Retrouvez tous les documents du programme ci-dessous

Presentation

Discovering the various fields and movements of contemporary art by developing one’s own artistic expression. Such is the opportunity offered by this Bachelor programme to young, passionate artists wishing to perfect their technique, experiment with discourse and consolidate a critical stance. Students benefit from practical and theoretical supervision provided by major actors of the contemporary art scene.

Thanks to state-of-the-art infrastructure, workshops with acknowledged artists and courses provided by experienced practitioners, the students gradually become seasoned in numerous techniques (etching, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, sound, screen printing, lithography) and means of expression (performance, video, installation, new media or exhibition design). Theory also plays a major role, supported by studio visits and exhibitions as well as a host of multidisciplinary lectures within ECAL.

From pure artistic practice to exhibition curatorship, via writing, teaching or research, the range of opportunities is all the wider by creating an exceptional portfolio. This programme is also a gateway to the Master Fine Arts at ECAL or in another institution.

Language

French

Qualification issued

Bachelor of Arts HES-SO in Visual Arts

Yearly fees (materials included)

Fees detail

Length

6 semesters

Credits

180 ECTS

Useful links

Admissions Contact

Equipments & infrastructures

Workshop BA Visual Arts Silk-screen printing Lithography Workshop Toroni Gallery Open Space BA Visual Arts (1) Open Space BA Visual Arts (2) 

Learning Objectives

First year
Workshop with Charlotte Herzig
Silk-screen and Printing Workshop
Silk-screen and Printing Workshop
Research project – «Vision Creation New Sound»
Workshop with Marie-Caroline Hominal

1/5

  • Acquire the basics of transmission by medium (photography, painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving and publishing, video, sound, performance, music, film, multimedia, etc.) and encourage the questioning of these different media.
  • Experiment with the different tools and artistic approaches available to define your own methodology of artistic work (lecture and workshop practice).
  • Acquire background knowledge via courses in theory, history and methodology, and learn the basics of criticism by calling on a variety of tools (Contemporary History, History of Ideas and Art, Sound Studies, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Philosophy). Reflect on your work with regard to various historical forms and alternative learning methods.
  • Consider drawing as a work or as a medium for work, test different methods of printing and of multiplying and disseminating images or forms.
  • Test concepts and forms by crossing historical and conceptual knowledge, and test staging and hanging formats for your work.
  • Develop your personal practice in the studio, taking advantage of the many regular or occasional invitations from visiting artists (studio visits) to obtain a variety of points of view on your own work.
  • Take part in weeks of workshops supervised by artists from various fields (performers, painters, musicians, poets, writers, etc.) with the aim of carrying out collective projects (a mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year classes) and/or personal projects.
Second year
Workshop with Philippe Decrauzat
Workshop with Wade Guyton and Virginia Overton
Silk-Screen workshop with Sylvie Fleury

1/3

  • Continue your personal research and practice and experiment with exhibition models, under the eye of regular and visiting teachers.
  • Enhance your relationship with artistic forms and concepts by varying formats (seminars, workshops, collective work, etc.) and multiplying perspectives.
  • Benefit from studio visits and interviews with speakers to hear a variety of points of view on your personal work.
  • Understand exhibitions as a complex object that includes the production of works, group discussions and the definition of spaces, communication, hanging and public display, individually and in groups of various formats.
  • Enhance your knowledge through courses and seminars in Critical Theory, History of Art and Ideas, and Philosophy that call upon a variety of knowledge and critical fields.
  • Learn to make connections in a constellation of past and future artists and forms starting from specific objects, namely music and sound on recorded media (Sound).
  • Start writing and thinking about literary publication in various formats (book, performance, sound poetry, posters, etc.) and start research for the BA dissertation.
  • Take part in weeks of workshops supervised by practitioners from all over the world with the aim of carrying out collective (a mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year classes) and/or personal projects.
Third year
Diploma jury
Diploma project – Gina Proenza
Diploma project – Eva Jovicic

1/3

  • Refine your choices and positions based on the different methodologies and techniques tested during the course.
  • Multiply different perspectives and levels of criticism by writing about your own work and that of others.
  • Benefit from studio visits and interviews with the artists and curators involved to vary the points of view on your own work and to learn to network and talk about your work.
  • Continue to develop your personal practice and reflect on your work independently.
  • Broaden your knowledge with theory and methodology courses and write a dissertation as a tool to critically support your work or as an autonomous publication.
  • Test a variety of exhibition models and perfect your artistic language.
  • Take part in weeksof workshops supervised by practitioners from all over the world with the aim of carrying out collective projects (mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year classes) and/or personal projects.
  • Complete your studies with a graduation work and a portfolio, which will help you meet actors in art worlds and integrate these varied worlds according to chosen rather than imposed conditions, or continue your studies on an MA course.

