INTERDISCIPLINARY ART: A PIONEERING ORIENTATION IN POSTGRADUATE ART EDUCATION

Abstract

This article argues that interdisciplinary art should be recognized as a vital direction for postgraduate art education in Vietnam, where current training models remain largely organized around discrete artistic disciplines. By examining the hybrid nature of contemporary art practice, the study underscores the increasing need to integrate knowledge and methods from visual arts, music, design, science, technology, and the humanities. Drawing on Tanya Augsburg’s theoretical framework, interdisciplinary art is conceptualized as a mode of connecting research and creative practice, thereby expanding the role of the artist from maker to knowledge producer. The article further discusses contemporary research methodologies such as art-based research and practice as research, emphasizing the adaptability of interdisciplinary art within today’s creative industries. Through an analysis of postgraduate programs at Macao Polytechnic University, Simon Fraser University, and OCAD University, the article identifies shared structural features that may inform similar initiatives in Vietnam. The findings suggest that interdisciplinary art can serve as a strategic pathway for modernizing and internationalizing postgraduate art education in the country.