Lisbet Skregelid

2.47 Art Cannot Help you (Paper) – virtual

Lisbet Skregelid – University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway – virtual

Abstract:

The importance of the arts and aesthetic subjects has been documented in several international research reports (Bamford 2006; Cziboly 2010; Winner et al. 2013). These reports emphasize particularly the importance for the development of creativity and the significance of these subjects for how to do well in other subjects. Over the past two decades, there has also been a major increase in research into the effects of the arts on health and well-being (Fancourt and Finn 2019). There is a growing tendency to see art and art education as ways to create ecological awareness, democratic consciousness and to enhance peace and a more equal and just world (Biesta, Skregelid, Bøe 2024). I acknowledge the need for exploring and communicating the reason for why art matters. This has motivated me in my research for over 20 years and can be explored in my latest book Dissens and Sensibility: Why Art Matters (Skregelid 2024). In this paper I propose the statement ‘Art cannot help you’ as a point of departure to challenge instrumental justifications for why art matters. In contrast to the arguments about the arts as tools for fixing problems referred to above, I seek other lines of reasoning, being aware that some kind of reasoning is unavoidable. Especially I discuss how art can disrupt, destabilize and de-territorialize. With the help of Rancière’s concept dissensus (2004) I see art as a distribution of the sensible, which contributes to looking at ourselves and the world around us in new ways. This resonates with Sjklovskij’s view on art’s ability to de-automate our access to the world (1917). In the paper, I suggest more existential justifications. I also call for art and art education that embrace unexpected territories and are created without attempting to control the responses they provoke.

9.9 Propositions for Museum Education: International Art Educators in Conversation (Panel)

Chair:

Patricia Osler – The Convergence Initiative | Concordia University, Montreal, Canada 

Panellists:

Lisbet Skregelid – University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway – virtual

Sue Girak – City Beach Primary School, WA, Australia – virtual

Tatiana Kravtsov – University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland – virtual 

Rolf Laven – University College of Teacher Education, Vienna, Austria

Anita Sinner – The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Anniina Suominen – Aalto university, School of Art, Design and Architecture, Finland

Abstract:

This panel discussion explores how international art educators are engaging with new approaches to museum education in response to 21st century challenges. Panellists discuss how and why museums are shifting, evolving as sites that mediate different and multiple knowledges for the future. Who is a learner? What is a museum? Whose art is missing? Within the shifting discourse, authors of this edited collection investigate museum futures as contiguous educational sites that contribute to inclusivity, equity and diversity, and embrace dynamic innovations for teaching and learning. We open the conversation in an ‘artful exchange’ across global, local and glocal contexts, reconceptualizing museums to consider accessibility, differences in lived experiences, and how both situated and virtual practices create impactful change. With an overarching concept of relationality between art museums and interdisciplinary perspectives, museums as informal learning sites offer the communities they serve unexpected territories for meaningful experiential and educational exchange through practice-based projects. As catalysts for public scholarship, the propositions for museum education in this collection reflect living futures in relation to practice, weaving the learning potential of interacting with artworks more fully within international and localized communities to present a distinct socio-cultural discourse that is at the heart of teaching and learning.