Course General Description

The Faculty of Stage Design was established in 2013 as the ninth one in the Academy in Warsaw, but the first one in the history of this art discipline in Poland. The new Faculty aims in the first place at training artists prepared to practice stage and set design in a broad sense, as due to development of performing arts their opportunities grow steadily, but also, through collaboration with theatre and film schools, at putting stage and set design in its rightful place in contemporary Polish theatre and film, as it has recently been a bit degraded, for a variety of reasons. The current curriculum has continued a long, even pre-war tradition of the National Institute of Theatre Arts of training stage designers; it has also been based on teaching and artistic output of Professors Władysław Daszewski, Zenobiusz Strzelecki, Józef Szajna, Andrzej Sadowski, and in recent years also Andrzej Kreutz Majewski. The educational profile and shaping of artistic attitudes among future designers has been redefined, to prepare them not only for work for theatre, opera, but also film, television, media, various activities in public space, auteur theatre and performing arts.

School General Description

Traditions of art education in Warsaw date back to the reign of king Stanisław August Poniatowski and the Painting Studio at the Royal Castle, run by Marcello Bacciarelli. He became an honorary dean of the Department of Fine Arts created at Warsaw University in 1816 – the first academic art school in the Polish capital. Following the closing down of the University, the Department was replaced by a School of Fine Arts in 1844. And towards the end of the 19th century, Warsaw art education was continued by Wojciech Gerson’s Drawing Studio, which educated the most distinguished Polish artists of the turn of the centuries. Today the Academy of Fine Arts consists of 9 faculties: Painting, Graphic Arts, Sculpture, Media Art, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, Design, Interior design, Stage Design and Management of Visual Culture. It is the largest academic art school in Poland. Besides its educational functions it plays an important part in the cultural life of the city and the nation. Its international standing has been consistently improving as a direct result of the developing co-operation with academic centres abroad.