The Master of Arts Degree in Fine Arts

Offering of Fine Arts as a degree program at the University of Kelaniya (then known as the Vidyalankara Campus of the Universityof Sri Lanka) commenced in 1975 under the Department of English with a batch of about 30 students. The objective of the program originally was to provide the students with an academic training in all forms of Fine Arts, though the curriculum included a small studio-component that included painting,music, and dancing. About three-years later, in 1978, the Department of Fine Art was established.The curriculum was expanded to include more studio-based subjects, allowing students to develop practical skills in one chosen area of a studio art, while learning historical and theoretical aspects of fine arts in general. When the new ‘ unit system ‘ was introduced in 1998, the curriculum was streamlined as three degree programs; namely, Visual Arts and Design, Performing arts, and image Arts, where students could specialize only one stream. Graduates of these degree programs often find employment as teachers in secondary schools and in various institutions that function under the Ministry of Culture. In the year 2005, the Department of Fine Arts was divided as two units as ‘Visual Arts and Design and Performing Arts Unit’ and ‘Image Arts and Drama and Theater Unit’. The Visual Arts and Design and Performing Arts Unit offers two degree Programmes; namely, The Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and Design and The Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts with specialization in either Music or Dancing. The visual Arts and Design and Performing Arts Unit is located in the newly built Prof.Senaka Bandaranayake Hall (formally known as Cristo Hall).