ART: History+Theory+Cultures

Please ensure you have enrolled in the Fine Art AHTC course in enrolment online.

Art:History+Theory+Cultures courses will not be preferenced for Semester 1 just the times.

Year 2 students doing ART3 can choose to do this unit in either semester 1 OR semester 2.
You will need to enrol into a university elective in the semester you are not studying ART3.

(Note: There is a separate page for Fine Art Studio classes and a separate page for Workshop classes.)

The ART: History+Theory+Cultures classes will be offered under the following course codes:

  • ART1:History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2399 (1st year students)
  • ART3: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2403 (2nd year students)
  • ART4: History+Theory+Cultures HUSO 2405 (3rd year students)

Please note that HUSO2399 ART1 & HUSO2405 ART 4: History+Theory+Cultures will only be offered in Semester 1.

To graduate from the  BP201P16 program you must successfully complete four Art: History+Theory+Cultures courses

Please find links to the course guides: HUSO2399 or HUSO2403 or HUSO2405.


  • Course Coordinator
  • Teacher
  • Contact hours
  • Location
  • Open to all students

Semester 1, 2023
ART: History+Theory+Cultures


  • ART 1: HUSO2399: Art, Materiality and Colour
  • ART:3 HUSO2403: Art, Society and Politics
  • ART4: HUSO2405: Contextualising Practice
Art1

KAWS, INSTALLATION VIEW OF THE EXHIBITION KAWS: COMPANIONSHIP IN THE AGE OF LONLINESS, NGV 2019, PHOTO TOM ROSS, SOURCE: https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/art/kaws-companionship-in-the-age-of-loneliness

HUSO2399: Art, Materiality and Colour


  • Vittoria di Stefano
  • TBC
  • Mondays 1hr lecture followed by a 2hr tutorial (Times TBC)
  • TBC
  • Year 1 students
This course introduces you to select themes and practices in contemporary art. You will explore how these themes have been addressed in critical theory and different historical and cultural contexts. You will be introduced to a broad range of ideas, methods and cultures of art practice, including how to analyse, research and write about art. These will provide you with the skills and knowledge to establish a strong critical foundation for your studio practice and will expand your experience of art.

Art, Society and Politics

BANKSY, GIRL WITH BALLOON (2002), STENCILED MURAL FORMERLY ON WATERLOO BRIDGE IN LONDON. SOURCE: BANKSY.CO.UK

HUSO2403: Art, Society & Politics


  • Grace McQuilten
  • TBC
  • Mondays 1hr lecture followed by a 2hr tutorial (Times TBC)
  • TBC
  • Year 2 students
In this class you will focus on the relationship between art and its social and political context. You will examine different ideas and approaches to the social and political context of art through select examples and histories provided in lectures and seminars. These will provide you with strong and diverse cultural, theoretical and historical contexts. The emphasis is on critically engaging and debating the continually changing ideas about art. This class is designed to provide you with a critical foundation and specialised context for your studio practice and to expand your experience, thinking, research and discussion of art. Topics to be covered in this class include: questions of authorship and originality; feminism; queer practices; cultural diversity and identity politics; Indigenous Australian artists and Sovereignty; the artist and the market; collaborative practices; participatory and socially engaged art practices; and political art and activism.

Contextualising Practice

RON MUEK, MASS, 2017, INSTALLATION VIEW AT NGV TRIENNIAL (2017). PHOTO SEAN FENNESSEY. SOURCE: https://mymodernmet.com/ron-mueck-mass-skull-sculptures/

HUSO2405: Contextualising Practice


  • Clare McCracken
  • TBC
  • Mondays 1hr lecture followed by a 2hr tutorial (Times TBC)
  • TBC
  • Year 3 students
This course provides you with a critical and theoretical context for your own art practice. It will enable you to critically contextualise your own art practice in relation to specific concepts and theories within art. The class will focus on specialised theoretical and critical approaches and topics to help you to develop a critically reflective approach to art, and will provide you with the skills and methods for applying this to your own practice.