10the edition of Rupert's Alternative Education Programme (AEP)
Rupert's Alternative Education Programme (AEP) is a para-academic learning initiative embracing transdisciplinary exchange, intersectional practices and decentralized knowledge exchange. In 2022 the 10th edition of AEP activated part of former sewing factory, where for five month participants-led temporal project space DSL transformed empty spaces into dynamic experiment of urban regeneration.
Local
Lithuania
{Empty}
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Rupert Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Tautvydas Last name of representative: Urbelis Gender: Male Nationality: Lithuania Function: Curator Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Vaidilutės 79 Town: Vilnius Postal code: 10100 Country: Lithuania Direct Tel:+370 620 26092 E-mail:tautvydas@rupert.lt Website:https://rupert.lt/
Rupert’s Alternative Education Programme (AEP) combines arts education and professional development to encourage knowledge exchange between the participants and practitioners working in contemporary art and other fields. The programme seeks to expand the academic field by promoting decentralized knowledge exchange while bringing creators into a community. The AEP is a para-academic learning programme that does not grant an academic degree. Each year, up to 9 participants are selected to take part in the programme, giving them an opportunity to develop their projects though a series of workshops, lectures, seminars, research trips and studio visits. Rupert maintains relations with the participants after the programme by involving them in Rupert’s various activities, allowing further learning through active participation.
10th edition of the programme in 2022 took place at partially disused sewing factory "Lelija" where participants had their studios, were running temporal project space DSL and installed final exhibition alongside gathering of alternative art education. 9 artists, researchers and designers situated their practices in a unique spatial environment of the factory that once was pride of Lithuanian industrial complex (from post-war to this day). While part of the factory was disused and waiting for a major regeneration process, other part was still in operation, creating a unique social and creative ecosystem. The factory was existing in three different temporalities - in the past with a unique social modernist heritage still intact; in the present as part of the factory was still operating; and in the future as some of the regeneration works were already starting. This composition became a base for activation of the spaces through artistic gestures, social initiatives and research.
Alternative education
Transdisciplinary
Radical pedagogy
Decentralized
R&D
The key objectives in terms of sustainability during 10th edition of AEP were two fold - methodological and practical, both intertwining during the course of the six months. Objective of methodological sustainability was to create innovative approach towards egalitarian pedagogy based on four main principles - transdisciplinary exchange, decentralized knowledge distribution, theme and labor/practical knowledge. Because of its small capacity, programme could be adapted to individual needs of the participants, while fostering self-organization, mutual help and encouraging knowledge exchange within the group. Successful creation and implementation of this methodology allowed to devise a clear, participants-enabling and flexible framework. The sustainability of this framework allowed adaptation of methodology in different context without pressing need to blindly comply to rigid educational structure.
This methodology allowed formulation and implementation of practical or material sustainability:
a) Opening factory spaces to the public and demonstrating how something what was considered 'unfitting for further use' could be reanimated through educational and artistic initiatives
b) Using materials found in the factory's spaces to create art that will be going to exhibited during the smaller events and the final show. Both were implemented successfully in a form of public events as part of temporal DSL projects space and final exhibition "Adero" were majority of works were created either using found materials or using factory's infrastructure.
As part of art and education institution, activities of AEP and its participants revolved around artistic research, production and interventions, where aesthetics played a key role activating the factory. Key objectives in this regard were:
a) Research and produce high quality art while maintaining sustainability as a high priority. Often art is seen as a tool to highlight certain processes around topic of sustainability, however as a respected art institution Rupert encourage participants not to compromise their aesthetic standards. Although the process required more effort, the final result was received very well not only among general public but also art professional, proving that sustainability can go hand in hand with the highest standards of art making.
b) During the activation and opening of the spaces to the public, artistic practices were a vehicle in creating safe and accessible experience of the spaces that were inaccessible for public for more than 50 years. Small workshops, gatherings and events, all in one way or other relating to artistic expression and aesthetic experience, activated curiosity amidst visitors. In short, the participants of AEP were creating not to highlight the sustainability or lack of it, but rather alongside it. Being sustainable became a acceleration of creativity.
Opening space of the "Lelija" was in itself an objective to show how spatial accessibility can function in the context of still prevalent post-Soviet urban infrastructure. The idea of open city where art plays a integral role was in full display during the AEP. However, the more substantial and long-term objective was creating an education model that combines decentralized decision making, self-organization and alternative pedagogy while operating on clear framework provided by an art institution. The whole programme in general and temporal project space DSL in particular was a great example of that. DSL was born out of long discussion on what we can do with the programme and space it had. The participants decided that running a project space was most suitable form and were assigned budget to operate alongside institutional and curatorial support. In this way running DSL became part of educational curriculum. It became a space where theoretical and practical knowledge, received during workshops with tutors, found its way into real-life implementation. Such spatial (factory spaces) and methodological (the framework of AEP and DSL) environment shed a new light on different creative practices, navigating discussions and artistic production into new, often unexpected realms.
AEP is designed to work with a small group of people where its methodology can be most beneficial and foster relationships with wider culture sector. However, receiving space in "Lelija" opened pathways to directly and indirectly engage with broader society beyond culture field. Quite surprisingly, one of the first visitors of DSL events were not regular audience of art field, but neighbor of the factory, who were curious about opportunity to visit enclosed former factory. This interest created an intriguing composition of visitors, merging different societal layers and interests. Further events and initiatives reached wider audiences and public conversations about the future of similar urban infrastructure.
Vilnius been lingering on a verge of full-on gentrification, however never fully entering at a scale of Western cities. Combined with still present Soviet urban heritage, initiatives at "Lelija" created unique spatio-educational ecosystem. Multitude encounters, ideas, agreements, frictions and stakeholders met directly and indirectly, expanding deep into the broader society and city's rhythms.
