Fine Art

Conditions of admission

An applicant for a doctoral program at AFAD can become a student of the chosen study program only by succeeding in the admissions process. If the applicant has completed a master´s program i.e. second level study program, they can enrol in the admissions at AFAD following the required process and apply for one of the proposed dissertation topics.

An applicant for a doctoral program at AFAD is allowed to submit an application for a maximum of two study programs applying for one of the proposed dissertation topics (choosing either full-time or external form of study if offered) in the chosen study program. During the admissions process the applicant can apply for dissertation topics which will be posted by the AFAD Rector no later than two months prior to the date for the submission of applications for a doctoral program.

Additional information

Dissertation topic 1: Innovative practices and materials of contemporary exhibition design

Artistic research on a sustainable circular system for the designing of exhibition projects and exhibition components from the perspective of the practice of visual communication in space.

doc. Mgr. art. Marcel Benčík, ArtD.

Mgr. Norbert Lacko, PhD.

Doctoral artistic-scientific research in the field of sustainable circular system of exhibition design and exhibition components in accordance with the development and application of innovative materials in the field of exhibition design will focus on two levels of issues. The first is specific basic research and development of environmentally sustainable solutions using innovative eco-compatible practices and meterials. The second is the broader framing question of the nature of complex interdisciplinary approaches in exhibition design as a specific subset of visual communication in space. Doctoral artistic-scientific research thus also focuses on reflection on the medium itself.

Dissertation topic 2: Metal fibers in fragments of textile finds from archaeological research.

doc. Mgr. art. Sylvia Birkušová

Mgr. art. Zuzana Machatová, PhD.

The topic includes textile finds using metal fibers from archaeological sites in Slovakia. The research focuses not only on their identification and interpretation in the broader sense of in situ and empirical research, but also on the determination of methods of conservation/restoration of textile finds with metal fibers. On the way and development of their processing and composition in the historical context and also on the degradation of metal fibers and the causes of the degradation process. Implications for practice include comparisons of the development of methodology, approaches and directions in the conservation/restoration of archaeological textile finds using metal fibers. It is necessary to reflect on the topic in the context of similar research in neighboring countries.

Dissertation topic 3: Study of spectral characteristics of color layers

doc. Mgr. art. Janka Blaško Križanová, ArtD.

Mgr. art. Zuzana Machatová, PhD., Mgr. Mgr. art. Barbara Hodásová, PhD.

The aim of this project is the preparation and characterization of model systems of color layers with the use of different types of binder, focusing on fresco and secco painting layers targeting mannerism wall paintings located in Bratislava Castle. Both non-invasive and invasive in situ research of preserved fragments of colored layers will lead to the interpretation of used painting and plastering techniques focusing on the provenance analysis of the materials. The identification of the used materials will lead to the interpretation of their use in the context of the technical history of art, as well as the differentiation of the secondary materials regarding the previous restoration interventions. The doctoral student will participate in an interdisciplinary team of historians and art historians, all together creating a comprehensive survey, reconsidering the circumstances of the origin of the preserved decoration of the loggia of the Castle Palace. This collaboration will open, with rare exception, almost unexplored chapter of the distribution of materials used by artists in Slovakia. This research will relate to the project APVV-22-0319 At the Castle and underneath.

Dissertation topic 4: Integration of current technologies into textile production

doc. MA Blanka Cepková

Mgr. Markéta Vinglerová

Explore the impact of 3D technologies and artificial intelligence on the creation and interpretation of textile art.
To analyze the synergies between traditional craft and digital innovation.
To explore the potential challenges and opportunities for artists working at the interface of textile art and artificial intelligence in virtual environments.

This PhD project aims to explore the connection of traditional textile art and design with the latest technologies, with an emphasis on the integration of 3D technologies and generative artificial intelligence in virtual spaces. The project will investigate how these innovations affect the creation, perception and future possibilities of textile art. It aims to explore the transformative potential of 3D and generative technologies in shaping the future in connection with textile artistic expression.

Dissertation topic 5: Socially Engaged Digital Art

doc. Mgr. art. András Cséfalvay, ArtD.

Mgr. Zuzana Panák Husárová, PhD.

