course-schedule

Kunst als demokratische Erfahrung. Von Black Mountain College zur Group Material (Seminar)

Inhalt: Die Idee, dass Kunst eine gemeinsame Erfahrung sein sollte--und nicht auf eine kleine Gruppe von Aristokraten beschränkt sein sollte--ist ein modernes Phänomen. Etwa ab dem 18. Jahrhundert begannen Philosophen, Schriftsteller und Künstler, den Wert der Kunst, und der ästhetischen Erfahrung im weiteren Sinne, als soziale Wert zu erforschen und argumentierten, mit der Ergebnisse, dass die Beschäftigung mit Kunst eine Erfahrung sein sollte, die jedem offen steht, insbesondere für die Entwicklung einer demokratischen Gesellschaft. Dieser Kurs wird sich mit dieser Entwicklung befassen und ist in vier Abschnitte unterteilt. Zunächst werden wir einige dieser theoretischen Grundlagen in philosophischen Texten (Rousseau, Fröbel, Dewey) betrachten, die für die Institutionalisierung der Künste in den Schulen und anderen Bildungskontexten wichtig waren. Dann werden wir uns zwei Experimente radikaler Kunsterziehung ansehen, nämlich das deutsche Bauhaus und das Black Mountain College in den USA (1933-1957), die Pionierarbeit leisteten mit der Idee, Kunst für diejenigen zu lehren, die wahrscheinlich keine professionellen Künstler_innen werden. Schließlich werden wir uns mit jüngeren Beispielen befassen, die sich für die Demokratisierung der Künste einsetzen. Lektüre und Diskussionen auf Englisch und Deutsch. ------ The idea that art should be a common experience, and not limited to a small group of aristocrats, is a modern phenomenon. Beginning around the 18th century, philosophers, writers, and artists began to explore the value of art--and aesthetic experience more broadly--as a social good, arguing that an engagement with art should be an experience open to everyone, especially for the development of a democratic society. This course will look closely at this development and will be divided into four sections. We will first consider some of these theoretical foundations in philosophical texts (Rousseau, Fröbel, Dewey), which were important for the institutionalization of the arts in the schools and other educational contexts. Then we will look at two experiments in radical arts education in the form of the German Bauhaus and Black Mountain College in the US (1933-1957), which pioneered the idea of teaching arts to those that likely will not become professional artists. Finally, we will consider more recent examples of artists engaged in democratizing the arts. Readings and discussion in English and German.

Mining the Museum: Kritische Intervention im Salzmuseum (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Lynn Rother

Inhalt: Das Salzmuseum in Lüneburg wird in den kommenden Jahren umfassend umgebaut und erhält eine völlig neue Dauerausstellung. Vor der Schließung eröffnet das Museum den Studierenden dieses Seminars die besondere Möglichkeit, in der bestehenden Dauerausstellung kritische Interventionen vorzunehmen – etwa mit Blick auf postkoloniale, marxistische oder Gender-Perspektiven. Die Projekte werden im Laufe des Semesters gemeinsam erarbeitet und diskutiert und im Februar in Form einer eigens konzipierten Ausstellungseröffnung öffentlich präsentiert. Der Seminartitel verweist auf Fred Wilsons künstlerische Intervention Mining the Museum (1992/93, Baltimore), die paradigmatisch für eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit musealer Repräsentation und institutioneller Praxis steht.

Organizing culture: The art museum as site of organizational change (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Timon Beyes

Inhalt: +++ If you would like to participate please send an email to haniel_esa@leuphana.de until September 29th, 2025 (max. 1 page covering your motivation why you would like to attend the course). You will be notified on October 2nd. The maximum number of Lüneburg participants is 10. +++ This course brings together students and lecturers from the University of St.Gallen’s program in Management, Organization Studies and Cultural Theory (MOK) and Leuphana University Lüneburg’s program in Culture & Organization (C&O). Designed as an intensive 4-day-experience, the course will take place in cooperation with - and will be hosted by - the Lenbachhaus in Munich (Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München). It is carried out in conjunction with the European Haniel Program on Entrepreneurship and the Humanities (supported by the Haniel Foundation, https://eursummeracademy.com/) and the 'Community Arts and Culture' (part of the TriCo project funded by the the Federal Ministry of Education and Research; https://www.leuphana.de/en/partners/innovation-communities/arts-and-culture.html ). We can offer free accommodation in Munich for the nights from Monday (3.11.) to Saturday (8.11.). Students are expected to arrange (train) travel to Luxembourg (on Nov 3) and back (on Nov 8) themselves. Course content Besides the university, the museum of art is one of the oldest forms to think about and effectuate the organization and representation of knowledge, its history of ideas and its repertoire of artifacts and objects. Art museums are currently undergoing an enormous shift in how they perform their own functions. These organizational changes are propelled by different developments such as broader societal shift towards an experience economy and the culturalization of urban life, new practices of audience participation and exhibition formats, debates and demands around more inclusive and decolonial ways of collecting, exhibiting and reflecting art, positioning the art museum in the spotlight of political protest and activism, and – cutting across all of these developments – the ubiquity, everydayness and agencies of digital infrastructures, information technologies and media platforms. In short, the contemporary art museum is an exemplary site of organizational change. Yet how does this change take place? How is the museum organized (differently)? On invitation by Lenbachhaus Munich, this course will investigate the organizational challenges that museums face, and reflect upon responses and new practices of organizing. Students will have the unique opportunity to empirically engage with a leading art museum and the wider institutional landscape of organizing art and culture. As a site-specific course dedicated to fieldwork-based teaching and learning, the participants will be able to take a closer look behind the scenes, explore the museum’s processes, technologies and atmospheres of organizing, and engage with its curators, technicians, administrators, educators and managers. Joined by further guests and experts, we will jointly work towards an exhibition of the studentsʹ findings on the museum as site of organizational and cultural change. Course structure and indications of the learning and teaching design After an online kick-off session, the course is organized across 4,5 (full) days in Munich, which consist of thematic discussions, site-specific research, guest speakers, preparatory exercises and project work. Part 1 consists of exploring themes as part of the transformation of contemporary museums and forming groups around a specific theme. Part 2 consists of field work and empirical research based on the themes. In Part 3, we develop empirical findings (also through further literature research) and prepare the exhibition of findings, while Part 4 is setting up the exhibition and presenting the findings.

Course Schedule

Lehrveranstaltungen

Kunst als demokratische Erfahrung. Von Black Mountain College zur Group Material (Seminar)

Mining the Museum: Kritische Intervention im Salzmuseum (Seminar)

Organizing culture: The art museum as site of organizational change (Seminar)