The academic master’s programme “New Media and Audiovisual Arts” jointly implemented by RISEBA and Liepaja University is designed for students who want to professionally connect their lives with audiovisual media arts and be competitive in the European Union, Asian and North American markets as competent audiovisual professionals working in mass media, television, cinema, radio, video and cinema post-production and visual effect organisations; creative consultants in business, enterprise and creative industries, as well as be competitive, research-oriented professionals / artists who have a versatile knowledge regarding new digital technologies, extended and virtual reality, 360-degree video, culture analytics, data visualisation, artificial intelligence (AI), as well as those who want to learn skills that can be applied in the implementation of creative projects and in scientific research.
Goal of the study programme:
The main goal of the programme is, by means of combining resources and experience, to implement a high-quality, innovative academic Master’s study programme of national and international significance – “New Media and Audiovisual Arts” in the field of humanities. The specific objective of the programme is to train competitive, research-oriented professionals – artists who have a comprehensive knowledge of new technologies, audio-visual arts and digital cultural processes, as well as specific skills in the creation of works of art and innovative media products, scientific research and the implementation of creative projects, and who are competitive in the art, innovation technology and creative industries labour market. Digital technologies will be used in the creation of more traditional audiovisual art forms (documentary films, video scenography,
multimedia performances, digital art installations) and in work within mass media (television, cinema, radio, post-production, and special effects), as well as in the search for new art forms (augmented/virtual reality, 360-degree video, interactive narratology, immersive environments and game design) and in the development of practice-based research and digitisation of cultural processes (cultural analytics, data visualisation, archiving, etc.).
The studios are held on Thursday, Friday evenings and Saturdays.
During their studies, students study one of the specialities of their choice:
“Audiovisual Media” ( Riga, RISEBA)
“Multimedia Performing Arts” ( Riga, RISEBA)
“Digital Art” ( Liepaja, LiepU)
“Sound Art and Electronic Music” ( Liepaja, LiepU)
* The specialisation areas Audiovisual Media and Multimedia Performing Arts are held in Riga and administered by RISEBA, while the specialisation areas Digital Art and Sound Art and Electronic Music are held in Liepaja and administered by LiepU.
Partner University:
Although the study programme “New Media and Audiovisual Arts” is an academic master’s programme, it has a large amount of practical activities alongside the theoretical courses, which are mainly implemented at the RISEBA Architecture and Media Centre H20.
The study programme is implemented in a module system in the amount of 80 CP, consisting of Integrated (Part A) modules of 40 CP, Specialisation (Part B) modules with 4 strands of 20 CP, and a master’s thesis of 20 CP.
Two specialisation strands – “Audiovisual Media” and “Multimedia Performing Arts” are held in Riga and administered by RISEBA, and the other two specialisation strands – “Digital Arts” and “Sound Art and Electronic Music” are held in Liepaja and administered by the University of Liepaja. The master’s students mainly study at the Architecture and Media Centre H2O 6, located at 4 Durbes Street.
To ensure a purposeful and qualitative study process, to provide students with the necessary support in knowledge and skills development and research, to attract new media professionals to the study programme and research and to initiate professional development of RISEBA and LiepU teaching staff.
To develop a creative environment for the study and research of new media art and to offer a versatile, interdisciplinary academic education, to continuously upgrade the material and technical base, and to develop cooperation with the New Media Culture Centre RIXC, creative industries and contemporary culture festivals.
To stimulate students’ creativity in developing innovative ideas, to develop the skills and competences needed for professionalism and research, and to offer versatile opportunities for presenting research projects.
To provide students with multiple opportunities to participate in the network of partner universities and organisations and the projects they initiate, to stimulate the international visibility of artistic research projects.
To strengthen the understanding of a culture-based economy, to provide students with specific production and management skills in the field of new media arts.
Results of the study programme:
Students have developed competency of research processes, whereby they understand and can independently use theoretical and practical methods and approaches of practice-based art research.
Students know and can independently use basic audiovisual art techniques (approaches) and tools (software and devices).
Students have in-depth knowledge and ability to independently use the specific tools of their chosen field of study.
Students have developed creativity, entrepreneurship, and critical thinking in order to be able to identify the creative industry and market opportunities and create new products that are in demand on the market and valuable to society.
Students can use their management and marketing knowledge to work in the field of creative industries.
Students have highly developed digital competence and media literacy, which they can use independently in creativity, research and use in the labor market.
Students have global and civic competence, they can work in intercultural, international, and cross-industry cooperation networks.
Students understand academic and research ethics.
Students understand copyright laws, data ethics and cyber security issues
1st year
Conceptual Thinking Contemporary Art Music Environment and Sound Theory Sound Composition Creating Audio Recordings Art of Cinematographer – Director New Media and Film Montage and New Media Aesthetics Visual Culture and Semiotics Interactive Cinema Production and Fundraising Intermedia Technology and Integration Experimental Cinema Script Development Directing Audiovisual Works Art Research in Digital Environments
2nd year
Digital Art Theory and Production Cinema 4D and Animation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Installations 360-Degree 3D Interactive Visualisation After Effects Digital Post-Production Narratology in Virtual Reality (VR) Interactive Arts and Multimedia Performances Multimedia Performing Arts
Master’s thesis: Parts A and B.
*RISEBA reserves the right to adjust up to 20% of the programme content and number of lessons.
