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International Master Artist Educator
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Vision

Vision

At iMAE, we ask you to question why you do what you do, and to explore the relevance of your work regarding how your research impacts on the lives of others and, most importantly, the issues of our time. We invite you to join us and apply your practice research for the benefit of others. To place your own urgencies within the framework of socially engaged practice and test your work in a diverse range of political landscapes. On this page you can read all about the vision of iMAE on education, artisteducators and research.

Drawing on previous work by Joseph Beuys, iMAE can be described as a social sculpture that is built on the principles of reciprocity, social engagement, art and critical education. As a socially engaged artwork, the programme of iMAE draws on collaboration between teachers and students to underpin. We do this through establishing a safe but challenging learning community and connect this to the many networks who share the same key values as the programme, be these in the Netherlands or abroad. Together we construct artistic projects turgent and both aesthetically and politically challenging.

Partners and collaborations

We work with international and local NGO’s, as well as institutions such as Gemeente of Arnhem, the Museum Arnhem and community museums in Belfast. We base our students in professional organisations such as  The Interface Regeneration programme in North Belfast, The Greater Shankill Partnership Belfast, Organisation for Identity and Cultural Development (OICD), Queens Collective Marrakesh, Sounds of Change, Trauma International. Our work in Belfast is endorsed by the embassy of the Netherlands in United Kingdom and is recognised as a crucial aspect toward building peace and reconciliation in the city of Belfast. Our students have the opportunity to build new partnerships who will ultimately benefit from their input and contribute to the development of a unique professional portfolio.

iMAE Masters Artist Educator Promo 6
iMAE Open Class

The importance of socially engaged art

The combined concepts of art, education and (practice oriented-)research are at the core of the international Master Artist Educator. We compel artists to apply their practice, to promote creative action through artistic research and to analyse and reflect on methods while doing so. These methods are multidisciplinary and include traditional art forms such as dance, music, visual arts and theatre. 

Research

While we see iMAE as a research project in its own right we also recognise the importance of reframing research within the concept of the programme and its intentions.

The curriculum draws on the concept of the rhizome as defined by the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. This concept places open-ended thinking within the framework of this master’s course and asks lecturers and students to be accepting of working in a processual way rather than an outcome driven manner. This challenges conventional education which is often driven by predetermined targets that are described as learning outcomes. At iMAE we see this as contrary to artistic thinking and action.

Therefore, while the programme is held together by a robust framework that secures the educational intentions, it is also open to change and fluidity. We believe this reflects the realities of the world and consider the rhizome as an antidote to overly structured forms of education that too often control and contain creative possibilities. We also employ education strategies formulated by the Brazilian pedagogue and activist Paulo Freire, who uses critical pedagogy to encourage debate and dialogue. With this in mind we utilise Participatory Action Research in combination with Issues-Based Art and Educational Studies Research to form the foundations of the programme’s research agenda.

Our students

As a student at iMAE you will play an active role in the education programme and commit to the positive and developmental nature of our community. We want our learning spaces to be safe and open for students and teachers to experiment and express their passions.

Assessments are rigorous and we expect high levels of engagement and a strong professional approach to how you present your work for evaluation. You will be asked to accept responsibility for the choices you make and use evidence such as journals, project plans, outcomes and written work to show how you came to these choices. We want you to be open and to show that you are aware of your direction of travel. You should be organised and aware of how you talk about your ideas and processes by relating these to the program of study and the broader professional field. Through these strategies we aim to produce free thinking, responsible, professional and socially engaged artisteducators who display high degrees of humility, awareness and self-criticality.

Vision on teaching

To train you as an artisteducator, we employs various pedagogies to support our teaching. Our core pedagogy is that of experiential learning. This approach means that you will be placed within a community or group for a period of time to build your knowledge by actively designing, delivering and evaluating your artistic projects in a real-world context. Our Site Specific Colleges are a concrete example of this pedagogy. More information about these Site Specific Colleges can be found on the course page of iMAE. But aside from experiential learning, we also employ the following pedagogies.

  • Dialogical pedagogy: The way we structure our education offers the space for dialogical pedagogies to emerge as part of your learning experience. 
  • Critical pedagogies: We also employ critical pedagogies as a means to encourage discussion and debate about art, issues and education.
  • Through working on site, you will furthermore be engaged in interactive pedagogies – including group work and activities - that will encourage you to take the lead and deliver your own student led workshops.

Want to know more about our vision, or are you curious how we put this to practice? Take a loot at the course page of iMAE, or contact us via imae@artez.nl.