Mono Culture And Other Realities, 2008

Mono Culture And Other Realities, 2008

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Mono Culture and Other Realities, 2008
Collaborative work, sound installation, text, sculpture

Thale Vangen and Maj Hasager (Malmö Art Academy), Layan Shawabkeh and Majd Abdel Hamid (International Academy of Art Palestine)
This project grew out of the workshop “Learning Site,” which was part of Lofoten International Art Festival in Norway in June 2008. Four art students from Palestine, Norway, and Denmark formed a group to discuss how art education is taught today and how different models of art education function around the world. By mapping out the experiences of art students and recent graduates through a set of questions, the project investigates what it means to be an international artist in relation to a set of structures that involve extreme mobility and a nomadism that often is linked to the culture of biennials, triennials, and other art festivals held around the world.

Through a collective and extended discussion, the group intended to act as a catalyst and activate discussion around what is offered as a foundation for art students, how contemporary art education is carried out, and how it is perceived. The project asked: What sorts of systems are ingrained within the art world, and do we have to adopt the already existing structures and hierarchies? Or, how can we rethink these?
The artists looked at a diverse group of current and former art students to determine whether there are clear similarities and differences, both cultural and educational, within this education group. The goal was to ascertain whether education systems around the world are producing one type of international artist, and hence a monoculture, or if they allow for diverse perspectives in relation to the international without compromising local and cultural aspects.

The project was presented at the Tea Pavilion in the Guangdong Museum and curated by Dorothee Albrecht as a part of the Third Guangzhou Triennial, 6 September–16 November 2008.

majhasager