Joan of Art: Towards a Free Education
Joan of Art Beers and Bar performance (artist Andrew Rutt, beers Andrew Rutt, Donatella Giordano, Mike Watson). MACRO, Rome
Artist Graham Hudson, during the Workshop, Workshop!.
Hajo Dorn, Cesare Pietroiusti, Adelita Husni Bey, Conference April, 13th, 2013. MACRO, Rome
Radical Intention perform educative action, April 13th, 2013, Radical Intention perform educative action. MACRO, Rome
workshop, conferences, installations
curated by Mike Watson
Assistant Curator: Donatella Giordano
with the support of Nomas Foundation
April 10th - 29th, 2013
MACRO, via Nizza 138, Rome
From 10-29 April 2013, the Nomas Foundation, in collaboration with MACRO – the Rome Museum of Contemporary Art – and European Alternatives, presents Joan of Art: Towards a Free Education, by the curator and philosopher Mike Watson.
The event is the result of a series of residencies organised by the Nomas Foundation, which every year uses the perspective of an invited artist or curator to provide a critical viewpoint on different aspects of contemporary art in Italy.
The conference, the workshop and all other connected events are designed not to be restricted to the field of academic research, but instead represent the first step in a wider project grounded in the research of Mike Watson and paving the way for Joan of Art: Towards a Free Education.
The project, rooted in reflection on the education system, aims to provoke discussion on current education models, putting forward a free and accessible alternative based upon shared information and managed by an international network of institutions and individuals from the art world who are involved in learning initiatives.
The overall aim of the project, which began in 2012, is to put into practice a course beginning in 2014 that will develop a free education platform built on participatory art and politics. Those taking part in the workshop are invited to play a role in this initial process of knowledge sharing.
PROGRAMME
CONFERENCE
Saturday 13 April 2013, 11.00-17.00 | MACRO Auditorium |
Joan of Art: Towards a Free Education. Conference.
A day of debate on the suitability of academic models for meeting the real requirements of society and an exploration of potential alternative educational practices.
The conference will be held in English, with simultaneous translation into Italian.
Speakers include: David Blacker, the author of The Falling Rate of Learning and the Neoliberal Endgame (in publication, Zer0 books); Hajo Doorn, director of the Worm Foundation in Rotterdam; Mark Fisher, the author of Capitalist Realism: Is There an Alternative? (2009, Zer0 books); Dario Gentili, research fellow in Ethics and Political and Legal Philosophy at the University of Salerno; the artist Adelita Husni Bey; Simonetta Lux, art historian, curator and founder of MLAC at La Sapienza University; Alpesh Maisuria, professor of Educational and Childhood Studies at the Anglia Ruskin University; the artist César Meneghetti; the artist Cesare Pietroiusti; Esther Planas, an artist and the founder of the Five Years project in London; Maria Rosa Sossai, curator and founder of ALAgroup; Stalker/Osservatorio Nomade, a collective of artists and architects; Mike Watson, curator and philosopher; and occupants of MACAO, Teatro Valle and Teatro Garibaldi Aperto.
The collective Radical Intention will also be involved in the conference with Sense of Belonging, a series of live experiments involving the public that explores the concept of performance as a means of collective learning.
Monday 22 April 2013, 19.00 | MACRO | Workshop, Workshop!: Information Bar
To mark the launch of exhibitions by Hidetoshi Nagasawa and Sam Durant, the public will be invited to take part in the Workshop, Workshop!: Information Bar.
The Information Bar will be handing out limited edition beer bottles produced in collaboration with Birra del Borgo. Printed on the labels of the bottles will be excerpts from famous comments on the importance of education. The sentences can only be completed by finding the words on other labels that complement one’s own excerpt, giving rise to the sharing and exchange of reflections, a factor that allows those involved to express their opinions on one part of the label. The labels will be exhibited over the following days at the opening of the Spazio Area.
Sunday 21 April 2013, 16.00 | MACRO, Spazio Area | Talk: Radio and education
Ligna – the collective founded in Germany in 1997 by the artists Ole Frahm, Michael Hueners and Torsten Michaelsen – looks at the educational and communication aspects of radio.
The talk opens a three-day workshop taking place both at MACRO and at the Nomas Foundation, which is open to ten artists selected from across Europe and part of SHARES, a project curated by Emanuele Guidi for European Alternatives, an organisation dedicated to promoting cross-border policies and cultures. SHARES was founded by the EU Culture Programme and by the Allianz Foundation.
WORKSHOP
10, 11 and 12 April 2013 | Workshop, Workshop!
Workshop, Workshop! is a participatory event lasting three days and designed for reflection on the nature of education through art. In the workshop, different situations are examined by the artists Graham Hudson, Paolo W. Tamburella and Valerio Rocco Orlando.
The initiative experiments with a new workshop concept. The artist identifies a subject area in which to work – in an agreed timeframe – setting up a workshop in which, rather than giving a lesson, the artist’s work is structured according to interaction from the public.
Graham Hudson takes a look at the individuals who put up political posters.
Paolo W. Tamburella, in collaboration with Centoxcentoperiferia – whose cultural work is a response to issues linked to the suburbs of Italian cities – sought tips from the Gypsy community in Via Salone in Rome on how to make a large copper pan (which will be used during the conference to be held at MACRO on 13 April).
Finally, Valerio Rocco Orlando has worked with tourists and guides on a new tour of Rome, which is to be incorporated into the excursions offered by Angel Tours Rome, a company that organises walking tours of the city. The public will have the chance to join the workshop at 15:00 on 12 April on the steps of Piazza di Spagna. The tour will last around two hours and will include a stop at Graham Hudson’s workshop.
The three days of workshops will be monitored by the artist Andrew Rutt from the Information Bar, a meeting place located in MACRO’s Spazio Area
13-29 April 2013 | MACRO, Spazio Area | Workshop, Workshop! on show
The objects, materials and works produced during Workshop, Workshop! will be on display at MACRO’s Spazio Area between 13 and 29 April 2013.
10-29 April 2013 | MACRO, Spazio Area | Material from the Germinal archive in Carrara
Exploring the link between anarchy and education, the artist Robert Pettena is displaying material in MACRO’s Spazio Area from the Germinal archive in Carrara, which houses books and documents on the anarchist movement. The material can be viewed for free. The initiative will also provide an opportunity to collect funds to save the archive, which is at risk of closure, having already lost its original home.