Paper materials technology

Learning Objectives

The study programme for the second-level academic diploma in Paper Materials Technology aims to refine, broaden and focus the artistic and professional skills acquired in the previous three years, enabling each student to fully develop their originality while also developing their cultural knowledge in this specific field. This two-year course will provide in-depth knowledge of the history, theory, practice and manufacture of paper and the production of natural colours, with the aid of basic chemistry. The use of natural materials closely links the study programme to the local area, opening up artistic research to new and multiple perspectives. In-depth study of raw material technologies produces a methodological approach and skills that can be applied in various fields of art, such as graphic design, restoration and painting.

Final assessment

The final assessment consists of the discussion of a theoretical cultural thesis focusing on topics related to paper materials technologies and their interpretations, ancient, modern and contemporary at an international level, as well as a personal artistic project unrelated to the theoretical thesis, highlighting the progress made in the overall project that characterised the chosen study programme.

Career prospects

Within a targeted area of specialisation, development of professional skills aimed at the artistic profession, paper-making skills, restoration of paper materials, teaching, technical consultancy, etc. In agreement with public and private bodies, the institution establishes memoranda of understanding for the purpose of organising work placements and apprenticeships for acquiring specific professional skills and for establishing a predictive relationship between learners, still in the study phase, and possible areas of professional placement.

Knowledge and understanding

Through a synergy of theoretical and workshop courses, students will learn a methodology designed to create a sub-layer of awareness between a valid historical and artistic preparation and the workshop experimentation of avant-garde languages and techniques in the particular field of the research area, linked to information systems that do not go beyond the contribution of new technologies.

Applying knowledge and understanding

The ability to design and implement the stages of managing the production of paper materials and their wider applications, in a dual process of highly skilled craftsmanship alongside the development of highly authoritative skills.

Independent thinking (making judgements)

To provide learners with the ability to identify the properties that distinguish both paper materials and works of art from a wide range of expressive disciplines executed on specific paper media, laying the foundations for personal critical independence in terms of assessing the technologies used and their results.

Communication skills

Communication in the main two-year course can be learned through the practice of many different elements of a paper-based work by absorbing technical and artistic terminology. The primary aim is to be able to communicate the concept of paper as a medium that is not merely a means to an end, but an end in itself, expressive and meaningful. In this case, the concept of paper, communicated through an awareness of its multifaceted textures and the meanings of traditional local or international textures, becomes a tangible relationship of disclosure between idea and material form in a continual explanatory evolution.

Learning skills

Offering the opportunity to develop critical learning capabilities, providing a wide range of opportunities to acquire specific skills related to paper techniques and materials, as well as expressive techniques aimed at paper materials or their multifaceted uses, offering the opportunity for gradual absorption of knowledge established through increasing stages of content reception.