On the Educational Turn...

Tuesday, 29 March 2016, 6 p.m., +MSUM, Maistrova 3, Ljubljana

Participants: Mag. Mara Ambrožič, independent curator, editor, and specialist in cultural and educational policies and strategies of connecting, Dr. Eva D. Bahovec, philosopher and professor at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Mag. Jože Barši, architect, sculptor, and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana, Dr. Marina Gržinić, philosopher and research counsellor at the Institute of Philosophy, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Tjaša Pogačar, academy-trained painter, artist, critic, member of Neteorit and co-founder and co-editor of ŠUM, Dr. Barbara Rajgelj, lawyer, LGBT rights activist and assistant professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana.

Moderation and discussion points: Jovita Pristovšek, Master of Fine Arts, lecturer at A.V.A., Ljubljana.

The term educational turn, as defined by a curatorial dictionary (tranzit.org), describes a tendency in contemporary art prevalent since the second half of the 1990s, in which various modes of educational forms and structures, and alternative pedagogical methods and programmes appeared in/as curatorial and artistic practices. The term was coined in a curatorial context by Paul O’Neill and Mich Wilson, who at first coined it as a pedagogical turn and later re-articulated it as educational in their attempt to define a paradigmatic reorientation towards the educational, a cultural politics of production at the crossroads of art, curatorship, and educational practices and, in line with this, the possibilities of developing new strategies and methods for democratising access to knowledge.   

These are the tendencies in the sphere of art that, at their core, concern the transformation of the economy of knowledge and are directly related to the transformation of art and cultural institutions into newly formed educational platforms. All this implies a reorganisation, perhaps even the creation of a new space for the public, which must be read along the lines of the broader social, political, and economic changes.  

The panel discussion is organized by ŠUM in cooperation with the Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory and MG+MSUM.