Value proposition

The Academy of Media Art Cologne (KHM) was founded in 1990, and offers a special and unique concept of study: instead of separating the fields of film, television, art, design and theory, they are integrated into a single course of study leading to a diploma in Audiovisual Media.

This study concept demands and facilitates an interdisciplinary engagement with the most varied artistic fields and spaces, from photography, video, feature films, documentaries, artistic television formats and animation to art in public spaces, architecture, sound, scenography, computer science in games, programming, and code, the theory and history of technology, art, the media, and aesthetics.

The results are unconventional, experimental works that go beyond predetermined definitions and genres and beyond ready-made techniques. Low and high tech are just as important components as are the symbiosis of science, development and games, documentary or staged, conventional or manipulated elements. Cooperation with institutions of higher education at home and abroad, cultural institutes, organisers of exhibitions and the media and film industries promote this process of integration.

Experimental creative praxis in conjunction with the acquisition of media-technical competence has high priority. Students’ work is project oriented and is accomplished in ateliers, studios, and laboratories. These multi-facetted activities are accompanied by lectures and seminars that cover the history and theory of media and art, as well as the historical and theoretical basics of audiovisual media. Since 2004 postgraduate study (Ph.D.) at the KHM is possible.

The academic staff of the KHM are an international team of professors and assistants, who are part of a global network of fellows, guest lecturers, and collaborators.