The aim of this PhD thesis is to delve into the transformative power of art practices within society, particularly focusing on marginalized voices. A notable aspect of the research is the examination of how the digital paradigm influences the spotlighting of new valid perspectives. Through digital and post-digital practices, there's a facilitation of engagement with elements beyond traditional viewpoints, fostering the emergence of novel models and mythologies. These evolving modes of discourse give rise to socially engaged forms of body politics, ecological considerations, and inclusive economies. Digital art, in particular, holds a promise for envisioning potential social changes that could steer us toward new, sustainable trajectories. The thesis underscores the significance of socially engaged art, especially in addressing themes such as ecofeminism, posthumanism, and mythopoietic practices within digital and post-digital contexts, which offer novel aesthetic avenues. Through probing these subjects, the thesis aims to contribute pertinent inquiries to ongoing discussions regarding the future of society and the transformative role of art therein.

Dissertation topic 6: The art of replication and its circulation - approaches to creation

prof. Mgr. Anton Čierny

Mgr. Mgr. Václav Janoščík, Ph.D.

Presentation of memetic theory in the context of broader thinking about contemporary art. The subject is the investigation of memetic approaches to the creation, presentation and perception of art „after“ internet.
Meme theory as a starting point for understanding contemporary art. He presents memetic communication as a universal language with the potential to change the way we relate to (post-internet) reality. The ability to circulate (art) and the possibility of sharing different experiences and identities.

Dissertation topic 7: Error Options

("Mistake" as an ideological starting point in creation)

doc. Mgr. art. Martin Derner, ArtD.

The goal of the work is not defined in any material or formal way. We respect the author's portfolio of the doctoral student. The search and author's perception of the topic will determine the resulting

The dissertation will reflect the concept of "Mistakes" as a source of ideas and inspiration in creation. The subject of the research will be the discovery of the possibilities of its application as a starting point in visual art through the prism and knowledge of not only the graphic environment. Manipulation and graphic resources as the technological basis of artistic expression.

Dissertation topic 8:  Ageing of acrylic paints in contemporary painting on the example of Ladislav Sutnar's paintings: challenges, methods and innovations in conservation and restoration

Dipl.-Rest. Dr. Paul-Bernhard Eipper

akad. mal. Ľuba Wehlend, ArtD.

The art historical part would concern the artist Ladislav Sutnar (1897-1976), several of whose objects have been worked on in the Laboratory for the Restoration of Modern and Contemporary Painting since 2018. These include several versions from the "Venus" series, which have not yet been an-lysed in detail from an art-historical point of view.
In recent years, the Laboratory for the Restoration of Modern and Contemporary Painting have been able to make many technical and material observations on the acrylic solvent-based paints used, which were also used by the American painter Morris Louis (1912-1962). Although the colours were applied differently, the choice of modern colour material alone reveals some similarities be-tween Sutnar's striking Venus paintings and those of his contemporaries. This art-historically inter-esting aspect seems to be particularly worthwhile to consider.
From a conservation point of view, treatments of these vulnerable surfaces - still young colours in themselves - are the subject of highly controversial international debate. It would be particularly pleasing if the dissertation project resulted in more far-reaching observations and possible conser-vation results for modern and contemporary art. In my opinion, the possibility of a dissertation on this topic would provide the opportunity to shed light on an actual current conservation problem.

Dissertation topic 9: City and Landscape. Overlaps

doc. Mgr. art. Vít Halada, ArtD.

doc. Ing. arch. Benjamín Brádňanský

The city as artificially created space outside of nature. The landscape as cultural space embedded in nature or created as nature.
The work is a research of city space and projects for the city that are understood as projects of social, cultural, habitat interactions. It can serve as a prerequisite for similar research of processes and spatial decisions in the environment outside the city leading to landscape as cultural project , i.e. a conscious and intentional inhabitation of the natural environment.
We are interested in projects on spaces as overlaps that exist or emerge between the city and the landscape. Interface spaces that already exist as spatial cultural typologies (garden, park, playground, etc.) or spaces that need to be provoked, found or generated and then tested as potential new artificial ecosystems, grown infrastructures, gradient environments or redundant constructions.
By research, we understand the movement between the scales and territories of landscape, city and architecture, searching for and mapping provocative overlaps that have the potential to become a current cultural spatial problem, captured textually and graphically. This becomes the starting point/hypothesis for the author's architectural project, which leads to spatial strategies/scenarios or decisions and forms through arguable design procedures.
During the doctoral studies, consistent individual work on artistic research is expected from the doctoral student, regularly presented and discussed at consultations and seminars. Pedagogical activity is also expected within the seminars at KAT (Projects for the City, Projects for the Landscape, ZVET) or when conducting one's own seminar. It is also assumed that the doctoral student will organize or tutor a theme related workshop or will cooperate on studio assignments with the aim of testing the doctoral project.