Projects

This section contains a selection of emblematic or recent projects related to the disciplines taught in the Bachelor's degree.
See all projects

Semester Projects

Evaluations 3AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 3AV

Evaluations 1AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 1AV

Evaluations 3AV 2022

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 3AV 2022

by Roxane Christinet, Salomé Engel, Maria Esteves, Assadour Matthey, Léonard Vazquez Vila, Flavio Visalli

Evaluations 2AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 2AV

by Fanny Dunning, Clément Grimm, Laura Hagmann, Mathilde Hansen, Noemi Leneman, Nolan Lucidi, Lou-Anna Ulloa del Rio, Florentina Walser, Ysé Willemin

Evaluations 1AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 1AV

by Charlie Jannes, Anna Kawahara, Romane Roy

Evaluations 2AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 2AV

Evaluations 1AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 1AV

Evaluations 3AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 3AV

Evaluations 2AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 2AV

Evaluations 1AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 1AV

Evaluations 2AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 2AV

Evaluations 1AV

FINE ARTS

Evaluations 1AV

Workshops

WORKSHOP Marie-Caroline Hominal / Pierrine Poget

FINE ARTS

WORKSHOP Marie-Caroline Hominal / Pierrine Poget

The BAAV is inviting two leading figures to its semestrial workshops: Pierrine Poget, author and poet, and Marie-Caroline Hominal, dancer and performer, both from Geneva. The former, described by one student as an "osteopath of the brain", invites a group of students to make a family with the voices in their heads, while the latter invites bodies into the space of the party for a performance in the ECAL film studio.

Workshop Emmanuelle Lainé

FINE ARTS

Workshop Emmanuelle Lainé

by Charlie Jannes, Romain Rochat, Céleste Meylan, Baptiste Schaerer, Romane Roy, Mariana Isler, Noemi Leneman, Anna Kawahara, Tom Grbic, Julie Wuhrmann

Contexte

Workshop Jan Vorisek

FINE ARTS

Workshop Jan Vorisek

by Caroline Bischoff, Louis Fontaine, Giada Gollin, Olivia Handschin, Amina Loumachi, Clara Luna, Axel Mattart, Achille Meier, Charlie Schär, Jamie Soria, Nayla Younes, Mayalène de Roquemaurel

Self explanatory

ECAL×Cheryl Donegan

FINE ARTS

ECAL×Cheryl Donegan

Nostalagia Is a Different Kind of Pain(t) ECAL x Cheryl Donegan On the occasion of  artgenève  from 3 to 6 March at Palexpo, ECAL presents projects by Bachelor Fine Arts students produced during a workshop with American artist  Cheryl Donegan Initiated in the context of a collaboration with the Art & Vie Foundation, whose mission revolves around textiles, this workshop aimed at crossing everyday objects, subverting craft processes and reproductive gestures. Produced by students from the first to the third year, the selection of works presented reflects the transdisciplinary approach of the programme, where tapestry meets painting in dialogue with more performative pieces or digitally printed and cut aluminium sculptures. Students Patricia Araujo Roxanne Christinet Alexis Colin Oriane Emery Salomé Engel Maria Esteves Albertine Grbic Clément Grimm Laura Hagmann Mathilde Hansen Mariana Isler Charlie Jannes Anna Kawahara Nolan Lucidi Ella Minton Romane Roy Lou-Anna Ulloa del Rio Flavio Visalli Florentina Walser Opening hours Thursday 3 March: 12 - 7pm Friday 4 March: 12 - 8pm Saturday 5 March: 12 - 8pm Sunday 6 March: 12 - 7pm Palexpo Rte François-Peyrot 30 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex https://palexpo.ch/

Workshop Cheryl Donegan

FINE ARTS

Workshop Cheryl Donegan

Workshop Attila Faravelli

FINE ARTS

Workshop Attila Faravelli

Workshop with Lydia Lunch

FINE ARTS

Workshop with Lydia Lunch

Workshop John M. Armleder

FINE ARTS

Workshop John M. Armleder

with John M. Armleder

Workshop Gabriele Garavaglia

FINE ARTS

Workshop Gabriele Garavaglia

with Gabriele Garavaglia

Workshop Lionel Ruffel

FINE ARTS

Workshop Lionel Ruffel

Workshop Dorota Gawęda & Eglė Kulbokaitė

FINE ARTS

Workshop Dorota Gawęda & Eglė Kulbokaitė

Workshop Lydia Lunch

FINE ARTS

Workshop Lydia Lunch

Diploma Projects

Ali Chatila – 14 juin 2023

FINE ARTS

Ali Chatila – 14 juin 2023

by Ali Chatila

My graduation project consists of four 90 x 200 cm wooden boards – in total, eight sides on which I have been painting for over two years. I paint mainly for the pleasure of painting and like to focus on the present moment. At the end of my studies, I will continue working on these four boards. They are therefore not finished and may never be. The title of the work announces the temporary interruption. I do not have any particular technique; I just paint with what I find. My four boards were salvaged from a dumpster and most of the material I use was destined to be thrown away. For my installation, my paintings are fixed on the wall, revealing only the four sides.

