Art education on the mountain Parnass

by Johanna G. Eder

200 km west of Athens there is the mountain Parnass. In Greek mythology, Apollon, the god of light and the arts, lives on its top. He is surrounded by the nine Muse-goddesses who symbolize the arts. There bubbles the spring of inspiration.

What does the KHBi4 have to do with it? Isn’t this metaphor far too pathetic and antiquated? We’ll see… Let’s climb the peak together – with the playful, exploratory spirits of art education rather than pathos.

Bild: Wikipedia

Art education – that is our “hiking trail”. That is learning with and from art, learning from other people and from oneself and let ourselves be surprised by the results of what evolves when things or people are put in relation: the KloHäuschen and the Gartenlaube, the artists and the perceivers, the work of art and its creative process. The latter can be quite complex. It starts with ideas and inspirations and by no means ends with the presentation of particular results. The creative journey continues within the perceivers who add important ideas to the creative process by their participation. I would like to see the KHBi4 as this kind of dislimitation.

When I was invited to develop the educational program of the KHBi4 I was overjoyed! An exhibition that wants to learn from Athens Ottobrunn! That picks out the creative process! And that believes in curatorial art education to shape the character of the biennial’s concept. I totally fancy that! As an art educator I have thought a lot about the artistic creative process and its conveying. In my book “HOMO CREANS” I discovered five artistic creative strategies that are important in the inspiration process of a work of art:

• research
• playing
• chance
• composition
• interconnectedness

Now I am thinking the obvious: let’s discover the five sources of the artistic creative inspiration in different ways at the KHBi4: art education on the metaphorical muses’ hill Parnass.

Interactive guided tour “the route and the goal“

Together we discover the exhibition sites and their artefacts. The route is the goal. We let ourselves be surprised by the unfinished, by questions, by failure. We open our eyes for the traces of what you can‘t see. With the help of playing, chance and a researching eye everybody becomes part of the creative process and the inspiration.

Travel Agency

Munich, Ottobrunn, Athens – that sounds like travelling. Also the creative process with its different phases is like a journey. At different interactive stations we discover and relive the creative process. We tie on what the works of art offer us and playfully work on. Where does the journey go…?