Changeless paradigms…

For a change, instead of ranting about teaching in schools (I’ll leave that for next week, I’m teaching in Romford AND Clapham, ALL 5 days of the week….) I thought I would write about Artquest’s brilliantly organised conference “For the love of it”. It’s not often that there are good, practical seminars for practising artists – I’d say about 90% of the attendees were artists in some form.

I saw a few people I sort of knew, two of which I’d worked with before and one who’s commissioned me to write a piece for a website, which made me realise I must be part of London’s “art scene” – I still chuckle at this thought. How many artists do you need to know to be part of an art scene? Sounds like a one-liner.

Anyway, during the afternoon’s talks during the “Collectivity” talk we were introduced to “The Institute for Art and Practice of Dissent at Home” and for once in a long time, I was fascinated by this couple. Not only their presence in the room, but the Institue’s transparency, what they do, etc.

I didn’t get to stay for the whole session but I’m going to get in touch to discuss a residency or project with them.

I thought I’d share this because it’s quite fitting when talking about changing paradigms. It’s a documentary (available on YouTube as 5 episodes) around a teacher in Japan, who follows an un-orthodox teaching method: Advocating honesty, talking openly about your feelings, etc.

I’m only on episode 2, but it’s a good distraction from “real” work.

At the moment I’m juggling with planning for my usual facilitation spot at a primary school in Lambeth with another project at a school in Romford – 3 intensive days working with children from nursery to year 6 – doing everything from building a newspaper-stuffed “giant” to animaitng a book.

So this little series has provided lots of food for thought. Hope you enjoy.

Children Full of Life