Call for applications: Introduction to Contemporary Arts and Politics

Contemporary Arts and Politics summer course, 15 hec, distance
A distance course introducing key themes in contemporary art practices, theories and institutions. This international course, delivered in English, is based on a combination of distance education and participation at ONE intensive workshop (from a choice of three) in these three cities: Berlin June 7–8, London June 28–29 or Gothenburg August 16–17.

The course is free to EU nationals. Students are responsible for their own costs of attending the workshops.

Application period is February 19 to March 15
Application is via antagning.se

Admission is based on letter of intention (preferably in English) stating why you wish to attend the course, 200 to 350 words in length.

The teaching team includes: Dave Beech, Mick Wilson, Sarah Tuck, Fredrik Svensk, Daniel Jewesbury and special guests at the workshop intensives.

Why art and politics now? 
There is a long tradition of interaction between questions of politics and questions of art. However, arguably it is in contemporary art that this dialogue between art and politics has become most intense—leading to a fundamental interrogation of the nature of both: what are the limits and the agency of artistic practice? What is the political? How are these terms articulated? What is possible in this intersection?

We are seeing today, what seem to be fundamental changes in international political cultures and geopolitics: ethno-nationalism, Brexit, various separatisms, violent chauvinism and authoritarianism (Erdogan, Duerte, Modhi and Trump); resurgent geo-political contestations Ukraine, Central Caucus, the Horn of Africa, the Middle-East, the Latin American “pink tide,” and the South China Sea contestation for hegemony; the changing contexts of climate change and environmental policy; changing formations of political action including occupy, street protest, direct action, Black Lives Matter, Rhodes-must-fall, feminist mobilisations locally and globally and continuing struggles by indigenous peoples.

There has been for decades now a massive growth in the diversity and volume of issues arising within different art practices. Issues as diverse as the relationship between art and activism, feminism, queer culture, ecological crisis, postcolonialism, decolonialism, racism, zenophobia, anti-capitalism, the role of the avant-garde, renewed nationalisms, institutional critique, self-organisation, and many other conjunctions of art and politics, ranging across the macro- and the micro-political scale.

Through taking this course you will have an opportunity to build your own map of the contemporary art field and the different ways it intersects—or fails to intersect—with questions of the political. We will also explore together how this may now be changing under the imapct of recent changes in the wider political field. 

Practicalities
Please note: all times are based on Swedish time (CET). You will require a good reliable internet access and headphones. Some of the content from each workshop will be posted online for other course participants to access. Participation in the workshops means that your contributions to discussion may be recorded for this purpose. Students are responsible for their own costs of attending the workshops.

Nine online seminars
The online seminar sessions scheduled at 4–5:30pm (Swedish time, CET) on the following days: June 4, 14, 18, 21, 25, July 2, August 13, 20

Online presentations and lectures
The online lectures can be accessed online at whatever time suits your personal timetable needs.

Workshops  
The intensive workshop, involving physical attendance, is chosen from one of the following three options. (It is possible to attend two or more if you wish, however, you are expected to attend one at a minimum.) Presentations made as part of the workshop will also be posted online for distance access. In some cases material may be streamed live, but this will not always be possible.

Berlin: Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8
London: Thursday, June 28 and Friday, June 29
Gothenburg: Thursday, August 16 and Friday, August 17