Engagement on a local level took part mostly during activities of DSL project space. As mentioned before, these events gathered small but diverse groups of people exchanging ideas and broadening their spatio-educational horizons. On a regional and national level it became as an example of successful trans-generational, transdisciplinary and cross-field initiative, where most of the trajectories were unfolding without rigid preconceptions. On a European level the 10th edition of AEP became a example of successful, well-developed and diverse educational programme. During the Gathering of Alternative Education (part of final events of AEP) the programme was presented as a lecture and as a publication. More substantial book on these and other educational initiatives is planned for 2025.
The overall methodological infrastructure of AEP is deeply transdisciplinary, inviting representatives for different field to share knowledge as tutors and participants. Each year new cohort of tutors and participants are selected, entering and reconfiguring existing educational infrastructure through transdisciplinary exchange. 10th edition at "Lelija" was no exception, however it augmented spatio-educational layer to overall infrastructure of the AEP.
Some of the direct examples - visual artist working with sugar sculptures gathered weeds growing in the yard of the factory and invited local community to make candy sculptures while exploring biodiversity of the urban environments. The final exhibition of the programme became a pinnacle of such collaboration, creating 9 new, site-specific works using factory's infrastructure, found materials after getting in touch with former factory workers and researchers.
Since its inception 10 years ago, AEP actively shaped the discourse around alternative education in arts and beyond. It gathered knowledge and experiences from traditional formats and hybridized them with transdisciplinary approach and encouragement of decentralized organizational practices. 10 the edition went event further, actively transforming vast urban structure while staying true to its ethos.
Traditional or most common ways of education, urban transformation, art production and sustainability tends to centralize its discursive practices and use others fields as resources or tools. For example, sustainability tends to use art as a tool to express concerns or interpret data. While urban transformation often uses sustainability or art as means to achieve goals (eg greenwashing or aggressive gentrification). In the case of AEP, all these different facets were in constant interplay and generative creative tensions. Non of them were taken for granted or took the central role for longer periods of time. At certain stages of the programme urban transformations took the central role (moving in the building, using spaces), while at other times sustainability took over, like when choosing materials for art production. This dynamic approach enabled participants find most suitable amalgamation of means and tools, in turn paving way to further creative exchange between them and representatives of respected fields.
Although the AEP operated on situated knowledge frameworks and participants-oriented methodology, it is also highly transferable as malleable educational infrastructure. Its four main trajectories or building blocks - transdisciplinary exchange, decentralized knowledge distribution, theme and labor/practical knowledge - are based on research of previous programmes and functions as applicable methodology. Part of this methodology is relies on the context in which it's operating, meaning that certain adaptations is not only desirable but necessary for methodology to fulfil its potential.
The lessons of engaging with "Lelija" factory are scalable and implementable, notably the dynamic interchange between different fields and discourses. The whole process been documented and is being transformed into methodological outlines. The basic building block for replication or transference is full comprehension of interaction between methodological propositions (framework and infrastructure), malleability (openness to inputs from different disciplines and participants) and situatedness (part of institution encouraging self-organization and decentralized decision making).
The backend of the AEP, that consist of its methodology (based on 4 trajectories), research, communication with tutors, theoretical backing and material infrastructure is highly complex system that was developed through several years. However, the frontend - the programme as communicated to and experienced by the participants is clear and relatively simple. This adaptation or re-coding of complexity is one of the key processes of conveying a successful programme. Subtracted base of the methodology is as follows:
a) Transdisciplinary exchange - programme is open to participants and tutors of different fields. However, the institution and curator must be aware their own positionality and recognize limitation in order to resist temptation to throw a overly heterogenous group that would find hard time to connect. The timeframe of the AEP allows participants to learn from each other and through that situate their own practice within the broader field.
b) Decentralized knowledge distribution - the programme is not alternative to something specific eg. university, but rather draws from different approaches and sifts them through research and experiments. It also encourages participants to engage in self-organization and decentralized decision making.
c) Thematic approach - the AEP operates in cycles with a specific theme, allowing to strengthen the methodological framework and adjust focus.
d) Labor/practical knowledge - it is everything what enables the participants to sustain themselves as artists, curators, researchers, etc. From labor rights to types of agreements and recognition that labor is labor regardless of the field.
e) 10th edition added extremely valuable spatial component to the whole methodology as described above.
The AEP provides local solutions to two global challenges - changing educational landscape and challenges of urban regeneration. The educational needs in contemporary world are no longer satisfied by traditional learning infrastructures, namely universities and academies. The pace, diversity and technological advancements are shaping the experiences and expectations of education that are beyond reach of traditional infrastructure. However, these establishments accumulated experiences and know-how that has a great value and AEP recognizes that by implementing some of them into its backend processes.
Capital driven urban regeneration is under immense pressure as integrally flawed process, while its alternatives often tends to instrumentalize and instate too rigid hierarchies between different solutions. The AEP and its dynamic approach could be recognized as an example decentralized regeneration, where hierarchies and relations change depending on the frameworks, participants and content of activities.
The AEP is operating in cycles - 10th edition is over and 11th edition will start in June. The main outcomes of the programme - aside experiences and lessons by participants, tutors and organizers as well as myriads of conversations and inputs from different audiences - are updated methodology, a publication dedicated to 10th edition and photo/video documentation. Inspired by the previous year success, the conversation between developer and Rupert has been renewed regarding new spaces for upcoming programme. Simultaneously Rupert is fundraising in order to reduce dependency on developer and acquire space via rent r other means. The major publication exploring alternative education in art and beyond is being prepared and will be based on experiences of AEP.