Dissertation topic 10: Architectural design methods

doc. Mgr. art. Vít Halada, ArtD.

doc. Ing. arch. Benjamín Brádňanský

We are interested in architecture that has a project.
A project that exists above the utilitarian fulfillment of the given task and that aspires for defining architecture as cultural discipline capable of answering outside or inside calls and phenomenon.
We do understand project as actualization of backgrounds, author programs or fascinations through ongoing searching and testing of methods of how architecture is conceived.
We propose for doctoral studies research several of our own architectural fascinations but we are also interested in applicants own motivations. We will look for ways of materialization and visualization of them in spatial relationship systems and forms. We try to compile an ATLAS of FASCINATIONS and a MANUAL of MESTHODS.
- Adequate, optimal, proper, satisfactory. Methods of the ordinary.
- Poetic design methods.
- Methods of architectural design in dialog with AI.
- City as space of conflicts. City as a project. Methods of conceiving blurred boundaries. Urban typologies.

Dissertation topic 11: Procedures and mechanisms of embodiment, disembodiment, re-embodiment in the photographic image

doc. Mgr. art. Jana Hojstričová, ArtD.

Mgr. Norbert Lacko, PhD.

This project will deal with artistic research concerning the depiction of disembodiment, reembodiment, re-embodiment or an embodied. These relate not only to the physical or mental body, but also to human ideas about nonhuman bodies: things, objects in diverse environments and their material and non-material nature. The project will test new ways of depicting embodiments emerging in dialogues of mind and body, in the tensions between corporeality and non-corporeality in the medium of photography in relation to vision and sight, its framing, etc. New experiences, practices and mechanisms of imaging will be tested.
The research should also derive from natural science disciplines such as biology, but also from medicine and social science and cultural fields such as social or cultural anthropology, etc., and develop a creative dialogue with them in the actual artistic research. The future PhD student should establish communication with a specific researcher or research department in the disciplines.
The applicant must demonstrate a longer-term continuity in his/her work in relation to the topic and, where appropriate, demonstrate its public presentation in solo exhibitions or curatorial projects, not only in the local context.

Dissertation topic 12: Speculative evolution

doc. Mgr. art. Sylvia Jokelová

MA Jozef Eduard Masarik

In the context of the challenges we face today, thinking about alternative evolution is a way to understand the seriousness of the situation and turn it into an opportunity to ask questions and open a debate. The topic provides space for the use of the speculative method for proposing unconventional scenarios of future development based on the analysis of the current state of affairs and the search for answers to the question: "What if?"

The subject of the investigation is to check the potential of design to communicate current problems through the visualization of possible alternative futures. The project can work with tangible phenomena that directly concern us, based on the identification of crisis areas, but it can also be based on the absolute scenario of a catastrophe of a global, planetary dimension, which makes the subsequent development assumptions much more radical. It focuses on hypothetical artificial organisms that arise on the border of technogenic and natural environments, the remains of which are used as building material to create a new ecosystem.

Dissertation topic 13: Design and engineering relationships through new technologies

prof. Ing. akad. soch. Štefan Klein

The intended topic of the doctoral study follows the Transport Design Department's efforts to create a coherent and up-to-date education system. Topics addressed in the past period dealt with the issues of model building and 2D depictions in virtual and analog forms. Due to new trends in design, the dialogue between engineering and design is becoming more and more relevant. The latter is currently very underdeveloped at the school. The ambition of the PhD will be to open up this environment and define new requirements, especially towards the very promising issue of start-ups. The department has published teaching texts previously absent from the offer as part of the doctoral studies. A secondary objective of the PhD will be to create a new subject complemented by relevant literature on the evolving relationship between engineering and design. The doctoral study will be based on the construction of a real prototype under the conditions of an experimental laboratory. The PhD student will closely participate in existing courses, especially in the field of technology and fundamentals of design.

Dissertation topic 14: Sculpture in the context of public space and urban planning (socialist past, transformation period and contemporary perspectives)

prof. Mgr. art. Patrik Kovačovský

doc. Mgr. Daniel Grúň, PhD.

The topic responds to the current discourse in the field of public space in terms of sculptural, object-based and non-traditional artistic interventions and realizations. It reflects on the context of urban planning and the above mentioned artistic outcomes from the socialist past to contemporary tendencies and projects.

Dissertation topic 15: Research into the possibilities of artistic integration of a work of art

(Researching the methods and history of unifying a work of art through retouching)

prof. akad. mal. Boris Kvasnica

Techniques for the implementation of the final stage of the restoration implementation by retouching. The influence of artistic and technological construction of restored works on the method of retouching. Methodology and methods of aesthetic integration of works on different types of media - retouching. The use of innovative methods and technological procedures to minimize invasive interventions in the restored work with an emphasis on preserving its authentic quality. Implementation of research results in the educational process of the Department of Restoration and the possibility of participation in the creation of study materials for the Department of Restoration.