Yann Fankhauser – Étendard du marcheur

FINE ARTS

Yann Fankhauser – Étendard du marcheur

by Yann Fankhauser

This project is a print on a PVC tarpaulin (2500 mm x 1200 mm) of 18 silhouettes in boxes forming a black and white checkerboard. The development of the project was done from hand-made sketches, then digitised with Illustrator and arranged in a checkerboard. These sketches of silhouettes were made through various processes: 1) the modification of an initial silhouette to create a new one, 2) the juxtaposition of several silhouettes with each other, and 3) by illustrating a new angle of a silhouette already created. The concept revisits the idea of a motor-racing finish flag, transforming it into an endless journey, playing on the boundary between the figurative and the abstract in the image of pareidolia.

Clément Grimm – Le géant se regarde dans le miroir et ne vit rien

FINE ARTS

Clément Grimm – Le géant se regarde dans le miroir et ne vit rien

by Clément Grimm

No sinister prop adds banal meaning. No melodramatic detail usurps an easy role. All the painter had to do was interpret the figures’ energy, expression, attitudes and gestures in his sober, masterly style.

Tianchang Gu – Papers, please

FINE ARTS

Tianchang Gu – Papers, please

by Tianchang Gu

The title of my graduation work comes from the video game of the same name and is the sequel to my thesis “Renens Palace”, an autofiction based on a dystopian future. In this fiction, the “self”, a former immigrant in Europe, becomes an immigration officer. How can writing be transformed into performance? The observed becomes the observer. The formerly oppressed blends into the system and becomes a person of authority. Bureaucratic gestures turn into choreography. Official documents become poems. Administrative motifs and symbols of power turn into visual aesthetics. These are the questions I contemplate during this creative process. All these strangely romanticised and anxiety-inducing elements evoke a reality we don’t always want to confront.

Laura Hagmann – Im sorry I’m a mess

FINE ARTS

Laura Hagmann – Im sorry I’m a mess

by Laura Hagmann

I had a flashback of something that never existed.

Mathilde Hansen – Advertise what makes you crazy

FINE ARTS

Mathilde Hansen – Advertise what makes you crazy

by Mathilde Hansen

Could you take a picture of me like this? Where I’m standing, here From the other side? Is it better like this? Do I look cool? More serious or smiling? More serious, ok Great.

Mariana Isler – AR

FINE ARTS

Mariana Isler – AR

by Mariana Isler

Real, fluid and elusive love reveals itself in the fabric of the city, circulating in the invisible vein of beings. Installation, honeycombed polycarbonate panels, acrylic paint.

Noemi Leneman – Lolita

FINE ARTS

Noemi Leneman – Lolita

by Noemi Leneman

Lolita is a filmed ballet opera starring a dancer named Lolita. In order to bend to the gaze, desire and projections of her chosen one, she tries out several roles. First, she is a ballerina, trapped in a music box; then a shepherdess, an ambiguous figure who goes from admiration for to power over, and submission to her lambs; and finally, an opera singer who gradually transforms into a wolf. This video disrupts and plays with the aesthetic codes of traditional stage representations. Eva Galmel has been teaching me to dance on pointe. Around this project, a group of young artists from my entourage formed, collaborating for several months, trying to achieve a female gaze. Choreographers: Philomène Jander and Eva Galmel Scenography: Salomé Engel Costumes: Adèle Berson and Roxane Sauvage

Nolan Lucidi – Petite annonce

FINE ARTS

Nolan Lucidi – Petite annonce

by Nolan Lucidi

I will try harder. I will try harder. I will try harder. I will try harder. I will try harder. I will try harder. I will try harder. I will try harder. I will try harder.

Axel Mattart – Be afraid. Be very afraid.

FINE ARTS

Axel Mattart – Be afraid. Be very afraid.

by Axel Mattart

It won’t even blink. Mostly because it can’t. YOU are on its last optical nerve!

Lylou Müller – My safe space isn’t my safe space anymore

FINE ARTS

Lylou Müller – My safe space isn’t my safe space anymore

by Lylou Müller

This work summons reflection on concepts of security, isolation and protection. The veil, which is woven in the manner of chainmail armour, invites us to reconsider the space of the bedroom, of intimacy, in a context of violence.

