Dr Chantal Faust appointed as Head of Programme for MA Contemporary Art Practice

Chantal previously held the acting Head of Programme role in CAP since the departure of previous Head of Programme, Mel Jordan. Following an externally advertised search, Chantal was the chosen candidate for the permanent position. 

Chantal has occupied a number of roles at the college since joining the RCA in 2010, including the CHS Liaison Senior Tutor for Fine Art and then SoAH, Humanities Research Forum Convenor and Coordinator of the Research Methods Course. During this time she has conceived and led the Absurdity and Me research groups as well as The Urgency of the Arts international research symposium which has been developed into the SoAH MA curriculum. She will continue to contribute to the supervision of MPhil and PhD students in the School of Arts & Humanities and as the Editor-in-Chief of PROVA, the School’s annual research journal which she founded in 2013. 

Chantal said: “With the world changing at a greater pace than we could ever have thought, I am excited to lead on a programme that is profoundly attentive to the critical condition of our environment, humanity and the world around us.”

“Liveliness, listening, curiosity, care and intimacy are critical elements of the CAP vocabulary. I am very pleased to continue to be part of these conversations - to be inspired by the creativity and thinking of our CAP students as they challenge the systems of our current world and create a discourse which will shape our future world.”

Professor Naren Barfield, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the RCA said:

“Chantal has contributed hugely to the RCA across a wide range of programmes over a number of years, and we are extremely pleased that she has agreed to lead the Contemporary Art Practice programme in the School of Arts and Humanities. The appointment panel was impressed with Chantal’s ambition and vision for CAP, her commitment to its development and wider relevance, and her insightful analysis of the contribution that fine art practice can make to our contemporary world, both within and beyond the sphere of fine art.

Professor Ken Neil, Dean, School of Arts and Humanities said:

“I am delighted to formally welcome Chantal into the Head of Programme position for Contemporary Art Practice. Chantal has been a valuable member of the CAP programme team and the broader School of Arts & Humanities during her time at the RCA. I am really looking forward to her building on the success of the programme and inspiring our students to think critically about contemporary issues of defining, making and displaying contemporary art.”

An artist and a writer, Chantal works with performance, photography, painting, video and installation. Recent exhibitions include There Is A Hole In The Bagel, Gallery TOM, Tokyo; Solitary Pleasures, Freud Museum, London; Natur Blick, Koppel Project Hive, London; and Antipodean Emanations, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne. Recent publications include ‘The Masochistic Pulse’ in Dark Habits, Cornerhouse Publications and ‘Thinking Through Outline’ in Anchor, Marmalade Publishers of Visual Theory. Her book Pleasure Machines: Towards a Philosophy of Scanning will be published by Bloomsbury in 2021.