Welcome to the BA Fine Arts programme. We are delighted to accompany you as you begin this next chapter in your creative and academic journey, and we look forward to meeting you soon.
The information below serves as an orientation to the structure and expectations of the programme, and will help you prepare for your first weeks on campus.
Most of your classes will take place in the Department of Fine Arts, which is close to the gym and the Tempe/Furstenburg Gate. The building's name is Claerhout and is in the Mabaleng Block. Find it here on Google Maps (the location will also be shared with you on the Official Departmental WhatsApp group).
Your Curriculum
Please take note that this is a brief, general overview of your curriculum. For detailed academic advice, click here for students on the Mainstream 4-Year plan, and here for students on the Extended 5-Year plan.
The BA Fine Arts Curriculum is largely structured across four years of study for students on the Mainstream Programme and up to five years for students on the Extended Programme
Your two Majors are:
1. Fine Arts Practical Modules
2. Art History and Image Studies Modules
These majors run throughout all four years of the programme.
*Please note the critical importance of your Art History and Image Studies modules: If you do not complete these modules on time, your progression may be delayed. You cannot enter the fourth year of study without having passed all Fine Arts Practical and Art History and Image Studies Modules up to the third year level.
Minors/Electives
Limited-option elective module, such as Psychology or English (which you will take in both first and second years)
During online registration, you will be required to select an elective from a dropdown list of module codes. Please choose carefully: the elective you select now must be taken for two consecutive years, as stipulated by the curriculum rules.
Compulsory/Foundational Modules
In the first year, you are required to register for the following compulsory modules:
FYSH1512 & FYSH1522 – Two foundational modules taken by all first-year students across the university.
CSIL1561 – A computer literacy module offered in the second semester.
CALH1508 – A first-year English year module.
For CSIL1561 and CALH1508, you may register for a promotional test before the module begins, but you still need to register for this module. Achieving a sufficiently high score will exempt you from attending the classes for these module.
Junior Years
In your first and second years (junior years), you have your Fine Arts Practical Majors, Art History and Image Studies Majors, as well as your Elective and Compulsory and Foundational Modules
Senior Years
In your third and fourth years (your senior years), your curriculum consists exclusively of Fine Arts practical modules and Art History and Image Studies modules and no Electives or other Compulsory and Foundational Modules
A note on your class timetable
Please note that Fine Arts practical classes do not appear on your formal timetable you receive from your student portal (where your electives and Art History and Image Studies classes will appear), as they would conflict with one another. Your Fine Arts practical classes do appear on the Official Fine Arts Department Year Plan, which you will receive on the first day. All practical classes take place face-to-face in the studio and run every weekday from 09:00–16:00, with a lunch break between 13:00–14:00.
You will follow your practical timetable while attending your scheduled Art History, elective, and compulsory module classes; once those classes conclude, you return to the department and continue with practical work. For example, say now on this specific day you have an Art History and Image Studies class from 10:00-11:00 and a Psychology class from 15:00-16:00, this means that you will be in studio creating an artwork from 09:00-10:00, then head over to Art History and Image Studies from 10:00-11:00, return to studio from 11:00-13:00, have lunch between 13:00-14:00, be in studio from 14:00-15:00, and then attend Psychology from 15:00-16:00. Because of your many other classes that take time out of the studio, it is important to be in studio in the required hours so that you have enough time to attend practical demonstrations and complete an artwork.
A note before the first day of class
Because the programme is studio-based, it is essential that you are in Bloemfontein and fully registered before classes begin, and that you are present on campus on the very first day. Just bring yourself. All art materials will be provided as part of the departmental material fees charged by students to the finance department. We will all meet at 09:00 on the first day of term, at the Fine Arts Department.
More about your Practical Fine Arts Modules
First and Second Years (Juniors)
You will be introduced to four key disciplines of artmaking through four modules. In the first year, they are:
Drawing and New Media (XTKN1505)
Painting (XSKN1505)
Sculpture (XBHK1505)
Printmaking (XGFK1505)
Each of these modules typically includes three projects per year. Each project is approximately two weeks long (ten working days), during which you will develop a full artwork that is ready for exhibition. Detailed year plans, module guides and project guides, as well as the General Rule Guide, will be shared with you on your first day. Please make sure that you are at the Fine Arts Department at 09:00 on the first day of the term.
In your second year, you will continue with these same four key modules:
Drawing and New Media (XTKN2605)
Painting (XSKN2605)
Sculpture and Installation (XBHK2605)
Printmaking (XGFK2605)
Projects that fall under Drawing and New Media include live figure drawing, still-life and observational drawing, photography, sound art, video art and stop-frame animation.
Projects that fall under Painting include acrylic, oil, gouache and digital painting, still-life, landscape painting, self-portrait painting, as well as performance art.
Projects that fall under Sculpture and Installation include our Annual Richmond Land Art Project with Willem Boshoff in the Karoo, construction and assemblage projects, ceramic bust sculpting and silicone mould-making and resin casting.
Projects that fall under Printmaking include etching, embossing, lino and silkscreen.
Third and Fourth Years (Seniors)
In your third and fourth years (senior years), you no longer have four practical modules per year, but only two. Although the modules are fewer, the credits per module are more. Each module is now 32 credits in the third and fourth years, whereas in the first and second years, practical modules are 20 credits each.
In your third year, you have:
Drawing (XTKN3708)
and
Fine Arts (XBDK3708) - a module in which you start to specialise in a specific field of your choice, for example, in painting or in video art.
In your fourth year, you have:
XBDK4808 (Fine Arts) and XBKE4808 (Fine Arts Studio Research). Both modules are in your field of specialisation, and you create a group of artworks that culminates in a student-centred exhibition at the end of the year. You also create a professional exhibition catalogue to accompany your exhibition
Academic Advice
You will require academic advice prior to registering. If you are intending on registering as a First Year in the Mainstream 4-Year Curriculum, click here for academic advice. If you are registering as a First Year on the Extended (5-Year Curriculum), head here for academic advice. If you are a returning student, click here for the Mainstream (4-Year Curriculum) or here for the Extended Programme. If you are switching from another degree to Fine Arts or from another University to our University, please select the relevant link and contact the Fine Arts Programme Director at FineArts@ufs.ac.za
Follow us
To keep up to date with news and events of the UFS Fine Arts Department, follow us on Instagram, Facebook Page and Facebook Group. To see exhibitions by our students and faculty, as well as other excellent art exhibitions, follow the UFS Art Galleries
