Breda, Netherlands – The past week marked the grand finale of the Arts&Humanity minor, celebrated with an array of compelling presentations at the Explore Festival in Breda. This festival, an initiative by the Urban Living Lab, aims to support the goals of the “Improve Breda” program. Students were challenged to research how artistic work and interventions could enhance connections between different communities within the city, thus equalizing opportunities for all.
On Wednesday, students showcased their work, performances, or workshops at The Great Church during the “Break Out of Your Bubble” brunch. This event also featured contributions from, among others, the city’s poet with a disability and students from the Curio vocational training program. Initially, attendance was expected to be between 60 and 80 visitors, but the final count reached 150!
Here is the link to the report on BredaToday; https://www.bredavandaag.nl/algemeen/algemeen/408857/nieuw-festival-in-breda-zet-ontmoeting-centraal
On Thursday, students spent the entire day at Nwe Veste with their projects, sharing and performing their manifestos developed during the minor. These manifestos articulated their positions and perspectives.
It was remarkable and rewarding to see how students managed to engage attendees with their projects and to observe the impact of the location’s context on the expressiveness of their work. The minor was an excellent “living lab,” allowing researchers from Caradt to experiment with and share my research ideas with the students. This experience successfully leveraged urban networks and field research, making it a truly enriching journey for all involved.
‘Imagination is the key to a strong inclusive society. Artistic work and situated design can contribute to a better understanding of the other.’
Jenny van den Broeke is a researcher within the Situated Art and Design research group, and a tutor on the Photography, Film & the Digital study programme at St. Joost school of Art & Design in Breda. In her own practice she works as a trainer, director, and producer of artistic projects that address social topics.
Living in cities developed around data and acting within the inscrutable structure of our techno-society demands art and design that can help understand how we relate to these rapidly changing surroundings and to reflect on that relationship. The research group Situated Art and Design responds to this exigency by fostering a situated turn in art and design through a diverse portfolio of interdisciplinary research projects in partnership with academic and cultural partners, as well as with government and industry.
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