Dissertation topic 16: Non-destructive research of artists' author's handwriting

(Visual specification of the author's manuscript with its implementation in the research database of the Department of Restoration - non-destructive research of the medium of painting and drawing)

prof. akad. mal. Boris Kvasnica

Development of a methodology for researching the painting manuscript of artworks from various periods of art history. Comparison of periods, schools, and different methods of constructing a painting throughout the stages of art development from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Acceptance of artistic and technological construction of works in different ways of implementing missing parts of the artwork. The research results and its specifications are to be implemented into a digital database of restoration documentation at the Department of Restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design.

Dissertation topic 17: Experimental trace of drawing in a spatial situation. The process of interaction with other media, techniques and materials.

doc. Mgr. art. Pavol Macho

prof. PhDr. Marián Zervan, PhD.

Artistic research of the meaning and visuality of drawing through an intermedia approach in the structuring of planar and spatial image situations.
Drawing as a multi-layered medium of planar drawing practices and their extension to processes, where processuality, experimentation and performativity become an important moment of the spatial situation.
Drawing is seen as a dynamic process that can interact with other media, techniques and materials: drawing-action, drawing-sound, drawing-speech, drawing as a testing of materiality.

Dissertation topic 18: ARTdata / DataArt - original data visualization in the field of visual arts. Art research and data processing of art operations.

doc. Mgr. art. Róbert Makar, ArtD.

Mgr. Ján Kralovič, PhD.

Abstract: The aim of this written and practical dissertation is to artistically research and create visual artifacts on the topic of data display (e.g. statistics, graphs, charts, etc.). On the one hand, the subject of the thesis will be bulk data collected from the en-vironment of visual artists, galleries or the art press. On the other hand, it will be a personal exploration of the social bubble of the future PhD student as a research field. Data of different provenance is an ideal tool for visually comparative, verifiable and otherwise objectivizable answers to questions related to different, for example, artistic and cultural-social topics that are the subject of the dissertation.
The PhD project will thus involve the collection, analysis, visualisation and artistic in-terpretation of data that seeks to deepen knowledge in the field of visual arts and to de-velop new ways and practices of visualising it.

Dissertation topic 19: Monumental ceramic sculpture in a public space in the second half of the 20th century in Slovakia. Artistic research.

doc. Mgr. art. Markéta Nováková, ArtD.

doc. Mgr. Daniel Grúň, PhD.

The focus of the dissertation will be the artistic research of the phenomenon of monumental ceramic sculpture in a public space in Slovakia between the years 1948-1989.
The theoretical part will deal with designs, evaluation, selection and realization of ceramic monuments for architecture and public space.
The practical part will critically examine and compare various period principles and methods of creation, responding to them and looking for possible transformations, innovations, shifts with the help of new artistic procedures and technologies, for example, extruding ceramics within one's own creation into a public urban or landscape space.

Dissertation topic 20: Hybrid forms of contemporary author's ceramics in Slovakia. Sculpture-object-environment-design.

doc. Mgr. art. Markéta Nováková, ArtD.

Mgr. Viera Kleinová

The dissertation will be an artistic research of the phenomenon and context of contemporary author´s ceramics in Slovakia. The author's ceramics in the 20th and 21st centuries contain ambivalence, acting on the boundary between fine and applied art. In its current form, it also opens up space for polemics about the categorization of media and genres of visual art and disrupts the myth of perceiving ceramics only as a medium of applied art.
The theoretical part will research examples of works of the 20th and 21st centuries. The project will critically follow up and conduct a dialogue with them (artistic, social, economic and geopolitical context of the creation of author's ceramics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with a focus from 1989 to the present. Object, sculpture and author/designer (limited) series in the 20th century and today. The issue of categorization of author's ceramics in the context of applied and fine art, current tendencies of erasing boundaries, intermingling and transformation of media and genres in contemporary art and design.)
The practical part deals with shifting the author's drawing and painting into spatial works (sculpture, object, environment, 3D design...) There will be investigated also the shift from authors to digital creation procedures using digital reproduction, digital error, deformation, repetition and seriality. The aim of this work is an unconventional perception of the medium of ceramics and the phenomenon of original, digital, and hybrid ceramics.
The practical dissertation will also be a laboratory for experimentation with ceramic and non-ceramic materials (such as plaster, concrete, acrylic, etc.).
There will be open space for experimenting with technological procedures (from sculptural modeling, through design procedures, to digital imaging and generation).
The question will be how an extended technology/technique (used modelling, milling, casting, including the use of non-ceramic materials such as plaster, concrete, acrylic, etc.) can affect the concept, visual form and effect of the work.

