Mapping-out My Aspirations and Opportunities

Goal: Establish myself as a Recognised Contemporary Artist and Make a significant contribution to the art and for ordinary people.

Objective: Achieve representation by a reputable gallery, participate in significant art fairs like Art Basel, and have my work acquired by museums. talk to ordinary People with high-level art

YEAR 1 (Summer 2025 till Summer 2026): Consolidation, Clarity & MFA

Focus on going (In the Studio): 

Refine my material language

Clarify the Message

Communication Method – how and for whom

Experiment further

Focus “immediate”: Application for MFA

1. Step one – selection of the Program and Professor

1. Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg) (Master of Fine Arts)

Program: Master of Fine Arts (Freie Kunst)

Admissions: Usually around spring/summer.

Why it fits:

• HFBK is very strong in experimental, research-driven practices.

• They emphasize conceptual thinking, but they love students who are also deeply material-based and critical.

• Many professors are practicing artists internationally connected to documenta, Venice Biennale, etc.

The application goes to the university, not a specific professor:

Professors to check:

Prof. Thomas Demand (Photography/Installation) Works with constructed realities, media perception, temporality - very connected to my exploration of how mass media influences perception.

Prof. Jorinde Voigt (Drawing, Conceptual Art) She’s about emotional systems, intuitive mapping, and the unconscious, which fits my gut feeling/synaesthesia exploration.

Prof. Anselm Reyle (Painting/Sculpture) Works with materials (foil, paint, neon) and explores fragility vs glamour, a bit like how I balance fragile newspapers and preciousness.

2. Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK Berlin) (Freie Kunst, Meisterschüler)

Program: Meisterschüler or Postgraduate Studies Fine Arts (not called MFA, but similar level)

Admissions: Very competitive. Deadlines are often in May or June.

Why it fits:

• UdK is super prestigious and experimental.

• Berlin is great for galleries, art fairs, and community, so being based there can help after study too.

• They value critical engagement with society, materials, and perception

The application goes directly to a professor’s class. Not every professor accepts every year.

Professors:

Prof. Ina Weber (Sculpture, Installation). She works with architecture fragments, urban structures, and fragility.

Prof. Karsten Konrad (Sculpture/Conceptual Work) Engages with found materials, cultural memory, urban fragments.

Prof. Gregor Schneider (Installation, Sculpture) Famous for spaces about fear, perception, existential experiences.

3. Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (MFA Public Art and New Artistic Strategies)

Program: MFA in Public Art and New Artistic Strategies

Admissions: Around May usually.

Note: This program is entirely in English

Why it fits:

• Focus on site-specific art, public interaction, materiality, critical theory.

• They encourage working across sculpture, installation, media

This is a university-wide MFA, not tied to a single professor, but students work closely with mentors.

Prof. Danica Dakić (Art in Public Context) Works with social transformation, fragility, memory.

Prof. Christina Kubisch (Sound Art, Public Space) multi-sensory experiences

4. Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Meisterschüler/Postgraduate)

Program: They don't offer a traditional MFA, but they have a Postgraduate "Meisterschüler" program.

Admissions: Need to check specific professors' studios.

Why it fits:

• It's one of the most famous art schools in Europe.

• Very material, conceptual, and process-driven.

• Düsseldorf’s scene is very strong for painting, sculpture, and contemporary installation.

The application goes directly to a specific professor. Düsseldorf is more material and formal.

Professors:

Prof. Gregor Schneider (again!) apply to Düsseldorf and Berlin

Prof. Katharina Grosse (Painting, Installation) Works between painting and space, color as material.

Prof. Rita McBride (Sculpture, Architecture, Installation) Mixes public space, sculpture, design thinking.

5. Städelschule Frankfurt (Diploma / Meisterschüler)

Program: No official "MFA," but a Diploma and Meisterschüler—equal to MFA level.

No professors assigned strictly

Admissions: Deadline around February–March, but sometimes extra calls happen.

Why it fits:

• Very theory-based but also material-sensitive.

• Famous for mixing critical theory, conceptual art, and practice.

• Very international and experimental.

Prof. Judith Hopf (Sculpture, Film, Installation) She’s very critical, ironic, playing with fragility and media systems

Prof. Tobias Rehberger (Installation, Design, Color) Very material-driven, playful, conceptual

6. Check other countries

2. Step two – terms of application, timing, documents

Admissions: Timing – create a plan of application for 2025/2026

Documents – Language certificate, BFA Certificate, Local documents

Portfolio concept development, developing a presentation strategy for my work, Artistic Research & Written Component, motivational letters

3. Step three – application

Money and Location (if I need to move to another city). Dog management…

Focus on going 2 (Out of the Studio):

·      Planning for the One Artist Show in February in Art Karlsruhe, Potential travelling (end of 2026) to New York for creating artworks and exhibiting there.

Plus:

·      Continue shaping my artist voice through short essays, talks, or dialogues, and videos.

·      Find a dialogue partner who would help me to frame my work more institutionally.

·      Continue solo and curated exhibitions

·      Network Actively: Attend gallery openings, art fairs, and industry events to build relationships with gallery owners, curators, and fellow artists.

·      Submit to Museum Calls: Apply to open calls and juried exhibitions hosted by museums to increase visibility within institutional settings.

YEAR 2 (2026 – 2027): Expansion, Visibility & Institutional Reach

September 2026 Starting MFA

Connect internationally

• Apply for a residency abroad (preferably in a place connected to my themes, maybe Eastern Europe, the Baltics, or Scandinavia).

• Start building a network of allies, not just curators or gallerists, but thinkers and artists who share my critical interests.

Publish a critical artist statement/essay (themes are approximate)

·      On the subject of propaganda and manipulation

·      Beauty, aesthetics and ideology

·      Materiality and catharsis

Continue to develop: Large-Scale Installations, Material Exploration and the development of theoretical depth

YEAR 3 (2027 – 2028): Positioning, Power & Ambition

Finish the MFA 2028

Bigger institutional engagement

• Apply for institutional shows, grants, or public commissions that align with my ethics and aesthetics.

• Consider initiating a collaborative installation in a public space, where the audience must interact, or emotionally navigate my work.

Teaching or workshop-based practice

Start the interactive art courses for everyone to increase the understanding of contemporary art and make others fall in love with art!

Radical ambition: the “big project”

Start/Organise one bold idea that fascinates me and bring a difference to the art for ordinary (non-artistic) involved viewers

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