POLITICAL SCHOOL FOR ARTISTS

POLITICAL SCHOOL FOR ARTISTS is an educational program aimed primarily at artists and cultural workers, but opened to all those interested. The program offers basic theoretical concepts and an insight into the history of capitalist social relations, as well as their socialist alternative and its importance today, placing a particular emphasis on the position and role of art and culture. The aim of the program is to politicize art and cultural workers, and encourage them to become engaged; therefore special attention is paid to both historical and future perspectives of such alliances. The motivation for establishing a continuous educational program of such a profile is twofold. On one hand, it comes as a reaction to contemporary transformations in the field of education, particularly of arts education, and on the other, it is a result of the reaction to the transformation in the field of politics. One of the consequences of this development is the culturalization of political issues. Profound restructuring has also reflected on socially engaged art, which today is to a large extent part of capitalist relations of production, despite being repeatedly presented as a sphere of free expression. Its high degree of individualization is one of the main obstacles to the polarization of artists and other cultural workers. The program is structured around several thematic sessions. The lecturers’ presentations are accompanied by field lectures and collective discussions based on set literature. In 2018, the 'Tendencija' book series was launched as part of the educational program, with the purpose of closing the gap in local art criticism and art history, ''cleansed'' by restoration of capitalism from a materialist approach and political readings.

POLITICAL SCHOOL FOR ARTISTS was launched in 2016, ran annually until 2020, when it took on the biennial format. Since 2021, as part of our educational program, we have organized THE CONGRESS OF ARTISTS AND CULTURAL WORKERS as an international meeting of initiatives and organizations, a place for sharing experiences and questioning strategies and tactics of self-organization.

THE PROGRAM IS FINNACIALLY SUPPORTED BY THE ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG SOUTHEAST EUROPE.