Craft Studies

Fieldwork in San Marcos Tlapazola, Oaxaca (2024) | Photo: Alyona Movko-Mägi

Craft Studies curriculum combines many different craft disciplines under a larger material-oriented philosophy. The study programme aims to foster an inspiring and dynamic environment for makers to develop their individual studio practices as well as learn to contribute to broader craft theoretical discussions. Students will position themselves in the contemporary field through a research-based, hands-on study.

Fast Facts

Duration / Volume
2 years / 120 ECTS

Form of Study
Daytime studies

Level / Language
MA / English

Tuition Fee
2900€ / per year

Read more about the curriculum
Admissions
01 February – 03 March 2025

Requirements
Must hold a bachelor’s degree.

Language Requirements
English proficiency at B2 level

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The MA programme was brought to life out of a shared need for new making practices and approaches to material engagements that would face head-on contemporary problems and worlds yet to come. Craft Studies challenges traditional ways of thinking about making (design, applied arts, handiwork, etc.) and the world of matter, promoting a caring and nurturing attitude towards our environment and the act of shaping materials.

This studio-based programme attempts to blend theory and practice, helping to understand and think about one’s process as well as put one’s theoretical findings into practice physically. One of the main objectives of the studies is to become accustomed to publishing through experiences of public presentations, exhibitions and publicizing written work.

Mäed ja orud | Hills and Valleys by Rait Lõhmus at ETDM (2024) | Photo: Joosep Kivimäe

Studio

The curriculum puts a lot of emphasis on a student’s individual work that is supervised by a specialized studio advisor. The programme offers plenty of artistic freedom but also the responsibility to direct one’s own work in a fast-paced study environment. There’s plenty of room for experimenting and exploring different materials, but the main focus rests on one clear craft practice. The study is based on continuous feedback from one’s advisor as well as regular critique sessions among fellow students.

Craft Studies collaborates with and leans on the competence and traditions of the Accessories and Bookbinding, Ceramics, Glass, Jewellery and Blacksmithing, Textile and Fashion departments and specialised labs at EKA. The students’ practice is not limited to these studios but should incorporate any materials or methods needed.

There are also many practical and theoretical output opportunities during the two years. Students will conduct two joint exhibitions as well as a final solo exhibition. The first year will end with the publication of a volume of the student’s papers, and the second year will result in a written thesis.

Fieldwork

The programme aims to incorporate as many opportunities for creative wanderings and hands-on research as possible. This entails a longer 3-week nomadic fieldwork abroad during the first year as well as many shorter field trips in Estonia and elsewhere throughout the studies. These material explorations attempt to bring artists into direct contact with the varied materials they might use in their own work, experiencing their birthplace instead of having them simply shipped anonymously to their studio back home. The goal is to give students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with foreign craft practices, traditional and contemporary ways of making, and learn directly from other cultures and makers.

Theoretical framework

The programme takes a lot of inspiration from the threefold craft theory (by Eik Hermann) of legwork, handwork, and headwork. Legwork involves all the different ways of wandering aimlessly, gathering inspiration and materials, be it somewhere physically on-site or spiritually and mentally among memories and influences. Handwork is the most known of the three and encompasses all the ways of approaching material, making something out of it, using one’s hands as well as tools and other prosthetic objects. Headwork entails the processes of making sense of the material world – metaphysically, politically, culturally – and reflecting consciously on one’s own work and positioning oneself as an artist in the craft field. The programme attempts to incorporate and promote all three in equal measure.

Craft theory seminars focus on a wide array of different concepts and frameworks: material agency, object-oriented-ontology, new materialism, phenomenology, tactile knowledge, post-colonialism, fluid identities, environmental approaches, etc.

News and events

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Craft Studies MA programme online info session 2025

EKA Craft Studies MA programme invites prospective master’s students to join the programme’s online info session on Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 17:00 EET (local Estonian time). This will be a good opportunity to hear more about the curriculum, and to meet and ask questions from the people behind the programme. The online info session will be hosted online over Zoom and the link will be ...

Algae in Design education

Dezeen is featuring our international collaborative project Algae for Design-led Transition Towards Blue Bio-economy and the exhibition Seaweed Ceremony. Algae for Design-led Transition Towards Blue Bio-economy "Over the years, the design and architecture faculties of the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) have focused on local environments – from post-industrial landscapes to wild forests ...

Scan Magazine interview

Craft Studies @ Scan Magazine Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA): Develop your field at Estonia’s world-leading arts academy By Lena Hunter Inside the Craft Studies Master’s programme The Craft Studies course is spearheaded by the interdisciplinary artists Juss Heinsalu and Kärt Ojavee, whose own practices in ceramics, smart textiles and broader material exploration shape the uniquely inquisitive ...