Scenic Design Department

General description of the scenography department

The aim of the Scenography Department is to train designers who are able to integrate themselves organically into theatrical and motion picture work processes, while at the same time being able to create art based on their own artistic vision and mindset. Scenography training at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts is based on the Bologna system.

Bachelor's Degree (BA) in Scenographic Design

The aim of the three-year (BA) basic training is to lay the foundations for the profession by helping students acquire the necessary basic technical knowledge and the personal artistic approach of a visual designer. The programme consists of courses led by prominent representatives of the Hungarian theatre and film scenographic design profession, giving students the opportunity to learn the creative perspectives of prominent contemporary master teachers. During each semester students participate in theatre and film internships, during which they can gain direct experience of the work of production workshops and all phases of the production process. The focus is on practice-oriented training, along with the teaching of software skills and digital design.
The first two semesters provide foundational training in set, costume and puppet design.

Our primary goal in the BA programme is to help students gain deeper professional knowledge in specific areas of scenographic design. To achieve this goal the Department offers three specialisations from third year, each supplemented with additional professional courses of the chosen field. By broadening the design spectrum and offering training with a more practical focus, our goal is to help graduates find (and to later retain) employment as scenographic designers.

Specialisations available to third-year students from the 2025/26 academic year:

Set Design for Theatre and Film
Costume Design for Theatre and Film
Puppet Design for Theatre and Film

The set design specialisation combines classical theatre set design training with courses in installation design and scenographic design for film.

The costume design specialisation includes training in costume accessory design and costume design for art genres that cross disciplinary boundaries.

In the puppet design specialisation students can expand their knowledge of classic puppet techniques, puppet set design and stop-motion puppet film design.

Every specialisation allows students interested in multiple fields to also take courses from a different specialisation as part of their elective courses.

Upon completion of the programme students obtain a professional qualification in applied scenographic design in one of the three specialisations mentioned above.

Master's Degree (MA) in Scenographic Design

THEATRE and FILM – FILM and THEATRE is the motto of the recently revamped programme.

The aim of the two-year master's programme (MA) is to teach students the necessary skills to apply their own personal approaches and methods in their art. In the Department’s integrated training model students can simultaneously master traditional design techniques and also gain training in the digital visual design software that are indispensable today. The MA programme has a focus on practice-oriented teaching. At the end of the programme students can obtain a qualification as a scenographic designer in the fields of theatre and film.

In the first and second semesters students are assigned set and costume design tasks in both theatre and film, and their training is supplemented with workshops covering interdisciplinary topics in later semesters. In the theatre specialisation the curriculum is supplemented by a semester of contemporary puppetry and puppet design, while in the film specialisation students are introduced to 3D character design and animatronic puppet techniques for film.

Optional specialisations for second-year students from the 2024/25 academic year: