2012

IFA has hosted two major arts education conferences to share its far-reaching arts education project called ‘Kali Kalisu’ that brought multi-pronged Arts Education workshops to over 500 teachers in rural and small-town Karnataka with the support from Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore under their Culture & Development Initiative. The first conference titled Contexts, Concepts and Practices in Schools in 2009 was followed by Arts, Education and Development in 2010. Both these conferences were held in the month of December as two-day conferences.

The 2009 conference intended to cover a journey from the world of Arts Education ideas to the multiplicity of practices that define the field on the ground. It took participants through a substantial and meaningful swathe of the Arts Education landscape in the country. The 2010 conference recognised and celebrated synergies with worldwide thinking about Arts Education priorities. Remaining faithful to the momentum of Kali Kalisu, it catalysed conversations with broader Indian and international Arts Education activist communities that engaged in the continual dialogue of global and local realities, ideas and theories and practices.

These two conferences showcased the work of artists in the field of education to a broad audience of artists, educationists, teachers, policy makers, and others involved in arts education.  Now IFA responds to an urgent call from artists engaged in the field of education—working independently or within institutions—to initiate a series of conversations within the artist community for sharing each other’s work, discussing challenges and potential solutions, and creating a shared mandate for furthering the work of arts education.

To this end, we invite you to be part of a two-day closed seminar on January 30 and 31, 2012, followed by a field trip on February 01, 2012 to two regional government schools (primary and secondary schools) to witness our three-year pilot project, Kali Kalisu, in action. The many discussions and debates from the seminar will also invigorate the two-day Arts Education Conference on the topic of ‘Diversity and Justice’ on February 03 and 04, 2012. The conference will examine a range of philosophical, political and practical topics, from those of equity of access to arts education for the underprivileged, to ways in which arts education can shape the cultural imaginary of a just and equitable society within and outside the space of the classroom. The voicing of artists’ commitment to  the cause of education in the seminar will set the tone for the conference.

SEMINAR

Roundtable I: We Receive but What We Give

As artists committed to the cause of education (defined broadly) what has been your inspiration and vision for the mandate of fusing arts with education? How do you see your journey thus far?

Roundtable II: Between the Idea and Reality Falls the Shadow

A forum that will focus on specific art forms to highlight the successes and challenges of various arts education projects. Discussions will be shaped around the experiences of various art forms—music, movement arts, theater, creative writing, visual arts/puppetry—while engaging the whole audience on the topic.

Roundtable III: That Untravelled World

What is the level of engagement of the artist with state institutions that deal with education for the masses? How should an Arts Education programme interested in bridging the goals of knowledge gathering, aesthetic education and civic engagement through a holistic approach to arts-integrated learning, shape itself in contemporary times both within and without educational institutions?

Arts Education Conference | Diversity and Social Justice (2012)

Arts Education Conference | Diversity and Social Justice (2012) - Schedule