The Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden (HfBK Dresden) is an autonomous fine arts academy. Its autonomy is based on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of art and freedom of education and research in art and science.Founded in 1764, the academy is committed to a liberal-minded, international, free, creative and scientifically methodological mission statement. We strive towards regenerating awareness about our rich yet problematic tradition, and understand art and science as independent yet interrelated systems of knowledge.The key goal of our educational programme is to pave the way for multi-talented, creative personalities whose capabilities exceed the limits of their respective core discipline. The academy promotes interdisciplinary cooperation in artistic and scientific research projects. For us, artistic research is the practice of artistic development more than anything else.We see art as an indispensable part of civil society and attach great importance to making it accessible to the public. With this in mind, the academy has three galleries and an extremely well-equipped laboratory theatre with a capacity of 100 seats. OKTOGON is an outstanding art gallery. Its reconstructed historical rooms are spread across 800 square metres and it holds primarily exhibitions of contemporary art that is related to what is taught in the academy.The academy has a wide network of connections to international universities and institutions. Its members actively participate in international discourse on questions related to art and society. As an institution, we stand firmly against any form of discrimination and see the pursuit of equality as a priority task.At present, HfBK Dresden has about 120 employees. In addition, there are student, art and research assistants as well as lecturers. Approximately 550 students are currently enrolled in the study programmes of Fine Arts, Art Technology, Preservation and Restoration of Artistic and Cultural Assets, Stage Setting and Costume Design, Theatre Setting (technical college) and the postgraduate programme Art Therapy. This course profile is complemented by the subject areas of Art History, Philosophy/Aesthetics, Architecture and Interior Design as well as Applied Theatre Studies/Production Dramaturgy. The key facilities that are available are the Archive and the Custody with the historical anatomical collection, the Library with a Media Centre, the Exhibition Department, the Laboratory Theatre, Career Service and the Electronic Data Processing Centre.The individual fields of study are spread over three different locations in Dresden. These too have 23 labs and workshops pertaining to the disciplines. The academy attaches great importance to the quality of its staff and the material equipment in its laboratories and workshops, and strives to keep them up to date with the latest technologies at all times.The art academy, which has a university status, has the right to award doctorates in scientific disciplines, Restoration and Conservation (also Habilitation) and Art Therapy.