The World of Art is the sole programme in Slovenia and the broader region of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe aimed towards practical and theoretical education in the field of contemporary art. It comes out of a premise that future experts need and should be taught the skills and methods, along with gaining knowledge and insight into the critical and theoretical apparatus as all this should eventually help them when tackling the complex matter of the world of art.
The programme of the school is conceived in annual courses that establish a long-term expert reflection as well as the curatorial and critical practice – the very segment of art system that is essential for relevant and active artistic production, and yet is absolutely undeveloped in Slovenia. Our view was that only such systematic and wholesome programme may bring about the necessary structural changes, which is made obvious in practice after nine years of the operation of the programme.
The World of Art is made out of four mutually compatible segments:
- Course for Curators / Laboratorium
- Seminar in Writing
- Series of lectures and
- Anthologies
From 1997, in the nine school years, we have hosted 43 local and foreign lecturers; 61 participants have prepared nine exhibitions; 18 future writers have successfully concluded the seminar; we have published five bilingual collections of texts (in Slovenian and English).
In its tenth year (2006/2007), one segment of the programme (Seminar) unfolds in the already established frame while another segment (Laboratorium) is conceived experimentally. We are also in the process of establishing a new platform for an on-going debate on curatorial practices and different educational models in the field of contemporary art, their theoretical grounding and practical implementation. We will invite numerous local and foreign experts who will prepare lectures, workshops and councils.
An expanded school team is dedicated to updating and further improvement of the programme. We have created the World of Art Board, which includes: Barbara Borčić, Branko Dimitrijević, Eda Čufer, Urška Jurman, Suzana Milevska, Nataša Petrešin, Nevenka Šivavec, Miško Šuvaković and Saša Nabergoj. The WoA Board is a counselling body, which will take part in the reflection on the past and build the frame for the future.