Existing for 24 years, the Master's Degree in Arts project was approved in 1999, in the plenary session of the Chamber of Education and Graduate Studies and Research of UFBA, and implemented in 2000. The Graduate Program in Visual Arts of the School of Fine Arts - PPGAV UFBA was the first Master's Degree in Visual Arts in the Northeast Region and since its foundation has attracted researchers from Bahia, as well as from other states of Brazil and foreign students, becoming a relevant center for research in visual arts in the North and Northeast Region of Brazil, which expanded from 2012, with the implementation of the Doctorate. The PPGAV UFBA has trained many researchers who have been working in Higher Education Institutions in several Brazilian states, as well as in other institutions dedicated to the promotion of art, such as Museums, Departments of Culture, Cultural Foundations, among others.
The PPGAV UFBA's MISSION is to train researchers in the field of visual arts to act in a critical, assertive and inclusive manner, contributing with their research in artistic creation processes and in art history and theory for the regional, cultural and social development of Brazil.
Its VISION is to be a Graduate Program of excellence in the training of its graduates and recognized as a reference in the production of scientific knowledge related to the visual arts, contributing to research that seeks to understand the field in its local, national and international context, based on the critical analysis of different languages, as well as fostering the development of innovative artistic projects.
It establishes the following VALUES: a) Encouragement of creative practices and the search for innovation; Commitment to the quality of research; Valuation of regional diversity of research; Respect for diversity and cultural pluralism; Pursuit of excellence in core activities; Valuation of people, dialogue, transparency and encouragement of cooperation, the latter two being in line with the values expressed by UFBA in its Institutional Development Plan - PDI. In this area of activity, the PPGAV UFBA aims to foster a dialogic and respectful space for interaction between students, teachers and administrative staff, with the main objective of qualifying professionals with Master's and Doctorate degrees to work in teaching and advanced research in History and Theory of Art, Artistic Creation Processes and integration between Art and Design, contributing to teaching and economic and social development (the other objectives are listed in the “Program” / “Objectives” tab on this same website).
The PPGAV UFBA achieved a concept of 04 (four), provided by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel - CAPES, as a result of the four-year evaluation 2017-2021, and remains a Program that, according to the assessment of the CAPES Program Evaluation Committee, presents “[...] clear signs that its academic sustainability is consolidated”.
Since the implementation of the Doctorate in 2013, the PPGAV UFBA has maintained a single Area of Concentration, which is “Visual Arts: History, Theory and Processes” and three Lines of Research:
1) History and Theory of Art.
2) Processes of Artistic Creation.
3) Art and Design: Processes, Theory and History.
The Area of Concentration “Visual Arts: History, Theory and Processes” includes studies on themes related to Brazilian artistic production and its interlocution with international art. The research objects are investigated based on artistic phenomena, practices and theories that discuss artistic production and the history of art in a synchronous and diachronic manner.
The Area of Concentration works to establish relationships between theories pertinent to theoretical studies and visual poetics, traditional techniques and the expansion of creative means. The Area of Concentration encourages the development of theoretical and practical research in each of its lines of research, while respecting the characteristics that make each one unique.
With this unique Area of Concentration in mind, the Program created the following Lines of Research:
History and Theory of Art - A line of research that includes the development of historiographical research on Brazilian artistic production and its relationship with criticism, theories and the national and international art system. It addresses themes arising from artistic expressions, iconography and iconology, religiosity, ethnic diversity and their contributions to the knowledge of art.
Processes of Artistic Creation - This line of research is characterized by studies on contemporary artistic creation processes and their theoretical and practical articulations with other areas of knowledge. Its objective is to reflect on artistic production based on poetics that involve not only expanded procedures in the visual arts, but also traditional forms of artistic practices.
Art and Design: Processes, Theory and History - Research line that defines multiple aspects and interfaces of the arts with design, technology and human sciences. It includes studies that articulate theories and procedures present in the history of design and art, including social, ergonomic, technological systems and methodologies of design representation.
Given the implementation of the Graduate Program in Design - PPGDesign UFBA, the Art and Design line of PPGAV UFBA will be progressively discontinued, with no more vacancies being offered to new entrants, without compromising master's students linked to the Art and Design research line of PPGAV UFBA, who may choose to make an internal transfer to PPGDesign UFBA, without prejudice to the time for completion of the course, according to the regulations expressed in the General Regulations of the Graduate Program of UFBA.
Master's and Doctorate Courses
The Master's course has a maximum duration of 2 (two) years and requires completion of 8 (eight) credits in mandatory subjects for the research lines of History and Theory of Art and Art and Design, 12 (twelve) credits in mandatory subjects for the research line of Artistic Creation Processes, and 16 (sixteen) credits in optional subjects, totaling 24 (twenty-four) credits. Please, see the list of mandatory and optional subjects, their credits and syllabuses in the “Program” / “Subjects” tab.
