A NEW project which reflects Dundee’s dynamic history is set to be launched by the University of Dundee’s Cooper Gallery.
The Ignorant Art School is a five-chapter exhibition and events project that brings together creative groups to examine the histories and future possibilities of art education.
The five chapters, composed as ‘Sit-ins’, adopt the activist tactic of occupying institutional space as a critical and creative attitude, creating a space to explore radical, ethical and accessible pedagogies.
The Ignorant Art School will launch on February 25 with the celebrated Scottish artist Ruth Ewan as its first guest speaker.
A series of online actions, workshops and gatherings will then take place each week until 22 April.
The opening event will see Ewan and her collaborators present an A-Z of Dundonian dissent, offering playful and surprising anecdotes from the city’s radical past.
Sophia Yadong Hao, Cooper Gallery Principal Curator said, “We are delighted to launch this new project.
“The Ignorant Art School is a space of collaborative and revolutionised learning open to all.
“Sit-in #1 of The Ignorant Art School, led by Ruth Ewan, rekindles the political turmoil and desires for emancipation set alight in Dundee by the French Revolution.
“Our opening event is a history class that explores Dundee’s radical political history and the city’s connection to the French Revolution through stories, readings and music.
“The following events explore multiple histories, alternative social structures and popular culture, radicalising imagination as a revolutionary act to reveal the urgent cogency of collaborative learning and transgressive reimagining.”
The Ignorant Art School will run until 2023, with future chapters of the project still to be announced.