Dissertation topic 21: FASHION FUTURE(S)

doc. Mgr. art. Barbora Peuch, ArtD.

doc. PhDr. Filip Suchomel, PhD.

Through speculative narrative methods, the research will focus on the possible future development of clothing from a utilitarian product, through designer objects, to alternative fashion of the future. It will include concepts of experimental clothing forms that critically reassess current customary approaches and conventional views on designer creation in the fashion industry. Through critical reflection, the topic intervenes, reevaluates, and subsequently exceeds current and outlines future directions in the development of clothing, subject to social, cultural, political, or economic aspects, as well as emerging topics such as fluidity, post-human aesthetics, beauty standards, or traditional notions of ownership and exclusivity, dematerialization, collaborative fashion platforms, etc., in the context of decolonization. At the same time, it will address new and unconventional technologies and methods of processing both textile and non-textile materials, as well as their processing and form.

Dissertation topic 22: Encoding Temporality in Architecture

Mgr. art. Danica Pišteková, ArtD.

Ing. arch. Tomáš Tholt, PhD.

Nowadays, architects are not only creators of buildings but also of materials and processes. By the practice-based research method, the project will explore architecture that is more flexible than static, soft instead of hard, haptic and changing. In this way, it re-thinks established hierarchies and binaries, opening itself up to diverse influences and uncertainties to encode them into its transformation. The dissertation will test different approaches through material speculations on a scale of 1:1 responding to the environment (e.g. analogue sensor, spatial filter, an indicator of changes in different scales). The work aims to develop such methods of testing and designing the cycle of architecture, where temporality and destruction are its inherent part, following the broader context of the history of materiality in architecture and its influence on spatial concepts, or research on material prototypes and their variability through computational tools and current production technologies.

Dissertation topic 23: The question of non(o)-colonial visual representation of Roma in contemporary post-socialist art in Slovakia 

dr hab. Ing. Mgr. art. Tomáš Rafa, ArtD.

doc. Mgr. Daniel Grúň, PhD.

The project will deal with the problems of distinguishing between neo-colonial and neo-racist, respectively non-colonial and non-racist ways of depicting the Roma community in contemporary Slovakia. The goal is an artistic research of questions and answers regarding the differences and connections between the non(o)-colonial approach to imaging and the visual representation of Roma in contemporary visual art/activism. It will be about the search for a relationship between the images of gender, racial and ethnic hegemony that structure contemporary culture and society, and the question of depiction and authorship in the creation of photo and video images as well as activities in public space (non(o)-colonial practice in art in relation to Roma).

Dissertation topic 24: Corporeality and figuration in contemporary painting

Mgr. art. Rastislav Sedlačík, ArtD.

Current approaches to depicting the body, corporeality, human figure are subject to constant transformations, specifically the transformation of the understanding of human identity and its images. The project will deal with the artistic research of themes, procedures and processes of painting, which in the past have been rubbed against, victimized or otherwise ostracized. It will also test the procedures and strategies of painting work.
Procedures and techniques such as morphing, hybridization, erasing borders, breaking down stereotypes or criteria of "artistic" image, etc. they offer a wide range of possibilities for exploring the field of painting with possible spillovers into other areas of creation.
The circulation of images in the context of visual culture brings the painting image into relationships that constantly open it to the question of the relevance of the traditional 2D medium in the post-media era.

Dissertation topic 25: Painting medium in interdisciplinary overlaps and intersections

Mgr. art. Rastislav Sedlačík, ArtD.

The project will deal with the medium of painting and its spillovers into other artistic fields (performative or other). The overlaps will also concern the relations between 2D (image-surface) and 3D (image-object, installation, environment, etc.), i.e. shifts from surface to spatial solutions and the connection of painting with other media that originate from it. The medium of artistic research will be studio realizations, exhibitions and workshops in domestic and foreign environments. The prerequisite for such research is the doctoral student's ability to involve the medium of painting in trans-media collaborations that will arise from new projects.