The Doctorate course has a maximum duration of 4 (four) years and requires completion of 5 (five) mandatory activities, 12 credits in mandatory subjects and 24 (twenty-four) credits in optional subjects, totaling 36 (thirty-six) credits.
Regular Student Selection Notices for Master's and Doctorate Degrees are published annually, in the first semester (starting in March) and Special Student Notices are published biannually, always about two months before the start of the academic semester, with offers of places in Graduate courses offered to those who have completed an undergraduate degree.
Brief history of the creation of PPGAV UFBA
The Master's Degree in Arts project was approved in 1999, at the plenary session of the Chamber of Education, Graduate Studies and Research of UFBA, and implemented in 2000. The Doctorate course was implemented in 2012.
As the first Master's Degree in Visual Arts in the Northeast Region, since its foundation the PPGAV UFBA has attracted researchers from Bahia, as well as from other states of Brazil and foreign students, becoming a relevant center for research in arts in the North and Northeast Regions of Brazil, having trained many researchers who have been working in Higher Education Institutions in several Brazilian states, as well as in other institutions dedicated to the promotion of art, such as Museums, Secretariats of Culture, Cultural Foundations, among others.
The PPGAV UFBA has effectively established itself as a reference in research in the arts of great importance in the city of Salvador, in the state of Bahia and nationwide, with many graduates having participated in International Biennials (São Paulo International Biennial and Venice International Biennial), winning national public notices (Projeto Rumos/Itaú Cultural, FUNARTE public notices, participating in national and international artistic residencies), among other activities that affirm the prominence of the PPGAV UFBA in the training of artists and researchers who have been recognized in events of global relevance.
In 2004, the PPGAV UFBA Board appointed a committee to restructure the Master's Course, resulting in the separation into two areas of concentration: “History and Theory of Art” and “Creative Processes in Visual Arts”, with each area including a single line: “History and Theory of Art” and “Creative Processes in Visual Arts”, respectively.
In 2009, the area of concentration in Design was created. Unlike what happens in other Brazilian universities, at UFBA the undergraduate course in Design is offered by the School of Fine Arts. As a result, the demand for the creation of the line of research in Art and Design arose in the unit to which the PPGAV UFBA belongs, as there was great expectation on the part of the undergraduates in Design from the School of Fine Arts of UFBA, as well as on the part of the professors linked to the undergraduate course in Design, that the continuity of education and professional qualification in studies and research in Design could occur at the PPGAV UFBA.
In 2012, the Program underwent a reformulation, resulting from an analysis of the configuration of the Program's area of concentration and lines of research, which promoted a restructuring based on the production and alignment of research developed by professors and students. In this sense, PPGAV UFBA now has a single area of concentration: “Visual Arts: History, Theory and Processes”, and three lines of research: “History and Theory of Art”; “Processes of Artistic Creation” and “Art and Design: History, Theory and Processes”. The investigations focus on artistic production developed in Brazilian regions, associated with existing analyses in other countries. Thus, the research developed at PPGAV UFBA corroborates the understanding of current artistic creation processes and those produced in other times and places, favoring the understanding of the material and immaterial culture existing in our society. This reformulation was made with a view to preparing the proposal for the Doctoral Course, which began operating in 2012, as a consequence of the maturity and advancement of PPGAV UFBA. The demand for a doctorate in the area of Visual Arts was undeniable, represented by approximately 105 graduates of the Master's degree program at the School of Fine Arts - PPGAV UFBA - and interested parties from other regions of the country, especially the North and Northeast, where there are no doctorate courses in the area. This proposal had the support of the Federal University of Bahia, which considered it important to implement the course within the context of UFBA's Institutional Development Plan, since of the four schools of arts (Music, Theater, Dance and Fine Arts), the last two were the only ones that did not yet offer doctorates. Thus, UFBA expressed its support, especially from the point of view of infrastructure, with the construction of a specific building at the School of Fine Arts to house the Graduate Program in Visual Arts. In addition to this support, PPGAV UFBA was awarded R$ 209,914.17 (two hundred and nine thousand, nine hundred and fourteen reais and seventeen cents) from the Infrastructure Call for Proposals (Master's and Doctorate) of the Bahia State Research Support Foundation - FAPESB, which guaranteed the acquisition of all furniture and various equipment for the appropriate conditions for implementing the Doctorate.
With the approval of the Doctorate Course in Visual Arts, PPGAV UFBA began to continue developing and growing its bibliographic, artistic and technical production, seeking to strengthen research in the State of Bahia. The creation of the new course contributed to the expansion of research developed in the North and Northeast regions, strengthening in-depth studies on current artistic productions and historical contributions to the formation of the legacy of Brazilian material and immaterial culture.
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