The BA (Hons) in Visual Arts degree is a three-year full-time programme, emphasing on creativity, versatility, and intelligence. The underlying philosophy is rooted in the idea of the ever-shifting characteristic of artistic production in the context of society. Studio teaching is conducted through a combination of lectures, workshops, and individual and group tutorials, and is founded on the belief that art and design practice is fundamentally a social phenomenon. The aim of the staff and students is to participate in social interaction and discussion through visual arts.

A BA-graduate understands the historical and theoretical foundations and the creative elements and principles in the Visual Arts. He/she is able to apply scholarly skills and abilities at academic level. He/she is able to explore, develop and realise creative ideas in response to both externally-set and self-generated projects, drawing on own experience and own knowledge of visual culture in the past and present.

BA graduates have the necessary professional skills of their chosen field to make them very employable directly after graduation; but they also have available the intellectual capabilities and critical thinking skills, that prepare them for life-long professional challenges and opportunities.

A graduate also nurtures a well-balanced, confident personality and feels responsible to the professional ethos of the creative class. His/her personal and professional conduct will be based on values such as the respect for the other person, the appreciation of culture as a major foundation of a civilized society, the awareness of cultural diversity, and others.

The types and fields of professional occupations that are in demand by the burgeoning cultural and creative sectors in the region are extremely varied. Graduates from the programme may go on to work as practicing artists/designers in a variety of fields, or pursue related careers in art administration, curating, gallery management, art writing or as visual art teachers. Some will become art/design entrepreneurs, some may channel their creativity in even other directions, and others will do any of these at varying stages of their professional lives.

To achieve the objectives described above the BA (Hons) in Visual Arts programme (3 years) consists of Major Courses (63 credit-units) that are put together to provide specific education in the Visual Arts, and Complementary Study Courses (33 credit-units) intended to broaden the students' horizon beyond the limitations of only one programme-area, and to achieve a holistic education of the student.

The VA-major courses are distinguished into a set of Required Courses (21 units) and a number of Elective Courses (42 units), which the students may choose from the courses offered within the programme within the limits set by these regulations.

In general the BA (Hons) in Visual Arts programme (3 years) requires all its students to attend four Core Courses (Level 1) during their first year at the Academy that provide all students with a comprehensive introduction into the practice of visual arts. Also in Year I all students are expected to complete the course IT 2550 Fundamentals of Multimedia, which is a required major course offered by the Department of Computer Science.

To expand the knowledge and skills of the students in their second year, they may then choose a selection of Elective Courses (Level 2) based on their personal interests. In their third year the students are expected to develop more depth in a small number of self-selected subject areas by choosing advanced courses (Level 3) from these areas, to which the Level 2 courses they have taken before are prerequisite. In term 2 of the final year of study the students then will showcase their achievement of the graduate attributes in the Honours Project.

Within this outlined structure the BA (Hons) in Visual Arts programme is offered in three concentrations differentiated as Studio and Media Arts, Craft and Design, and Visual Arts Studies.

Studio and Media Arts
A concentration in Studio and Media Arts allows the student to focus his endeavours in traditional studio arts and/or contemporary media arts, aiming to generate meaning through aesthetic and/or intellectual concepts, beyond a merely functional approach. It indicates the student's ability to work in areas related to the fine arts - as a practising artist - to teach related areas or take on some administrative positions from the area.

Craft and Design
Craft and design both have the physical work-result at the centre of their disciplines. Be it a hand-made artefact or a mass-produced industry product, the essence of the result is in its physicality. Because of this, concepts of functionality, usability, sustainability, but also consideration of production processes, market-demand and/or general benefits play an increasingly important role to the visual artist. Completion of this concentration indicates the student's ability to work as designer or artisan, to teach in this area, and/or to take on administrative positions related to the area.

Visual Arts Studies
A concentration in Visual Arts Studies offers the student a range of theoretical and historical approaches to the visual arts with a focus on the notion of public experience and education in and about the visual arts through new creative strategies. A student completing this concentration will strive to work in arts administration for governmental and non-governmental organisations, to write about visual arts as a journalist or critic, or to attempt a career in art direction or curation.

A concentration is achieved by completing at least 18 credit-units from the same division. The remaining 30 credit-units may be from any of the remaining two divisions.