The Crossing Borders degree programme was established at the Turku Arts Academy in Autumn 1999 in order to provide a practical and theoretical education in performance art and interdisciplinary practice.

The aim of the course was to prepare students for the complex, fluctuating and interdisciplinary arena of international contemporary arts practice. The core studies on the programme were in Performance Art and Interdisciplinary Studies. Students were encouraged in developing a sophisticated critical and historical understanding of these forms and how they interrelate with a broad range of artistic and cultural areas including cultural and critical theory, visual art, installation, digital media and time based media. The course will supported an extensive programme of visits by international artists working in the contemporary areas of Performance and Interdisciplinary practice.

Throughout the course the students were expected to define and develop their own personal process of creative work and to create their own paths across existing disciplinary structures.

Crossing Borders was a four year degree level programme that was taught exclusively in English.

Unfortunately, in Spring 2003, the Turku Arts Academy took the decision not to continue the programme after the first group of students undertaking the programme graduated. As is often the case, genuine innovation is rarely supported within institutional structures.

This website contains a brief summary of the types of studies that were presented by the Crossing Borders programme and it also presents documentation of the students work.

Christopher Hewitt
Course Leader
Crossing Borders
(1999 - 2003)