Dissertation topic 26: Transfer of wall paintings in Slovakia. A mapping of completed transfers, evaluation of their technical condition, and prospects for the use of this technique.

doc. Mgr. art. Gabriel Strassner

The aim of the doctoral thesis is to create an overview of wall painting transfers in Slovakia - the individual procedures, techniques, and materials used over the years, and to examine their impact on the artwork itself. The research will map individual works deposited in collection institutions and directly in situ on historical buildings. It will also address the methodology of re-restoration of works removed from their original support from a chemical, technological and aesthetical point of view. No less important will be a look at the ethical dilemma that arises with this technique, namely whether to carry out the transfer of the wall painting at all and what are its advantages and disadvatages. The research of previously completed transfers will provide a comprehensive overview of the development of the technique itself, contribute to the expansion of knowledge of the history of restoration in Slovakia, and, by learning from the past, help answer the question of suitability and proper execution of this restoration procedure.

Dissertation topic 27: Methodological aspects of restoration of the surface treatment of stone sculptures with a focus on their presentation

doc. Mgr. art. Gabriel Strassner

Restoration of the surface treatments of stone sculptures is a topic that still resonates and is current, as evidenced by several research projects abroad. Most of professional works in the field of restoration in the given topic mostly focus on the research of the technological structure of historical polychromy in terms of the materials and techniques used, on the determination of scientific procedures for their research and restoration, or on the research and development of new technologies applied in the restoration process. Part of the discussion, conducted mainly from the point of view of preservation, are questions of a methodological nature, how to approach the surface treatments (often preserved in a very fragmentary manner) in the context of the final presentation of the work. In Slovakia, the topic of surface treatment of stone sculptural works is not given enough attention and is reflected only rarely. Theoretical reflection and professional discussion of this issue is absent. The topic of the dissertation is to be a theoretical view of the issue from the position of a restorer, with a narrower focus on the presentation of surface treatments on stone sculptures, which will follow on from related scientific disciplines. The research should reflect, analyse and critically evaluate the ways of presentation of surface treatments in Slovakia and abroad, with a focus on culturally close countries. It should also reflect current professional opinions and discussions on this issue abroad and their application to our conditions. Also to explore the possibilities offered by new technologies (3D scan, virtual reality, etc.) for the presentation of surface treatments of stone sculptures.

Dissertation topic 28: Restoration of sculptural works made of cement mixtures - concrete/ferroconcrete/artificial stone

doc. Mgr. art. Gabriel Strassner

The topic of the dissertation responds to the need to start research in a subject that is becoming increasingly topical and is not reflected at all in Slovakia. The earliest sculptural works using cement mixtures date from the end of the 19th century, with a boom in their use particularly in the second half of the 20th century. Since in most cases these works are placed outdoors, they are constantly attacked by weather, atmospheric and biological influences. Many of them now show considerable signs of degradation and require professional restoration intervention. Works made of concrete, reinforced concrete or artificial stone require a different restoration approach and different care than works made of natural stone, simply by virtue of the nature of their composition, their different physical properties and the use of internal support structures, often made of corroding metals, which contribute to their destruction. Numerous copies (facsimiles) made of artificial stone, which have been replacing the stone originals of historical sculptures, especially in the last decades, also fall into 

Dissertation topic 29: Researching on digital tools and bio-design approaches in textile design

doc. Dipl.-Des. Zuzana Šebeková, ArtD.

Mgr. Klára Peloušková

The project investigates the integration of digital tools and bio-design principles in textile design to understand their impact on production paradigms and the creative industry (esp. local small-scale production, crafts, etc.). It examines the influence of design methodologies and tools on various aspects of textile materials, including manufacturing, function, application, character, and product life cycle.

The aim is to conduct an experimental practical study and exploration of current design methods and tools for sustainable textile products, particularly in the field of bio-production and regenerative production of textile materials and dyes.

This research is foundational for innovating design education, focusing on sustainable and circular textile products, systems, and applications. By exploring textile design methods, this project generates insights to steer the field towards a more environmentally conscious and socially responsible future.

Dissertation topic 30: Post-digital tools in a performative environment

doc. Mgr. art. Ján Šicko, ArtD.

The research focuses on acoustic sound objects - musical instruments controlled by software. Additionally, it covers:
- Exploring the physical properties and forms of materials in the context of their resonance possibilities in sound creation
- Properties of sound, tonality, color, intensity, and their creation and modeling using physical objects
- Resonance chambers, resonators, generators
- Utilization in creating proprietary post-digital musical instruments, audio-visual performances, installations

Dissertation topic 31: Code and author-made Digital Tools

doc. Mgr. art. Ján Šicko, ArtD.

The project is focused on creating author-made digital tools as a means of self-expression or strategy in professional practice. Other areas include:
- Identifying opportunities and possibilities for implementing methods at various levels of the creative process
- Scalability of methods from creating add-on scripts to existing software, to creating custom environments with varying levels of complexity
- Process automation
- Exploring new visual outputs

Dissertation topic 32: "Resilience and resilient society as a response to crises."

doc. Mgr. art. Olja Triaška Stefanović, ArtD.

