Visual Arts

The IB Diploma Programme Visual Arts course encourages students to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. It is a thought-provoking course in which students develop analytical skills in problemsolving and divergent thinking, while working towards technical proficiency and confidence as art-makers.

In addition to exploring and comparing visual arts from different perspectives and in different contexts, students are expected to engage in, experiment with and critically reflect upon a wide range of contemporary practices and media. The course is designed for students who want to go on to study visual arts in higher education as well as for those who are seeking lifelong enrichment through visual arts.

Twelve young artists complete their two-year curation project.

Meet our Visual Arts Class of 2024

From 18 to 22 March, the Visual Arts Class of Dresden International School (DIS) is exhibiting a range of creative works along with artistic exploration of the two-year course. Our students will hold their annual International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) Visual Arts Exhibition at the TU Dresden Building (Institute for Communications), Zellescher Weg 17. This year, twelve students will exhibit their work and curate their own set up, deciding how to mount, display, and explain their work. Teachers, their families and friends, and students are invited to attend the finissage to admire the art and congratulate the artists on completing their work. Join us on Friday, 22 March at 18:00.

The twelve students participating in this exhibition are: Ahmad, Cosima, Noah, Wilhelm, Chanhui, Minji, Patryk, Melissa, Sarah, Titus and Adrian. 

All artworks will be displayed in the virtual art exhibition soon. Below you find the exhibition of 2023. Enjoy!

Visit the Virtual Art Exhibition 2023

Elke Greite

Visual Arts Teacher

One of the DP Visual Arts programme's highlights is the final DP Visual Arts (VA) Exhibition, in which our grade 12 VA students proudly display their carefully curated artworks in public. This year, we have the privilege to showcase their thought-provoking art of technical and conceptual competence in BZW of the Communication Sciences of the Technische Universität Dresden.

Their diverse artworks, expressed through classical and new media, invite the audience to engage with their artistic expressions. This engagement encourages reflection on their perspectives, allowing for the exploration of multiple viewpoints simultaneously. I know their artistic journey shaped their identities and will contribute to their personal growth and influence their future endeavours, impacting how they view and inspire their and others' lives.

Ahmad Barakat

Ahmad has been a DIS student since 2016.

"I chose VA because I had a passion for drawing from a young age. I was motivated to continue expanding my initial idea, which was to highlight the fundamentals of Islam, and hence opted for calligraphy as my main focus. Furthermore, I explored different calligraphy techniques, such as “naskh” and “thulooth”, but eventually decided to use a variation of both as well as my own innovative technique for my exhibition pieces. I prefer to work on thicker paper and with black or dark blue ink. The themes I liked best were nature-related themes, as I enjoy drawing trees and plants, which is why one of my exhibition pieces is a large tree. Although my execution wasn’t the best, I mainly aimed at conveying a clear and coherent idea. Overall, I consider the VA course interesting but definitely time-consuming; it requires good planning and time management, which I struggled with during my journey."

Cosima Amilie Chalk

Cosima has been a DIS student since 2021.

"Creativity and the arts have shaped my life ever since childhood. In school, I was able to explore the immense scope the arts take form in, for example metalwork, eurythmy, painting, pottery, and fashion design. After I started at DIS, I was able to delve into what excited me most. There were so many mediums to try out, the possibilities were endless! I appreciate the time given for each student to accomplish creations they are proud of. Personally, I found my connection to fashion instead of any other mediums, I feel as if I can express myself through my style. I am looking forward to designing more fashion in the future, but for the meantime, enjoy my exhibition projects. :)”

 

Noah Cornelius Chalk

Noah has been a DIS student since 2021.

"I decided to take VA as an additional learning experience to my prior knowledge in the area of arts and literature. The visual arts were taught to me as a state of mind, where no matter what you are feeling and how you think, you are present and capable of transforming ideas into physical pieces with personal reasoning and meaning. The further I came with my artworks, the more I yearned to experience the process of creating art through various mediums. I figured photography is my ideal fit as I can realise my ideas, once they cross my mind. Many hours of research and attempts have been spent figuring out how to form artworks which align with my visions. Once I graduate, I will look back on my experiences and admire my progress with dignity, then without dignity, art is nothing but smudges of nugatory shapes and colours."

Chanhui Lee

Chanhui has been a DIS student since 2020.

"Well, the initial reason I took VA was because all the other group 6 subjects seemed to be less interesting for me. But with my experiences in VA so far, I can say that I am taking VA because it helps me to balance myself between my life and other DP subjects. Also, I really like the free atmosphere in our Art class!"

Minji Lee

Minji has been a DIS student since 2020.

