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about the programme
During your training in textile design, you will become acquainted with age-old crafts as well as contemporary industrial and digital processes. Expertise in weaving, knitting, embroidery, print design... is a breeding ground for innovation and each time places you in relation to your own artistic process.

textile design

about the programme
study path
bachelor + master visual arts
graduating option
study path textile design
3+1 years
language
Dutch
English master

read more about the programme

Textiles are ubiquitous and traverse different cultural contexts. It carries historical, symbolic and personal meaning. Textiles cover a field linked to visual arts and at the same time to everyday life with seemingly banal but fundamental human customs and needs.

Versatile

The distinctive versatility of the discipline gives the textile designer great freedom of movement and autonomy. This richness makes textile design a fascinating field in which you can establish your own emphases as a student. During the training, you are introduced to age-old crafts as well as contemporary industrial and digital processes. Numerous and varied initiations set the scene for your artistic path, in which you will soon determine your own orientation and learn to work in a self-directed way.

Ateliers textile design, photo: Cheyenne Dekeyser
photo: Cheyenne Dekeyser

Craft and industry

Experimentation - both playful and analytical - is central to the development of your own visual language and methodology as a designer. Fundamental textile activities such as binding, knotting, twining, braiding and folding are explored while working. Understanding the properties of materials and specific techniques such as weaving, knitting, printing and embroidery are important for a textile designer and are given great weight in the programme. In addition to a multi-purpose workspace, we have several well-equipped workshops for this purpose, such as the weaving and knitting workshop with an industrial knitting machine, the printing workshop, the paint kitchen and the embroidery workshop. The recurring collaboration with the textile technology programme (HOGENT), acts as a laboratory for larger-scale projects and is a challenging place to test out work in an industrial setting.  

Sofie Roterman, photo: SDB
Benjamin Nestingu Navet, Different Class, photo: Ugo Woatzi

Research

Deep and felt knowledge of materials enables you to link functional properties to visual qualities. The tension between these aspects is a breeding ground for innovation. This knowledge is always integrated into your own artistic process where both tactile and visual qualities are central. An inquisitive and critically reflective attitude is a prerequisite for success, not only within the programme but also afterwards as a designer in the current working field. During the programme, the development of a critical, individual view is continuously encouraged through various assignments and artistic projects. The theoretical framework also contributes to the development of a reflective attitude towards historical and contemporary cultural evolutions and the positioning of one's own work in the world.  

Cooperation

Collaborative projects with artists, designers and companies are part of the curriculum and make a relevant connection with the professional field. In doing so, we explore the different domains in which textiles exist and investigate the functional, collective, narrative,... possibilities within specific situations and working spheres. Parallel to teaching, the textile design teachers also all have their own practice from which they bring in relevant and diverse expertise. International internships, fair and company visits, guest lectures and competitions also bring the varied working field close by and support the formation of autonomous and innovative textile designers.

study programme

1E BACHELOR
60 credits
Course unit
Credits
Sem
Atelier textielontwerp I
27
J
Transversaal atelier I
3
J
Tekenen 1
6
J
Kleur & context
3
J
Textiel technologie
3
J
Culturele textielstudies
3
J
Overzicht van de wijsbegeerte
3
J
Overzicht van de kunsten:
avant garde tot heden
3
J
Kunstenaarsteksten 1
3
J
Inleiding tot het onderzoek in de kunsten
3
1
Psychologie van de waarneming & beeldanalyse
3
1
Psychologie van de waarneming
Beeldanalyse
60
2E BACHELOR
60 credits
Course unit
Credits
Sem
Atelier textielontwerp II
21
J
Transversaal atelier II
3
J
Duurzaam ontwerpen I
3
1
Tekenen 2
3
J
Design theorie 2
3
2
Kunstfilosofie 1
3
J
Overzicht van de kunsten: renaissance tot avant-garde
3
J
Kunstenaarsteksten 2
3
J
Lectuur teksten vanuit historisch perspectief
2
Schrijven
1
Studie van literaire teksten 1
3
1
Antropologie van de kunsten
3
1
Minor Keuzevakken
12
1+2
3E BACHELOR
60 credits
Course unit
Credits
Sem
Atelier textielontwerp III
21
J
Transversaal atelier III
3
J
Duurzaam ontwerpen II
3
1
Vorm & context
3
1
Dossier
3
2
Kunstfilosofie 2
3
J
Studie van literiare teksten 2
3
J
Kunstenaarsteksten 3
3
J
Semiotiek
3
2
Initiatie Werkveld: Vormgeving & Design
3
1
Minor Keuzevakken
12
1+2
60
MASTER
60 credits
Course unit
Credits
Sem
Masterproef
29
J
Scriptie
9
J
Theoretische seminaries
12
1/2
Te kiezen
10
1/2/J
Kunst in het werkveld
Opleidingsonderdelen binnen AUGent
60
ENGLISH MASTER
60 credits
Course unit
Credits
Sem
Master's Project
29
Y
Thesis
9
Y
Elective Seminars
12
1/2
To choose
10
1/2/Y
Arts in Practice
Elective courses within Ghent university Association
60

enrolment & tests

If you want to apply for an academic bachelor's degree, you must first pass an artistic admission test. To enter the master's programme, you will take part in an orientation test. These are organised several times per academic year.

english master

In addition to a Dutch-language master, this study path also has a fully English-language counterpart. Every academic year, dozens of foreign students start in the English master's at KASK & Conservatorium.

There are no differences in curricula, competencies, learning outcomes or organization between the English-language programmes and their Dutch-language counterparts. Don’t hesitate to contact the study and learning track counsellors with your questions.

contact
atelier textielontwerp
6, Bijlokekaai
9000 Ghent

credits

  1. Atelier textile design, video: Manon De Sutter & Charles Dhondt
  2. Sofie Roterman, Embodied Knits
  3. Louise Dhondt, Graduation 2022, photo: Jordi Coppers