University of Applied Arts Vienna (Angewandte) is home to about 2,000 students, many of whom come from other European countries and from elsewhere abroad. As a leading centre of excellence in art, design and architecture, in teaching and research, “the Angewandte” has a strong international reputation. It provides societal impulses on various levels. It sees itself as a place of free artistic and academic expression, a forum for open debate and a laboratory for unfolding the potentials of artistic visions in today’s society and the societies of the future. The University offers a wide range of classical and exceptionally innovative study programs. By combining its in-house expertise with relevant research partners in a transdisciplinary approach, “the Angewandte” contributes, across diverse project constellations, to fulfilling innovative and sociopolitical goals.
The University of Pretoria (UP) is one of the largest contact and residential universities in South Africa, with its administrative offices located on the Hatfield Campus in Pretoria. This 118-year-old institution is also the largest producer of research in South Africa. Spread over seven campuses, it has nine faculties and a business school, the Gordon Institute of Business Science. It is the only university in the country with a Faculty of Veterinary Science and, overall, has 120 academic departments as well as 92 centres and institutes, accommodating more than 55000 students and offering about 1100 study programmes. The University of Pretoria also has an extensive community engagement programme. The School of the Arts at the University of Pretoria is one of Africa’s leading institutions for visual, performing, and creative arts education. Situated within the Faculty of Humanities, the School is recognised for its interdisciplinary approach and is home to the highest-ranked design education programmes in the Middle East and Africa. Its academic offerings span a broad range of disciplines, including Fine Arts, Information Design, Visual Studies, and Tangible Heritage Conservation, as well as specialised training in Classical Music, Classical Voice and Opera, Jazz Studies, and Drama. The School also addresses contemporary developments in the cultural sector through programmes in Digital Culture and Media, Interdisciplinary Museum Studies, and Arts Therapies. At the postgraduate level, it offers Master’s and Doctoral degrees in fine arts, music, and design, fostering advanced research and creative practice within an internationally engaged academic environment.
The further partner institution, the NIROX Foundation, is a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting contemporary art and cultural production through a unique integration of artistic practice and ecological stewardship. Located within the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the foundation encompasses a 30-hectare sculpture park featuring permanent and long-term installations situated within a carefully maintained landscape of wetlands, grasslands, and cultivated gardens. NIROX hosts an internationally recognised residency programme that brings together visual artists, musicians, writers, dancers, and researchers from around the world, while the Villa-Legodi Centre provides facilities for workshops, material experimentation, and creative production. Through exhibitions, performances, concerts, public programmes, and interdisciplinary collaborations, NIROX has established itself as a significant platform for artistic exchange, research, and engagement at the intersection of culture, ecology, and social transformation.