Please read the admission rules published on our website under Study at RISEBA -> Admission rules
Admission requirements:
Bachelor’s degree in Humanities / second level professional higher education in humanities and arts;
the English language proficiency at least on B2 level;
entrance examination
or
Bachelor’s degree/second level professional higher education in social sciences, educational sciences, engineering, computer science or other discipline;
work experience in professional artistic creation as an author or self-employed person/work experience in the creative industries, culture, art or music (at least 6 months) or study courses in the humanities and arts of at least 4 credits:
Art History or Art Theory of at least 2 credits,
philosophy, cultural history or cultural theory of at least 2 credits;
– the English language proficiency at least on B2 level;
– entrance examination.
Admission/entrance examination criteria:
Admission/entrance examination criteria:
Entrance examination – master’s thesis application and portfolio of creative work (to be attached at the time of application):
i. Master thesis application: creative research project in one of the specialisations offered by the programme: audiovisual media, multimedia performances, digital art, sound art/electronic music. The project must be
developed in the context of the Master’s thesis. Applicants are required to develop their application in one of the chosen fields of specialisation.*
ii. Creative portfolio: 3 – 5 works, projects, prototypes, commissions or research projects in new media art, audiovisual art, sound art, of your choice.
In the event of a tie in the admission requirements, the average mark in all subjects will be taken into account. Proficiency in English B2 may be replaced by a positive IELTS (with a score of at least 6) or TOEFL (with a score of at least 500) certificate, or an equivalent certificate in another international foreign language.
* The specialisation areas Audiovisual Media and Multimedia Performing Arts are held in Riga and administered by RISEBA, while the specialisation areas Digital Arts and Sound Art and Electronic Music are held in Liepāja and administered by LiepU.
Evaluation of the competition
Persons apply for the Master’s degree programme on the basis of the grades obtained in the entrance examinations.
If two persons have the same marks in the competition, the average mark in the supplement to the bachelor’s diploma shall be the decisive mark.
In addition to the basic level of higher education, applicants are required to submit a free-form application regarding a prospective master’s thesis project, a creative portfolio of their previous work and pass an English language entrance examination organised by RISEBA. The free-form application regarding a master’s thesis project and the portfolio shall be sent to the programme director electronically ([email protected]). Students whose previous studies were in English or foreigners whose country of origin has English as a national language, are exempt from the English language entrance examination.
Career opportunities
The objective of the programme is to prepare competitive audiovisual professionals – artists who have extensive knowledge of new technologies, audiovisual arts and digital culture processes, as well as specific skills in creating innovative media products, and who are competitive in the labour market of art, innovation technologies and creative industries.
Opportunities for further study
The master’s degree of humanities in the arts provides a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable highly qualified professional activity in the relevant field and enables further studies in the doctoral programme “Media Arts and Creative Technologies”.
Classrooms:
Classrooms are usually used for theoretical lectures. All classrooms are equipped with computers and projectors for teacher and student presentations. In most classrooms, wide-format duplex monitors are provided for better visibility.
Media Lab
The Media Laboratory is an informal audiovisual creative research and experimentation space, equipped with high-quality technological infrastructure, which can only be used by the students of the master’s programme “New Media and Audiovisual Arts” and students of the RISEBA University’s doctoral programme “Media Arts and Creative Technologies”.
Video studio
Lectures in “Art of Cinematography” and “Lighting” are held in the 300 square meter video studio. Students can film their course works there during non-lecture time. The studio is equipped with a full-size black and green screen background and floor. Specific equipment available – camera crane with rails, RONIN, Steadicam. The university also provides training related to drone technology that meets the certification standard. The video studio also has a stationary lighting system. Next to the video studio, there is also a make-up room, a storage room for costumes and props, and a sound recording studio.
Editing studios
The Architecture and Media Centre H2O 6 has three large and two small video editing studios. The large editing studios are equipped with 15–20 stationary iMac computers. Audiovisual editing lectures and practical training in digital editing take place in these studios. The small video editing studios are designed for students to work independently after lectures. All editing computers are equipped with Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium, Logic Studio, Cinema 4D, while the Media Lab uses Mistika VR, point cloud applications for photogrammetry, 3D scanning, DeepL, Stable Diffusion for AI rendering, and other digital editing software.
Erasmus+ study exchange programme offers the opportunity to study at the Media Department of TAMK University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Finland and Minerva Academy of Visual Arts, Design and Pop Culture in the Netherlands. Any student of the master’s programme who has completed at least one year of study can participate in the Erasmus+ exchange programme. A student can study for 1 or 2 semesters at one of RISEBA’s partner universities. The duration of study mobility is 2–12 months. The student does not have to pay for the period spent in the study and internship exchange programme abroad; the tuition fee is covered by the partner university, but the student continues to pay the RISEBA tuition fee. For the period spent abroad during mobility, the student is awarded an Erasmus+ scholarship to cover the costs of transport and accommodation. * Erasmus+ internship mobility provides that a student can undergo an internship in one of the companies of interest in one of the Erasmus+ programme countries. For this internship period, the student receives an Erasmus+ scholarship. The duration of internship mobility is 2–12 months.
Find out more about Erasmus+ and how to apply here!
Maija Demitere (Programme Director, LiepU): +37129948430. [email protected]
Executive Dean of Faculty of Media and Creative Technologies, Administrative Director of the Doctoral programme “Media Arts and Creative technologies”, Director of the Masters Study programme “New Media and Audiovisual Arts”, doctor