"To be honest, the reason why I chose VA is because we need to do an exhibition instead of an IB exam. However, it was actually a tougher subject than I thought as a person who is not used to expressing my ideas or even thinking of what I want to do. There have been times when I’ve just stared at a blank white piece of paper thinking what I should do during the entire class. However, all this time of effort and reflection has made me develop myself and it enabled me to awaken a little bit of my artistry that was buried deep inside. Even though I’m not going to pursue art in my future, I will take the ability of expressing myself and thinking beyond."

Patryk Pajak

Patryk has been a DIS student since 2021.

"I decided to take Visual Arts in the Diploma Programme to gain skills to more freely express myself, discover my artistic style and develop techniques. Moreover, I wanted something different and more creative than the classic school subjects to take a break from constant studying, essay writing and all this stress related to it and instead paint something or work on something visual. I am very interested in music, so approaching arts from another genre of art such as paintings and photography, which I developed in the VA classes, gave me a more differentiated point of view on arts. In these two years, I have tried classical oil painting, watercolours and ink, photography, pastels, pencil drawings and digital media, from which my favourite turned out to be ink painting. When I started ink painting, it immediately gave me a clear direction of my style and a clear theme that I continued to follow. The skills I gained in taking creative risks in artworks, planning the exhibition, or a proper way of journaling my process will surely stay with me after graduation, as I plan to continue creating in both areas of music and visual arts."

Melissa Stephanie Molina Rodriguez

Melissa has been a DIS student since 2021.

"I chose the class of VA higher level because since I was a child I have loved to create new things that can be used as decoration. Previously in the IB Middle Years Programme the design class interested me a lot which inspired me to decide on a future career in art. I knew that the art class in the Diploma Programme would benefit me because of the focused work between design and creation. So far, I feel that VA has taught me to develop my analytical skills of art pieces and to reflect them in my own art making. Furthermore, it is also a subject that allows the student to unload and unwind from the stress of other content-heavy subjects."

Sarah Schwind

Sarah has been a DIS student since 2018.

"When I was younger, I wanted to study fashion design after graduating from school. Although my plans have changed, I am still interested in art, but with a focus on femininity. I enjoy working on art projects that involve photography and painting, while always exploring the overall theme of femininity. I have been most inspired by photographer Helmut Newton and painter Nadie Waheed, as they both explore socially critical issues related to gender equality and femininity in general. Thanks to the constant help of Ms. Greite and her dedication in general, I was able to develop my own art style by trying out different techniques, getting to know other artists than the two mentioned and visiting several museums in Vienna, each dealing with a different artistic approach. After graduation, I will continue to work with photography as I realized during the two years of VA in the Diploma Programme what an influential tool photography is when it comes to expressing feelings and opinions."

Jigyasa Shekhar

Jigyasa has been a DIS student since 2012.

"I originally was not planning on taking VA in 10th grade, but this decision has helped me to have a creative form of expression for what I like doing. One of the most memorable moments was going to Vienna, and seeing many of Michael Jean Basquiat’s works on display in the Albertina. I used his work to explore his personal and cultural identity. Inspired by him, I opted to represent intertextuality and interculturality that I and many others have experienced. Although I adhered to my comfort zone of acrylic on canvas, and digital art, I also dealt with photography. I don’t plan on having an artistic career, however, this opportunity has provided me with balance during the Diploma Programme."

Titus Vincent Tegethoff

Titus has been a DIS student since 2016.

"The arts have always been my companions as I spent a large part of my early childhood in museums staring at the artworks I liked. My mother worked in museums and her passion for art and curation certainly did influence me. However, I chose the subject of Visual Arts not just because of these interests but also because I liked how different it was from the other classes. I did not need to be instructed in what I should create but I had a level of independence in my choices allowing oneself to become critically aware of concepts and to think creatively. My interest in the arts is going to stay with me regardless of what I am going to do in the future. After all, cultural education is the best preparation even for jobs that have not been invented yet."

Adrian Wittgen

Adrian has been a DIS Student since 2008.

"Originally, I took VA because I enjoyed learning and progressing in the technical skills in artmaking and the skill of self-expression through different media. During the start of VA, I mainly explored sculpting, and learning to accentuate features of the stone along before moving on to two-dimensional abstract work and photography which made me question the role of the artist and his surroundings in his art. During the trip to Vienna, I gained new insights into the origins of abstract art but also into the origins of different artforms which piqued my interest and inspired me one year later to pursue a romantic landscape painting to finalize my exhibition. The Art course taught me about my relationship with artmaking and gave me technical skills as well as teaching me to self reflect on my own art process giving me insights on myself. Overall, the DP Art course was a strenuous journey riddled with assessments at the end of which I had learned more about myself than about the arts."