The King's Foundation School of Traditional Arts is a school in London that teaches students at the postgraduate degree level, through short open courses and in the community. The school was founded in 2005 by

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

(then

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

) as part of The Prince's Charities group, with the aim "to continue the living traditions of the world's sacred and traditional art forms".

Philosophy

The School is believed to be unique among art schools: although there are many theoretical programmes in western universities at the graduate and postgraduate level, there are no colleges apart from the School where the practical skills of the Islamic and traditional arts are taught at this level.Annual Review: 2006-2007, Prince's School of Traditional Arts
The School strives to preserve global traditional arts and traditions under threat of extinction.

Building

Based in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

, an average of 25 students work permanently on site, numbers increasing with students studying PhDs and open courses.

History

The School was originally established as the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Programme (VITA) at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

in 1984. It was the brainchild of

Keith Critchlow Keith Barry Critchlow (16 March 1933 – 8 April 2020) was a British artist, lecturer, author, Sacred geometry, sacred geometer, professor of architecture, and a co-founder of the Temenos Academy in the UK. Biography Critchlow was educated at ...

, the Professor Emeritus at the School, who is also the author of several books on

sacred geometry Sacred geometry ascribes symbolic and sacred meanings to certain geometric shapes and certain geometric proportions. It is associated with the belief of a divine creator of the universal geometer. The geometry used in the design and constructi ...

. The Programme transferred to The Prince of Wales' Institute of Architecture in 1993 which subsequently became incorporated into The Prince's Foundation in 2000. The School was initiated as a separate charity of Charles in April 2004. In 2018, the School became a part of the Prince's Foundation, merging with The Prince's Foundation for Building Community, The Prince's Regeneration Trust, The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust. In 2018, works created by graduates of the School and two other charities founded by King Charles were put on display during the Prince & Patron exhibition to mark his 70th birthday.

Postgraduate degrees

Three postgraduate degrees are offered by the school: a Master of Arts (MA), a Master of Philosophy degree (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in arts practice research in the traditional arts. All degrees are awarded by University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

References

External links