Mgr. Zuzana Panák Husárová, PhD.

The dissertation thesis will focus on the fundamental methodological approaches and analysis of the terms - resilience and resilient society in connection with subversive research of the photographic image, contemporary photographic media, and visual studies.

The research will address questions related to the phenomenon of resilience - Political resilience (resilience of communities) - Mental resilience - Cultural resilience and the resulting questions of creating / finding safe space.

Using an interdisciplinary artistic research method with an emphasis on the photographic medium, the work will delve into a new system of knowledge and questions in the context of the latest visual research on politics in relation to communities. It will bring new perspectives, understandings, and perceptions of communities and minorities who find themselves at the intersection of crises. The work is based on theoretical and visual research on the "resilience phenomenon," developed among others, by Professor Anne Masten, who states, "resilience grows out of everyday sources and processes. Resilience represents the ability to adapt and survive the system after its disruption, often involves the process of restoring functional balance, and sometimes denotes the process of successful transformation into a new stable functional state."

Dissertation topic 33: The Medium of Drawing in the Expanded Field of Art

doc. Mgr. Emőke Vargová

Mgr. Beata Jablonská, PhD.

Drawing emerges in the field of contemporary art as a distinct medium, however, thanks to the selection of chosen artistic tools it expands into painting, collage of diverse materials, into the realm of drawing-object, or it can appear and interact with text, photography, and so forth.
The project will thus test work in this extended field, including the most fundamental expressions of drawing such as hand sketching or digital recording, discussing their assets and limitations. Various artistic approaches and the author´s creative process in which the author gradually selects, re-evaluates, and visualizes their own ideas will also be tested. Questions to be addressed include: Under what circumstances does one relinquish certain aspects of their own signature style in favor of the motif, and vice versa? What are the author´s approaches to the story behind the body of work per se and the de/materialization of drawing? How and why does the need to alter the initial record into the final result arise? How does creation evolve depending on the content, the story of the individual artwork? The work will also address art elements in classical or digital drawing: line, shape, space, color, and finally, the issue of how drawing has begun to engage in other areas of visual art.

Dissertation topic 34: Reconstruction of an excessively damaged Baroque painting.

akad. mal. Ľuba Wehlend, ArtD.

prof. PhDr. Marián Zervan, PhD.

The doctoral project focuses on the search and testing of procedures for the restoration and conservation of severely damaged Baroque paintings by the important Baroque painter Jan Lukáš Kracker (c. 1717-1779).  Such a damaged Baroque painting requires a rethinking of theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the use of specific methods and techniques of restoration and conservation in close collaboration with art-historical research. The aim is to restore the original appearance of the work and the authenticity of the painter's rendering and the cultural value of the artefact, while contributing to the deepening of knowledge about the painting practices of J.L. Kracker. Last but not least, it will also be about generalizing knowledge about restoration and conservation methods and methodologies in dealing with extensively damaged works of art in general.

Conditions for international students

All foreign applicants (with the exception of the Czech ones) must have a command of the Slovak language at the B1 level before starting their studies.

Foreign applicants, who have studied abroad, are admitted, only if they provide a decision on the recognition of the diploma issued abroad no later than the deadline for the enrolment (September 2024).

If the university issues diplomas after the enrolment date (after September) we do not recommend students that they submit an application, instead we recommend submitting it in the next academic year.

Check the following links for more information:

https://www.minedu.sk/23276-sk/akademicke-uznavanie-dokladov-o-vzdelani-a-stupna-vzdelania/

https://www.slovensko.sk/sk/vyhladavanie?mod=search&q=uznanie+dokladu+o+vzdelani

General information on the admission exam

The admissions process is to test an applicant´s individual skills and preconditions necessary for meeting independently and creatively requirements of the doctoral programs at AFAD. The admissions interview for a doctoral program is carried out before the admissions committee which is appointed by the AFAD Rector for each study program individually. The committee´s decision is influenced by the applicant´s range and quality of their artistic activity, publication activity as well as other activities related to the field of study (e.g. results in the artistic, scientific and scholar competitions)

The applicant may submit an application for both of following study programs:

• Fine Arts specialization: Fine Arts, Design, Architecture and Art Conservation and Restoration)
• History and Theory of Fine Arts and Architecture

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Step 1: In the period from April 3, 2024 to June 3, 2024 an applicant for a doctoral program at AFAD will fill out and sent an electronic application which will be posted on the AFAD web page

Electronic application can be found:

• for AFAD students in AIS (in the left in the offer –Applicant´s Applications)
• for students from other schools on the AFAD web page https://www.vsvu.sk/sk/prijimacie-pohovory/elektronicka-prihlaska/?v=LRJ8jJO2
• An applicant´s CV must be directly inserted in the electronic application

Step 2: Use the following email address kozakova@vsvu.sk for sending the following attachments:

• A proof of payment of the fee for the admissions process (e.g. statement of payment from internet banking) - the fee must be paid by June 3, 2024, when paying it is necessary to state a variable symbol, specific symbol and as a Message or Additional data – NAME and SURNAME of the applicant, otherwise the payment will not be matched.

