities.

Because of its unique geopolitical situation, with access to a wealth of natural resources and newly developed transport routes, Tromsø is a rapidly growing city. It is part of a region that has long been at an intersection between different cultures and peoples. This naturally has an impact on the Academy which, in turn, has its own influence on the region.

The Academy is a relatively small institution, which makes for a good shared atmosphere by students, professors, lecturers and other staff members. Joint excursions and other activities further enhance the social environment.