Workshop report by: Mamdooh Afdile, Doctoral Student at the Media Lab, Aalto University, Helsinki
Title of workshop: Oslo Fjord Ecologies (View page)
Dates and place of workshop: 21st to 27th of November 2016, ANX exhibition and seminar space, Grünerløkka, Oslo.
Organized by: Professor Kristin Bergaust, Art in Society research group at HiOA, Oslo.
Workshop description:
“Oslo Fjord Ecologies” workshop is part of “RENEWABLE FUTURES – Building New European Creative Alliance and Think Tank”. Renewable Futures is a network and Creative Europe project. The Renewable Futures (RF) project aims to invent new avenues for developments of tomorrow – in culture and creative sector on the European level. Project partners in RF are: Baltan Laboratories (The Netherlands), Ars Longa (France), HOGSKOLEN I OSLO OG AKERSHUS (Norway), Media Lab / Aalto University (Finland), Hangar (Spain), Liepaja University (Latvia).
“Oslo Fjord Ecologies” workshop is built around participating presenters from the art and education field. Participants working together on shared themes where organized in to clusters. The workshop program included, Art education, Artistic research and the everyday action and agency of art. In addition, exhibitions, artist talk and practical workshops took place (see program).
Participation in the workshop:
During the one week workshop, I attended all the presentations, and was an active part of the artistic discussions in regards to the role and effectiveness of future art and art education to the ecological wellbeing of society. The role of art in society was a focus topic in the workshop that was discussed from different perspectives; with the artist role as an observer, educator and an active agent.
Contribution to the workshop:
During the workshop, I gave two presentations as part of the Art-education cluster.
My first presentation was “Teaching art to understand the brain and studying the brain to empower art” (20 min). Here I discussed the potential of using art as a means to contribute to understanding science, as well as the experience of integrating scientific knowledge in my artistic work.
My second presentation was “How do you like me know? – Using movies to unmask the biased brain” (20 min). Here I presented the results of the first paper of my Doctoral studies, the research question as well as the future direction of using scientific methodology in art research.
Contribution of the workshop to my studies:
The workshop was a great opportunity for me to network and take part of the current debate on the role of art in society. It was an enriching experience where I had the chance to be exposed to different artistic perspectives and approaches related to my topic of interest. I believe such international workshops are an essential initiative to bring together a variety of artists and educators to engage in a multi-disciplinary discourse.
