Contemporary art considered in a multicultural context

The motive for this research is a teacher exchange with Erasmus+ organised by Manon Habekotté and Claire Goedman, in which a guest lecture was given by Master’s students in Israel under the title ‘Decolonizing the museum’. We discovered that the discussion about contemporary art is strongly influenced by the cultural background of the observer. Our assumption following on from this is that as a result of globalisation in the art world, art is examined and discussed from multiple cultural perspectives. The problem is that our students (future Visual Arts and Design teachers) are insufficiently prepared for this conversation, but they must prepare for that if they want to work in modern-day art education and/or at schools with a multicultural population.

The aim of this research is to prepare students for considering contemporary art in a multicultural context. We are going to make this possible by designing an Online Course in which students from the Breitner Academy in Amsterdam collaborate, share knowledge and hold discussions with students from Hamidrasha Faculty of the Arts in Israel. This concerns Fine Art in Education programmes. By collaborating with students who live in Israel, were born and grew up there, and who consequently have received a different cultural heritage, our students, and the students from Hamidrasha, will develop a broader perspective on contemporary art.  In this way, they can become more aligned with the tendency towards globalisation in the contemporary art world.

Manon Habekotté

Following my Art History study (MA) at Leiden University and the grade-one Art History teacher training programme at the ICLON – Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching (MA), I worked as a cultural and artistic education (CKV) coordinator and teacher in secondary education. I interrupted this so that I could also work in England as a teacher. ‘I have been employed as senior lecturer in Art History, Art Appreciation and Art Theory at the Breitner Academy since 2009.

Contact: manon.habekotte@ahk.nl 

Publications

Goedman, C., Habekotté, M. (2022) Between spaces: Art appreciation lessons as a platform for intercultural exchange. Amsterdam NL: Lectoraat Kunsteducatie, Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. 

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