Art and Classroom. Processes and Connections

Dates: 15 to 31 March 2019 
Exhibition Opening: Thursday 14 March, at 19.00
Where: Espai Zero

Curators: Ester Rovira / ​Lluís Vallvé

Art is life and life, transformation, said Fregoli. What’s more, art is freedom, a necessity, it is a NO-limit that throws up uncomfortable questions and generates thought, attitude: a stance. Art is an internal and cultural dialogue that refers to much larger contextual settings, such as personal and cultural identity, family, community, politics and nationality. It is, to a large extent, an obligation in society because it challenges, it obliges us to question ourselves and, in short, it makes us better people.

Contemporary art is distinguished by its lack of a uniform, organising and ideological principle and these characteristics give it an undeniable ability to decode plastic methodologies, enrich cultural strata, question rigid dynamics and reveal favourable environments for new thought.

This exhibition presents the work carried out through two education programmes developed with seven schools in Barcelona during the 2017-2018 school year. For both, art is the great catalyst.

The first programme is Espai C, designed for primary schools. The proposal is based on the experience of one or several resident artists who share space and work with the school students. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse and technologically advanced world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts and subjects that continually defies boundaries. This knowledge exchange generates a connection among the participants where the personality, reality and environment of the artist become confused with the walls of the education centre and inspire the children in other ways.

The schools involved in this edition were Escola dels Encants, Escola Miralletes and Escola Sagarra.

The second programme is Reflexionart. This is designed for secondary schools (ESO) and aims to encourage a cross-disciplinary reflection of an important subject; a reflection that searches for a new language, through artistic processes, that helps the young people understand the environment and the reality that are alien to them, based on a global and interdisciplinary project. The idea of Reflexionart is to encourage a critical spirit, inspire experimentation with forms of cooperation and teamwork, and to initiate reflection in the schools through the world of art.

For the last edition, the proposal was IDENTITY and four schools from the city participated: Institut Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Institut Martí Pous, Institut Menéndez y Pelayo and Institut Poeta Maragall.

These two programmes stem from the Barcelona's Education Consortium and, in the case of Espai C, in cooperation with ICUB (Culture Institute of Barcelona) and UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).

When art and creative processes cross the established boundaries, reflection and, therefore, mutation is — undeniably — generated. The main audience is the children between the ages of 3 and 12 and teenagers between 13 and 16 years of age. But, also their school or centre, the education community, their families, their neighbourhood and their city.

Art is, ultimately, an opportunity to change our world! 

With the collaboration of Consorci d'Educació de Barcelona, Unitat Didàctica de les Arts Plàstiques de la Facultat de Ciències de l'Educació de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Escola Superior de Disseny i Art Llotja and Escola Massana.

Every Saturday at 18.00 and Sundays at 12.30 guided tours of the exhibitions.

Free entrance.