Education collectives: Tracing self-organised collective practices in an institutionalised art world

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Volume Title

School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
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Date

2023

Department

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Master’s Programme in Nordic Visual Studies and Art Education (NoVA)

Language

en

Pages

77

Series

Abstract

Motivated to seek different ways of working and practicing education apart from the bounds, hierarchies and limitations of art institutions, educators and practitioners engaged in pedagogical work have self-organised into collectives that work aside from institutions. However, many of these collectives still engage and work with institutions, blurring the boundary between the institutional and the self-organised. This research delves into the less-explored phenomenon of self-organised education collectives to seek knowledge on how education collectives form and self-organise their practice while navigating the interdependent relationships with art institutions, and how the collective, self-organised way of working influences their education practice. Employing conversation as the main methodological approach of inquiry, I engaged in in-depth conversations with three education collectives: Invisible Pedagogies (Pedagogías Invisibles), microsillons and trafo.k. By defining and discussing four structural elements of self-organised practice: situating, practicing, assembling, and sustaining, this study explores how collectives situate their practice in relation to institutions, how they form and organise themselves, and how they sustain the multitude of practical, financial, emotional, and social aspects of collective practice. This research illustrates the multi-layered entanglements that exist between self-organised and institutional practices and the contested, ambiguous landscape that collectives are situated in. It brings forth the challenges that educators face working both aside and within institutions, the various models that self-organised collectives have adapted to sustain their practice and the fascinating connection between critical education and collective practice.

Description

Supervisor

Tervo, Juuso

Thesis advisor

Tervo, Juuso

Keywords

collective practice, education collectives, self-organising, critical education, critical gallery education, educational turn in curating, art institutions, institutional structures

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