Department of Art Communication

Within practically focused subjects and in creative studios and offices, students develop creative thinking, the ability to process various topics in an original way and create diverse media content and artistic outputs, corresponding to modern media trends in the areas of television, film, radio, multimedia, print and online, photography and fine art, as well as graphic and sound design.

The members of the department are recognized practitioners and artists with rich experience (photographer, screenwriter, dramaturge, director, sound engineer, graphic designer, media presentation coach, etc.), they are members of various professional committees (e.g. AMFO - amateur photography exhibitions, CINEAMA, Zlatá klapka) and professional associations (e.g. the Slovak Syndicate Journalists, Association of Slovak Professional Photographers, Slovak Art Union), respected in the professional community in their field. They apply an individual approach and a friendly atmosphere when teaching. Based on their practical experience, they support and guide the creative activities of students with the aim of developing their talent as much as possible, but also critical self-evaluation of their own work so that they are as applicable as possible in the labor market.

In Addition, DAC:

• oversees the activities of faculty/university media – attteliér magazine, radio Aetter, FMK TV,
• guarantees and organizes the student film and video FREJM,
• in cooperation with the Department of Language Communication, provides content for the publication of student creative works in MUUZA.

Before the COVID period, DAC teachers and doctoral students organized numerous photography workshops and exhibitions (also outside the faculty) and published a publication with the work of teachers and students for each, e.g. Obec, ktorá nespí - The Village That Doesn't Sleep (2017), Podolínec alebo samota v nás  - Podolínec or Loneliness in Us (2018), Čhavóre, brána, fotografie rómskej komunity v Lomničke (2018)  - Čhavóre, the Gate, Photographs of the Roma Community in Lomnička (2018), Kde človek a voda pramení (2018) - Where Man and Water Spring (2018), Alter Ego (2019), Damnatio memoriae – stratenie pamiatky (2019) - Damnatio Memoariae – The Loss of a Monument (2019), Goral na Gory (2019), Deti Patrónky, Bratislava Quo Vadis (2019).Every year, they also prepare the 35ka photography competition, the results of which are evaluated by a professional jury.

The department professionally guarantees the program and manages exhibitions at the Galérii Ľudovíta Hlaváča in Skladová Street, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2021. Students of photography organize exhibitions of their semester works not only at the Ľ. Hlaváč Gallery, but also in the premises of the Ján Palárik Theater in Trnava or in other cities in Slovakia.

Students of audiovisual, multimedia, film and photography creation, under the guidance of DAC teachers, create recordings of theater performances for the J. Palárik Theater in Trnava and participate in various competitions and festivals (most recently, e.g. the  OFF Bratslava International Pjotography Festival, OC Dunaj, Academy section).

The teachers and doctoral students of the Department of Art Communication, in cooperation with other departments, participate in research activities in various projects within the APVV, VEGA and KEGA grant schemes, FPU projects, etc., and they also actively submit projects in the above areas themselves.

In their scientific and research activities, the department members primarily focus on the analysis of the processes of creating media content and artistic outputs, current trends in media production, also in the context of their effectiveness on individual target groups or in the context of technological development; they examine various modern and archaic creation methods and their multimedia overlaps, they also pay attention to the personality of the creator or the needs of the recipient. They are especially oriented towards the investigation of creativity and artistic elements in contemporary media production.

V rámci umeleckej činnosti vydávajú fotografické publikácie, realizujú výstavy a workshopy (aj v spolupráci so študentmi a študentkami), produkujú filmy či ďalšie audiovizuálne, auditívne alebo grafické diela. 

As part of their artistic activities, they publish photographic publications, organize exhibitions and workshops (also in cooperation with students), and produce films or other audiovisual, auditory or graphic artworks.

The Department of Art Communication also prepares and ensures the publication of the EJMAP (European Journal of Media, Art and Photography).  It is a scientific and artistic peer-reviewed periodical in the field of media communication, which focuses on current forms of media environment development in the context of creative and artistic processes. It is published twice a year and is indexed in the Web of Science and CEEOL databases. On its pages, it presents scientific studies and essays on relevant topics, as well as authorial artifacts. It contains reflections on artistic creativity in the field of media creation. It also offers space for interesting topics within the medium of photography, theory of photography, theory of advertising and media theories in relation to the interpretation of images, as well as artistic profiles of personalities. The subject of its interest is the field of media and multimedia art, culture, aesthetics from both the authorial and perceptual perspective. At the same time, it emphasizes topics related to media design, advertising or marketing communication in relation to visual culture.

The Core Areas of the Department’s Scientific Research and Artistic Activities: 

• critical reflection of media and artistic content,
• new trends in media production and media entertainment,
• television, film, photography, design, music and gaming industries – creative processes and trends,
• journalistic genres,
• preparation, production and multiplatform distribution of media releases,
• personality of the creator and creative processes,
• perception and impact of media production on the recipient,
• system and organization of work in the media,
• media and artistic creation in the era of information and communication technologies,
• cultural significance of media and artistic creation in relation to globalized society.

Current Projects:

• VEGA:
  • 1/0283/20 – Synergia odvetví mediálneho priemyslu v kontexte kritickej politickej ekonómie médií
• KEGA:
  • 013UCM-4/2021 – Projekcia digitálnych technológií v štruktúre výrazových prostriedkov média fotografie pri skúmaní luminografie, fotomontáže a inscenovanom portréte v pedagogickom procese
  • 023UCM-4/2020 – Rozvoj digitálnoherných štúdií a dizajnu
• Fond na podporu umenia:
  • 21-154-03946 – Boží archív (Petrik Béla, kňaz, fotograf, kronikár), spolupracujúca inštitúcia Múzeum v Kráľovskom Chlumci
  • 21-143-00706 – Obraz – prelievanie realít – empíria videnia
• HORIZONT 2020:
  • Research and Innovation Framework Programme: „Critical Exploration of Media Related Risks and Opportunities for Deliberative Communication: Development Scenarios of the European Media Landscape“ (akronym MEDIADELCOM).
• Operačný program / Integrovaná infraštruktúra / Podpora výskumu, vývoja a inovácií:
  • NFP313010ASN4 – Riešenie spoločenských ohrození v dôsledku pandémie ochorenia COVID-19
• Fond pre podporu výskumu:
  • 2021 – Virtualizácia Galérie Ľudovíta Hlaváča
  • 2020-2023 – Výstavy renomovaných výtvarníkov a študentov v Galérii Ľudovíta Hlaváča
  • 2018-2023 – Implementácia mediálnej praxe do systému vzdelávania vysokých škôl na SR