Year of foundation

1989

 
Opening

On 15 October 1990, the KHM opened its doors for the first time – at that time to 25 students enrolled in the advanced diploma programme in Audiovisual Media. Four years later, the undergraduate diploma programme was added, with an initial cohort of 40 students. Since 2004, a doctoral programme has complemented the range of courses on offer. In 2010, the two diploma programmes were renamed Media Arts and expanded to include a specialisation in camera/image design; since 2017/18, the study profile has also been enriched by a specialisation in literary writing.

The history of the KHM began in 1990 as a ‘talent factory,’ ‘electronic Bauhaus’ and, at the same time, ‘unloved child’ of Cologne's cultural landscape – an experiment with no guarantee of success, but full of optimism. Its founding was accompanied by scepticism: the end of Cologne's Werkschulen, the loss of training in fine arts, the supposed ‘death of the printed word’.

Today, the KHM has become an integral part of the canon of German art and film schools. It has remained true to its open, project-oriented concept – without master classes, with interdisciplinary supervision and diplomas in undergraduate and postgraduate studies. This is where ‘crossover talents’ emerge, moving between art, film, media and science without knowing any boundaries.

The background and ulterior motives behind its founding were described by the then Minister for Science and Research, Anke Brunn (SPD), as follows:

"The classical arts have lost their monopoly. The concept of art has expanded. Artists no longer create only with paint, on paper or canvas, in wood, bronze or stone. New artistic tools have been added, such as video, film, lasers, photography, sound and computers. Modern technologies and means of communication, the achievements of this century, have also become its means of representation." (Lab 1, KHM magazine, 1991)

Körperschaft

According to Section 1 (2) of the Art University Act, the KHM is a corporation under public law and an institution of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia is responsible, with which a university contract is agreed for four years at a time.

Awards and achievements

Three KHM graduation films have been awarded the Student Academy Award (Gold) in Los Angeles:

• 2016: Ayny by Ahmad Saleh (animation)
• 2008: Auf der Strecke by Reto Caffi (feature film)
• 1997: Ein einfacher Auftrag by Raymond Boy (feature film)

KHM graduates regularly represent Germany at the Venice Biennale – most recently Sandra Vásquez de la Horra and Yunchul Kim in 2022.

Since 2015, four graduates have been accepted into the Young College of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts: Viktor Brim (2023), Lea Letzel (2019), Ale Bachlechner (2018) and Rozbeh Asmani (2015).

In 2022, Nieves de la Fuente Gutiérrez received the prestigious Villa Aurora Fellowship in Los Angeles.
The Short Film Award in Gold (Golden Lola) has already been awarded eleven times to films by KHM students – most recently in 2022 to Sophia Groening for Muss ja nicht sein, dass es heute ist (It Doesn't Have to Be Today).
An overview of other important awards won by the KHM can be found  here.

Media Arts degree course

- undergraduate / Diploma 1 (= 9 semesters)

- postgraduate / Diploma 2 (= 4 semesters)

- Doctoral degree course (Dr. Phil.)

- English-language teaching: partly
- Semester fee / semester: approx. 400 euros

Around 400 students are enrolled at KHM each year, at least 40 per cent of them come from abroad. Around 70 new applicants are accepted each winter semester.