Contemporary Art Practice (MA)

Aligning oneself with the contemporary carries a certain responsibility. Perhaps this has never been felt so acutely as right now. The world is changing at a pace we would not have thought possible, even a few months ago. Together, the graduating students of Contemporary Art Practice (CAP) take the response-ability of the contemporary seriously. Urgently. From across the four divergent yet symbiotic pathways (Critical Practice, Moving Image, Performance, Public Sphere), the graduate work of CAP students is profoundly attentive to the critical condition of our environment, humanity and the world around us. Liveness, listening, curiosity, care and intimacy are critical elements of the CAP vocabulary, as seen in the works, screenings, performances and events created by these artists in response to 'the now' in which we now find ourselves. Their work highlights the potential of resistance-as-form and how this might be understood, channelled, translated and put into practice. These living modes of expression work to challenge existing systems, hierarchies and ideologies in order to help us to see things differently, highlighting radical shifts towards a new type of global space, politics and social engagement. Together, the works of the CAP 2020 graduates not only point towards a future world, they are helping to invent it.

Dr Chantal Faust, Head of Programme

✨

CAP Live Events and Screenings on this page and https://www.twitch.tv/rca_cap_2020

Streaming from the frame above, CAP will have an ongoing, evolving schedule of live and screened events, throughout RCA2020. Candidates from the four Pathways of CAP: Critical Practice, Moving Image, Performance and Public Sphere, have worked together to present ideas and artworks that reflect not only our current socio-political situation, but also events that refer directly to the dynamics of Now-ness, being in and of the moment.

CAP Live Events, Screenings and Talks schedules below:

✨

CAP Live Events Daily Schedule

✨

CAP Screenings Schedule (11am / 11pm BST daily)

✨

CAP TALKS _______________ as a form of Resistance

The Forms of Resistance series of events organised by Contemporary Art Practice students Arieh Frosh, Farvash, Jamie Steedman, Kaushikee Gupta, Mayssa Kanaan, and Peter Spanjer for RCA2020 is an inquiry into the resistive functions and functioning of artistic practice. The series considers how certain modes of practice are positioned beside, and continually interact with, the urgency of so many political and demonstrative actions taking place globally right now; such as the collective calls in support of Black lives, the pre-Covid university strikes, and in consideration of the disproportionate effects of the pandemic. This series of talks, which will unfold through the duration of RCA2020, attempts to broach how certain practices or approaches to art can in themselves be seen as forms of resistance – ones that may be considered indirect, work alongside, breathe amongst, or are inseparable from other types of direct action.

LINK: Forms of Resistance Recordings ️ ️ ️