Step 3:

n the period between June 11, 2024 from 12:00 am. – June 14, 2024 to 12:00 am an applicant shall insert a portfolio (applicants for Fine Arts programs) and further documents for an admissions process for a doctoral program via web page: https://ulozisko.vsvu.sk/ in the PDF format max. up to 100 MB:

• a CV and detailed account of artistic or publication activity and activities of artistic creation related to study programs.
• a brief proposal of the dissertation project, which has to be in accordance with the topic that the applicant has applied for.
• certificates of completed language exams (in case there are any)
• a copy of the second level study diploma. In case of an international diploma, the official translation into Slovak is required (with the exception of Czech schools)
• a copy of diploma supplement, or a transcript of records with calculated weighted study average which will be confirmed prior to the enrolment deadline by the Study Office of a particular university (applicants from other universities -not from AFAD) in case of a document issued abroad it must be accompanied with an official translation into Slovak no later than the enrolment date.
• foreign applicants, and applicants who studied abroad, will, in case of being admitted to AFAD, submit an official decision on the recognition of/diplomas/certificates issued internationally no later than the enrolment date

For more information check the following link:
Viac informácií: https://www.minedu.sk/23276-sk/akademicke-uznavanie-dokladov-o-vzdelani-a-stupna-vzdelania/

Information on doctoral programs is provided by the AFAD Study Department: 

Anna Valentínyová

Doctoral level study, Supplementary pedagogical study

02 5942 8512

doktor@vsvu.sk

Form of entrance exam

The admissions process of doctoral studies at AFAD includes an admissions interview, on the basis, of which the applicant´s individual skills and preconditions to meet requirements of doctoral studies at AFAD are examined.

Admissions interview consists of the following parts:

• a presentation of the artistic portfolio (relevant only for Fine Arts study programs, Fine Art, Design, Restoration, Architecture, Art Conservation and Restoration), or presentation of the publication portfolio (relevant for the study program History and Theory of Fine Arts and Architecture)
• a presentation of the project and dissertation topic
• a discussion with an applicant

Each member of the admissions committee evaluates the portfolio and artistic activities related to the study programs, project on the dissertation topic, discussion with an applicant based on the sum of points from individual members of the committee. The results of the evaluation and the order of the applicants are submitted by the admissions committee to the Rector of AFAD who decides on the admission for the study program at AFAD. The applicant will receive the admissions decision in accordance with the law and AFAD regulations.

The admissions condition and the course of the admissions procedure for doctoral studies are regulated in detail by the Internal Regulations on the Admissions Process at AFAD.

• Apply the application for study

  03.04.2024 - 03.06.2024

• Performance of the entrance exam

  25.06.2024 - 26.06.2024

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Anticipated number of applicants to be accepted
8


Additions

• CV (paper form, electronic form)
• (electronic form)
• (paper form, electronic form)
• (paper form, electronic form)
• (paper form, electronic form)
• (electronic form)
• (electronic form)

Annual tuition fees
Standard length of study: cost free
Study longer than the standard length of study program, parallel studies: 1000 €


The fee for admission procedure
application form: 40 €
E-application form: 40 €

Billing information

A 40 euro fee is to be paid via bank transfer:

• Account number - IBAN: SK42 8180 0000 0070 0007 2516
• SWIFT: SPSRSKBAXXX
• Variable symbol: 648 003
• Constant symbol: 0308
• Specific symbol: six-digit number starting with 24 and followed by a four-digit number consisting of the application filing number, before which zeroes must be added. Example: application filing number is 345, so specific symbol will be 240345
• Account owner: Vysoká škola výtvarných umení, Hviezdoslavovo nám. 18, 814 37 Bratislava, Slovenská republika
• Bank: ŠTÁTNA POKLADNICA Radlinského 32, 810 05 Bratislava, Slovakia

Always up-to-date news about university Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava on your email.
We will send you all the information about important events and deadlines.

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