Department of Fine Arts

About the Department

The Department of Fine Arts was established in 1988 at the University of Hyderabad alongside the Departments of Dance, Theater and Communication to form the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication. The aim was to bring the various artistic practices within a single broader academic program in order to interrogate, more systematically, the communicative aspects of the aesthetic traditions, and the aesthetic dimensions of communication systems.  Although it began with only the discipline of Painting, the Department of Fine Arts has, over the years, grown to offer two-year Master of Visual Arts courses in three specializations in Painting and Expanded Media, Printmaking and Expanded Media, and Sculpture and Expanded Media. The MVA Program in Art History and Visual Studies was added in 2010. The PhD program in Art History and Visual Studies was the most recent addition to the Department in 2022.

The Department of Fine Arts was established under the stewardship of eminent artists Laxma Goud, D L N Reddy, R S Sham Sunder, Alex Mathew and later enriched by the significant contributions of artist B. V. Suresh along with other committed young faculty members. Over the years, the department has grown and evolved into a premier Art School in the country. The pedagogical commitment has been to provide a space for a serious art practice that can be freely carried out in a supportive, challenging and enriching environment. The faculty endeavor to inculcate a strong work ethic in the students while motivating them towards achieving a sense of independence, self-esteem and joy in their accomplishments. The increasing visibility and growing list of achievements of its alumni in the world of Contemporary Indian Art bear testimony to these claims.

Academic Programs

The Department of Fine Arts offers a PhD program in the discipline of Art History and Visual Studies and two-year terminal MVA degree courses in the disciplines of Painting and Expanded Media; Sculpture and Expanded Media; Printmaking and Expanded Media; and Art History and Visual Studies.

Vision Statement

Our academic programs are designed to integrate Fine Arts practice to understand the social, economic, and intellectual histories of art traditions worldwide. Our students are always encouraged to realize their artistic journey’s roots and intentions and situate their work in the context of the larger debates and trajectories of art traditions. Practical disciplines are encouraged to explore proficiency in fundamental art-making techniques and practices such as painting, sculpture, terracotta, ceramic, relief, intaglio, serigraphy and lithography, and the expansion of these various media into sound, light, time-based, kinetic, and site-specific works. This comprehensive program strengthens students’ artistic and intellectual ability by exploring traditional art-making techniques and their extension into a wide range of mediatic expressions.

This program takes pride in itself, in the diversity of its student intake and its commitment to support every student searching for a visual language appropriate to their interests and desires. The curriculum provides students with an inter-disciplinary approach, and students learn to work with traditional materials and techniques and various expanded media. The Department of Fine arts facilities includes lithography, etching studio set up, paper-making unit, digital equipment, a wood workshop, metal workshop, plaster, clay and ceramic studio. An outdoor workspace is also available for students to explore a wide range of approaches, strategies and techniques that will enable them to define what it means to be an artist and a practitioner in the 21st century.

Mission Statements

1. To provide necessary technical, creative, and conceptual input to students to pursue their art practice as their career.
2. Demonstrates the necessity of experimentation across disciplines and media for strengthening students’ creative ability and intellectual capacity.
3. To prepare the students to locate their artistic practice in the larger socio-cultural scenario by emphasizing practice-based research, art teaching, curation, and professional practice.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Combine their pre-existing knowledge with the newly learned skill.
2. Examine the relation between techniques, material and ideas.
3. Defend the logic of their modes of art-making.
4. Critically analyze their own as well as their peers’ art practices.
5. Identify the socio-economic and cultural aspects of art production.
6. Analyze the possibility of doing research-based exercise.
7. Extend their art practices outside studio spaces.
8. Discuss their ideas and concerns with faculty and peers in a straightforward manner.
9. Experiment with a variety of techniques and modes of visual expressions.
10. Develop keen knowledge about potential career opportunities.
11. Define their practices concerning the contemporary art world.
12. Describe their approaches to the audience and institutions.

Studios and Facilities in the Department

The Department of Fine Arts consists of

• Two Painting studios,
• Two Sculpture Studios,
• Two Print Making studios
• Seminar Hall
• Classroom
• Art History Archive and Reading room
• Two PhD Research Labs
• Several open courtyards for students to carry out their artistic practice.