KASK & Conservatorium trains artists, designers and art educators through an individual trajectory and encourages students to develop a practice in which they employ their own visual, sonic or artistic language.

The school facilitates the educational process through a pedagogical approach in which support, guidance and individual mentoring go hand in hand with artistic freedom and autonomy.

The opportunity to take ownership of one's own development and learning process is essential in this regard. Whilst autonomy increases gradually during the Bachelor’s programme, the tutor or mentor in the Master’s programme acts more as a supportive guide. In the PhD in the Arts, the promotor acts as a sounding board.

Practice forms the core of the educational programme. Its development involves various phases and approaches, which are explored under the guidance of experienced experts within an authentic learning environment, where students, teachers, researchers and the artistic community meet and inspire one another.

KASK & Conservatorium aims to create an atmosphere of trust that enables experimentation and innovation. 

The school strives to be a safe space where students can take risks and where the peripheral and the incongruous are a source of renewal.

Students learn, experiment and create both individually and collectively, through guided exercises and assignments as well as through independent practice within a supervised context. Showcases and presentations both on and off campus form an essential part of the programme.

KASK & Conservatorium encourages an independent and inquisitive approach on technical, artistic, design-related, physical, emotional, social and theoretical levels. The programme creates room for reflection, doubt, risk and imagination as necessary conditions for artistic development.

Exploring possibilities, daring to fail and gaining insight into one’s own choices and processes are just as important as achieving results.

As part of research projects at KASK & Conservatorium, international artists and theorists regularly share their knowledge and experiences with students.

KASK & Conservatorium places emphasis on theoretical training and critical (self-)reflection. The theoretical component of the programme nourishes and enriches the students’ practice; they are encouraged to speak and write about their own practice.

Theoretical training provides concepts and frameworks of reference.

These enable students to reflect on their work and its relationship to social, technological, cultural and historical contexts. In addition, it provides the technical knowledge required to express themselves through a particular medium and to engage with it in innovative ways.

KASK & Conservatorium focuses on providing students with specialist training in the technical and artistic possibilities of their field of practice.

In doing so, the school looks beyond the boundaries of practices and artistic disciplines. Study paths, graduating options and programmes interact with one another both structurally and spontaneously.

The programmes deliberately create room for interactions between and beyond specialisms, reflecting the dynamics and practices within the professional field. 

It is precisely for this reason that KASK & Conservatorium brings together a broad range of pedagogical expertise and artistic approaches within a single arts school.

The culture of openness between the various pedagogical study paths, combined with their physical proximity, encourages cross-fertilisation. In this way, in-depth expertise gains meaning within an ecosystem of diverse practices and perspectives.

KASK & Conservatorium functions as a living community, in which students learn informally from one another through co-creation as an integral part of the learning process. The school provides a framework for encounters between learners.

As everyday workplaces, the campuses are simultaneously learning and living environments where students develop their practice, both during and outside lessons. Alongside studios, auditoriums and workshops, shared communal spaces such as the kitchen, café, library or garden form an essential part of the educational infrastructure.

Informal learning takes place through initiatives that arise spontaneously both within and outside the school, with students motivating and inspiring one another.

A personal study path is always shaped in relation to others. As a learning community, students and teachers share responsibility for one another and their workplace, based on a sense of mutual interdependence.

KASK & Conservatorium has strong local roots and operates from an international perspective.

The school aims to equip its students with the tools to actively engage with a changing society. This begins with the relationship to the superdiverse city in which the school is situated.

Through partnerships in education, research and artistic practice, KASK & Conservatorium strengthens initiatives across Ghent’s broad cultural sector.

With global citizenship as our guiding principle, we focus on collaborations with international partners, international exchanges and a range of English-language programmes.

In a globalised and hyper-connected society, students, the school, the city and many different worlds are constantly interconnected.

The professional fields for which KASK & Conservatorium’s programmes prepare students are reflected throughout the school. Practising artists, musicians, film and theatre makers, designers and art educators share their expertise and experience.

KASK & Conservatorium collaborates with cultural organisations and institutions, some of which are in residence on the campuses. Moreover, thanks to its extensive artistic activities, the school itself forms part of the cultural landscape. The artistic programme thus acts as a pivotal link between the school and society.

During their training, students leave the campuses to gain practical experience in the professional field. In this way, the educational context opens doors to a real-world working environment.

Art and design are ways of questioning the world and of developing and sharing knowledge. Grounded in plurality, inclusivity and ecological perspectives, KASK & Conservatorium encourages students to take responsibility for promoting a critical, creative and open society through their work.