Research program of LAB12, Athens School of Fine Arts,
powered by Onassis Foundation.

What if our needs and visions stand at the center of the future of art education? What if creative collaborations and solidarity become part of our artistic practice? What if the future of art education would enable us to become active agents of possibility, change and hope in tomorrow’s world? What if we could co-create the future of art education today?

WHAT IS FAE?

Future Art Education aims to reinvent and redefine art practice by reinventing and redefining art education. 

Future Art Education (FAE) is a research program of LAB12 the 12th Studio of Painting and Expanded Media of Visual Arts of the Athens School of Fine Arts and it is powered by Onassis Foundation. FAE is a two-year cycle of artistic research activities that aims to function as an ongoing experiment on art education. In infusing art education with a multiplicity of practices and tools, the goal is to create an atmosphere of possibility and collaboration. We envision to experiment and search for relevant and effective practices and structures in reinventing and shaping a new art education of the future.

 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The program will last two years, it is voluntary and in addition to the curriculum of ASFA. Future Art Education aims to create a network by inviting practitioners of different fields such as Artists, Theorists and Curators. Invited practitioners will contribute on a monthly basis to the program with their insights through a series of Lectures, Screenings and Workshops in which they share their (artistic) practices, tools and visions. The thematic territories will form a think tank, open for re-configuration by all participants. The participating students will form different working units. The program will be co-developed by these working units, thus creating a wide ranged network of research areas. The working units are invited to share their research and findings each semester in the form of an open studio to the other participants and the public.

 

WHAT ARE THE RESEARCH TOPICS?

As Future Art Education evolves over time and responds to the ideas and interests of the participants, there is no exhaustive and finished curriculum. However, there are a number of topics and discourses we find particularly interesting with regard to the overall question of the project. These topics also reflect the personal research interest of the organizing team/lecturers and we see them as an invitation to join a collective conversation. We are asking how to respond best to a world of turmoil and transformation? Old structures are coming to an end and at the horizons we can see new ways of living, working and dreaming together. In this ambivalent world, full of fears and hopes: What is the role of art and art education? 

We are particularly interested in the following topics:

After-Futures: Progress and its discontents, The End of the world for whom, Feminist (and other) counter apocalypses. 

The Body: Gender, Feelings, Touch, Somatic Practices, Movement, Perception, Sensing, Embodiment, Disembodiment

Imagination: Worlding, Narrating, Speculating, Dramaturgies, RhythmDigitality: XR, Immersion, Digital Intimacy, Embodiment, Technology, Gaming.   

Public Sphere: Protest, Public Action, Political and Social Justice, Division of Space, Power Structures of the In/Visible, Restructuring shared spaces.

Ecologies: Spaces, Landscapes, Entanglements, art education in more than human worlds, Interspecies education. 

Empathy: Feeling, inhabiting, thinking with and through.

Work: Conditions, Alienation, Exhaustion, Collaboration, Laziness, Forms of Subversion and Refusal.

New Spirituality: Mysticism, Rituals, Haunting, Altered States of Conscience. 

Community: Tradition, Race, Collectivity, Structures of Collective Care

 WHO ARE WE?

The idea of FAE is to work together in an open thinktank with all participating members from ASFA, LAB12, guest lecturers and the visitors becoming part of the team.

Poka-Yio is a visual artist, curator and educator. In his practice he blends narrative, coaching and co-working techniques in fiction and non-fiction scenarios.

Rahel Spöhrer is a dramaturg and researcher working mainly in the field of theatre and performance, recently shifting her focus towards fine art. She works at Zeppelin University in the research project FEINART, gives workshops in (non-) academic environments, she is passionate about teaching and loves cross disciplinary exchange of practices.

Lukas Stolz is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Goldsmiths College London. His work transverses the fields of academic research, political activism, and cultural production. Lukas has a particular interest in creating critical, experimental, and humorous environments within and against existing institutions. When he lived in Athens for one year, he adopted three cats which he now misses very much.

Evi Roumani is an artist and a PhD Candidate at ASFA. She is an observer of visual phenomena. Her research studies the Image Act and the lives of images.

Tomomi Sasaki is a strategic designer based in Paris, interested in how we design the conditions for independent-minded individuals to grow and thrive together. She is a partner at the independent design studio AQ, a director of the ResearchOps Community, and a fan of weekend bicycle trips. 

Dr Kostis Stafylakis is a visual artist and art theorist with a PhD in Political Science. He has been a post-doc researcher at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and ASFA. He has taught at ASFA and the University of Patras. His writings and research focus on the crossroad between visual arts and the “political” with emphasis on the role of the “mimetic” in contemporary post-digital practices. He has co-curated various shows, such as the 6th and the 4th Athens Biennale and has exhibited in various shows across the world.

*FAE will be held in English.

*Feel free to contact us for any questions asfa.lab12@gmail.com

 

FAQ_____Future Art Education(FAE)

Who can apply?

All ASFA students can submit their application for FAE.

Does it cost?

All activities of FAE are free for the participants.

In which language is the program held?

FAE is held in English.

What is FAE’s connection to the curriculum of ASFA?

FAE is in addition to the curriculum of ASFA. Participating in FAE does not lead to ECTS gain.

How much of my time it will take?

Upon selection there are different levels of engagement to the programme, however an active and continuous involvement to the project is expected.

Workshops, lectures and other events will take place on a monthly basis(2 to 4 events per month approx.).

What are the criteria of selection in order to participate in FAE?

Research interests and their relation to the program.

What’s in it for me?

Joining a big network of discussion and artistic practice under contemporary thematic territories.

Participating in a series of workshops, screenings, lectures, artist talks etc.

Connecting with other practitioners.

Having the possibility to actively engage in a dialogue regarding the future of art education.

Will I have funding for my projects through FAE?

FAE does not cover production costs.

Will I have access to technical equipment through FAE?

FAE does not have any standard technical equipment.

Do I have to show a portfolio?

You do not need to present a portfolio for your application. During the program of course there will be actions in which you will present your projects. We fully understand the limitations of the conditions in relation to the projects that are in progress.

Do we work as a team or individually?

Both with an emphasis on teamwork.

What happens in case of Erasmus / work / emergency personal obligation on the day of meetings?

In case of Erasmus/ work / emergency personal obligations you will take time off from the program.

Can my research in FAE be linked to my personal research or is it a new and irrelevant framework of work and research?

Of course it can be related to your personal research.

How will the students work, that is, what is the contribution expected from me?

You are expected to participate continuously and actively and we hope that you will contribute in every possible way even to the organization of the program, as this is an experimental program of activities in which you will not be merely listeners, but will be involved and actively participate in the structure and its content.

Is it possible to choose more than one topic for my research?

Yes.

When and how does FAE start?

The meetings and the first activities will start in the first week that the school will open from the Easter holidays and for as long as there are restrictions due to the pandemic, they will be held via Zoom. As for exact day and time, we are working so that they do not coincide with the main days of studio meetings or theoretical courses to the extent that is possible