Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London: Pädagogik der Idee

How do art academies educate today across the world? This themed issue of the German art publication “Kunstforum” (Volume 245, March/April 2017) profiles 8 art schools and art academies where students explore creativity. It investigates how in places such as Singapore, Ghana, Israel, Columbia, Italy, Germany, the UK and in the US art is being taught and how and if this is possible. Based on interviews and conversations with students, teachers, artists and curators, the focus lies on the central question of the relationship between workshop and studio practice and the idea of making in relation to concepts, ideas and reflection. The individual articles, read together, open up a debate – convergences and differences in different places - about material skills and notions of creativity today.

Art Education in the UK has long favoured conceptual art. What does this mean for art education today? How does the art school as a place and an idea situate itself between the dominance of the idea and as the article is titled “The pedagogy of the idea” and the need to skills – both practical and entrepreneurial. In a context where the students become the consumer and education a consumer good, how can the art school remain a relevant and current place for debate? [Dieckvoss, Stephanie. Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London: Pädagogik der Idee, in: Kunst lernen?, Kunstforum International vol. 245, March – April 2017, pp. 146-159]