About the programme
The MA in Fine Arts is a research-based programme for artists. The programme provides a learning environment that prepares you to achieve a level of professional excellence required by the demands of the changing landscape of contemporary art. It also fosters a deep inquiry into artistic practices through research.
A pioneering programme in Singapore that has produced numerous award-winning artists working globally, it features a multidisciplinary teaching faculty consisting of practising artists, writers and curators from Singapore and around the world.
It is the only practice-based programme in Singapore that emphasises a multidisciplinary approach while generating individual self-discipline, knowledge and discoveries that enable the realisation of your artistic vocabulary. The programme will equip you with the appropriate expertise and academic rigour to pursue a higher level of independent research work such as a PhD in any number of arts-related fields.
The MA Fine Arts programme’s core concerns around contemporary art attract a diverse body of students who crosses disciplines and geographies to undertake a critical reflection and contemplation in art. Whether focusing your research area within a certain mode of expression, or choosing to work via an interdisciplinary approach, the programme enables you to acquire critical, theoretical and historical discourses, and cultivate your practice through a firm grounding in studio experimentation and innovation.
The programme prides itself in working towards the sustainability of an artist by preparing graduates for a rapidly-evolving art landscape. Singapore’s strategic geographic and culturally connected position in Southeast Asia, as well as the country’s investment in arts infrastructure has created a burgeoning arts industry that not only offers myriad opportunities for artists but also facilitates cross-pollination of renowned artistic talent and contemporary art discourse to cross-pollinate.
The programme’s stellar, dedicated faculty spans a wide range of academic and artistic backgrounds. Accomplished academics and artists in their own right, they provide you with individualised attention and support alongside a distinguished roster of guest lecturers, international artists, curators and critics amidst the vibrant ecosystem of fellow candidates.
Through such a rich context and diverse international exposure, you will have ample opportunities to further contemporary art discourses through your own research and practice, and graduate with global appeal.
About the Programme Team | Curators, Adeline Kueh and Dr Ian Woo
Dr Ian Woo is an artist and musician influenced by forms of modernism, perceptual abstraction and the sound structures of music improvisation. His paintings and drawings are characterised by a sense of gravitational and representational change.
As an educator, Dr Woo leads the MA Fine Arts programme which focuses on developing artistic practice as research. He developed the curriculum for studio practice research through validations by Open University and Goldsmiths University. He has supervised artists who have had representations in the Venice and Singapore Biennale, as such, he has been instrumental in shaping the artistic profile and history of Singapore art since the turn of the millennium. Dr Woo has exhibited globally and his works are in the collection of major institutions such as ABN AMRO, Singapore Art Museum, The Istana Singapore, National Gallery Singapore, UBS, and the Mint Museum of Craft & Design, USA.
His paintings were featured in the publication Art of the New Cities: 21st Century Avant-Gardes, a publication by Phaidon Press, 2013. Since 2016, together with Beth Harland, David Thomas and Laura Lisbon, Dr Woo has been part of the experimental painting collaborative project Impermanent Durations – On Painting and Time. As a musician, Dr Woo has composed and performed on the bass guitar with ID, Qianpima and Closing Time. He has performed at Singapore’s C.H.O.P.P.A Experimental Music Festival from 2008–2017.
Adeline Kueh makes installations and socially embodied works that reconsider the relationship we have with things and rituals around us. Using drawing as a conceptual tool, Adeline looks to cartographies, craft and oral traditions to map out historical trajectories across time and space through her use of found objects and new productions.
Presently a Senior Lecturer with the MA Fine Arts programme at LASALLE, Adeline has exhibited
internationally. She was involved in the World Architecture Festival (2016–2017), Hermes Singapore (2016), Venice Biennale (2019), the Singapore Tyler Print Institute’s Visiting Artists Programme (VAP) Residency (2021), NTU CCA IdeasFest 2023: Eat. Secure. Sustain, and Asia NOW Paris (2023). In January 2024, Adeline was involved in the Gangwon Cultural Olympics and Heritage Exchange Exhibition: The Fabulous Stories to Save the Green Planet, staged at Gyeongpo Beach, South Korea.
Since 2001, Adeline has been the driving force for advocating interdisciplinary rigour in contemporary research practice in both postgraduate and undergraduate studies in the McNally School of Fine Arts at the College. She was instrumental in developing curricula that were sensitive to art history, theory and studio practice for the validation processes for Open University and Goldsmiths, University of London. She has held many portfolios including being the Programme Leader/Director of Studies for Art Theory and Art History (2000–2004) and Programme Coordinator for MA Art History (2006–2008). She has supervised a significant number of postgraduate dissertations and research practice of luminaries in the contemporary Singapore arts, design and media scenes including Cultural Medallion, President’s Young Talent Award and President’s Design Award winners. Adeline has co-curated graduation showcases for the MA Fine Arts programme and has spearheaded Open Studios, industry and outreach projects with the alumni community of the College in Singapore and beyond. Adeline is an Ewha Global Fellow with Ewha Womans University, South Korea from 2024 to 2026.