The Department of Cultural Analysis (DKV) is one of five departments at ZHdK. With independent programmes in its named areas, it includes the interfaces between the departments of Music, Theatre/Film/Dance, Design and Fine Arts. The DKV thinks in interdepartmental terms and acts in an interdisciplinary manner. Here the corresponding processes are bundled in the form of teaching, research and events and made available both to the individual departments of ZHdK and the general public. The DKV develops new formats and structures. It regularly defines topics which become part of the agenda and DNA of ZHdK.
DKV teaching and research explore topic areas such as cultural theory, cultural terms and corresponding methodological knowledge, all of which is positioned in the field of tension of academic, artistic-academic and artistic research and practice. The focus is on analytical skills and target-group specific teaching of content and action strategies.
Moreover, the DKV is also the home of the design-oriented preparatory courses in Art and Design, which provide guidance for students and prepare them for higher education in the areas of art and design. A further well-known department of the DKV is the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. It is the largest design museum in Switzerland and also one of Europe’s leading museums for applied art; its collections enjoy worldwide acclaim.