Fanny Dunning – Figures in a landscape

FINE ARTS

Fanny Dunning – Figures in a landscape

by Fanny Dunning

thinking of sculptures in a big garden, on acres of land popping up like hills but hills with crowns of horns here function follows form. it has built this as a sculpture. then installed its mirrors. thinking of sculptures in a big garden people inviting artists to come and stay

Program

This section lists the detailed modules and courses for each semester of the programme.

Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3 Semester 4 Semester 5 Semester 6

Theory, research and implementation I
6 ECTS
  • Topaze

  • No Sound: Sound Reflection

  • To Be Titled

Drawing and editing I
6 ECTS
  • DiverseDrawing

  • Multiples

Media Technology I
12 ECTS
  • Painting?

  • Presto digiti

  • Rational Amusement

  • Rec/Play image

     

Projects I
6 ECTS
  • Special week
  • Display and motivations
Theory, research and implementation II
6 ECTS
  • Topaze
  • No Sound: Sound Reflection
  • To Be Titled
Drawing and editing II
6 ECTS
  • DiverseDrawing

  • Multiples

Media Technology II
12 ECTS
  • Painting?

  • Presto digiti

  • Rational Amusement

  • Rec/Play image

     

Projects II
6 ECTS
  • Special week
  • Display and motivations
Theory, research and implementation III
6 ECTS
  • History and theory of art
  • Theory and practice of contemporary art
  • History of contemporary ideas
Specific Courses I
4 ECTS
  • Sound

  • Rec/Play

Critical Courses I
4 ECTS
  • Facts and figures
  • Ecriture
Art-definition I
8 ECTS
Art-creation I
8 ECTS
  • Special week
  • Personal project
Theory, research and implementation IV
6 ECTS
  • History and theory of art
  • Theory and practice of contemporary art
  • History of contemporary ideas
Specific Courses II
4 ECTS
  • Sound

  • Rec/Play

Critical Courses II
4 ECTS
  • Facts and figures
  • Ecritures
Art-definition II
8 ECTS
Art-creation II
8 ECTS
  • Special week
  • Personal project
Theory, research and implementation V
6 ECTS
  • History and theory of art
  • Theory and practice of contemporary art
  • History of contemporary ideas
  • Mémoires de Bachelor

 

Art-definition III
12 ECTS
  • Personal project
  • Special week
  • Building a fire/exhibition practice I
Art-creation III
12 ECTS
Theory, research and implementation VI
8 ECTS
Art-definition IV
8 ECTS
  • Personal project
  • Building a fire/exhibition practice II
Bachelor project
14 ECTS
Find all the programme documents below

Alumni

Alfredo Aceto
Gina Proenza
Kelly Tissot
Career Opportunities

Visual artist, Art critic, Curator, Art director, Teacher, Cultural mediator, Performer, Stage manager, Exhibition designer, Video artist…

Other alumni

Valentin Carron, Claudia Comte, Sylvain Croci-Torti, Stéphane Dafflon, Philippe Decrauzat, Natacha Donzé, Cyprien Gaillard, Frédéric Gabioud, David Hominal, Gilles Furtwängler, Mélodie Mousset, Simon Paccaud, Gina Proenza, Jeanne-Salomé Rochat, Denis Savary, Baker Wardlaw, Shirin Yousefi…

Staff

Head of department

Stéphane Kropf

Coordination

Assistants
Charly Mirambeau
Romane De Watewille

Printing workshop
François Kohler

Lithography workshop
Simon Paccaud

Silk-screen workshop
Sylvain Croci-Torti 

Professors

Francis Baudevin 
Geoffrey Cottenceau 
Stéphane Dafflon 
Philippe Decrauzat 
Federico Nicolao 
Karim Noureldin 
Tatiana Rihs
Denis Savary
Thibault Walter

Lecturers

Philippe Azoury
Tina Braegger 
Emanuele Coccia 
Dimitri De Preux 
Gallien Déjean 
Patricia Falguières 
Tristan Garcia
Miriam Laura Leonardi 
Gina Proenza 
Stéphanie Serra
Zoe Stillpass

Visiting Lecturers

John M Armleder 
Erica Baum
Carlos Casas 
Delphine Coindet 
Rochelle Feinstein 
Ryan Foerster 
Gabriele Garavaglia 
Dorota Gaweda 
Maxime Graf 
Fiammetta Griccioli 
Wade Guyton 
Charlotte Herzig 
Marie­Caroline Hominal 
Eglè Kulbokaité 
Bernhard Leitner 
Lydia Lunch
Helen Marten
Shana Moulton
Hans­-Walter Müller 
Kaspar Müller
Olaf Nicolai
Precious Okoyomon 
Virginia Overton 
Lionel Ruffel
Thomas Tilly
Achraf Touloub
John Tremblay 
Hannah Weinberger