Why produce art? – Course programme of the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts 17 July–26 August 2017

Press release
Course programme 17 July–26 August 2017

Why produce art?

The 2017 motto is the general, fundamental question Why produce art? – this goes straight to the heart of the Summer Academy as an institution, but also to every creative artist. “The Salzburg International Academy of Fine Arts is important not only for the participants, but also for the cultural town of Salzburg. Last year, students came here from more than 50 countries in order to receive further training in the classes, to seek inspiration and contacts, and to take with them into the world the experiences and new perspectives gained in Salzburg.” Thus regional councillor Dr. Heinrich Schellhorn today, at the presentation of the course programme with Dr. Hildegund Amanshauser. He continued: “Besides setting its sights outward on the world, the Summer Academy plays an important interiorising role – for beyond the challenges of globalisation, the focus is on aspects such as the self-conception and inner motivation of the creative artists.”

What does it mean, to produce art today? What is the attitude of art towards the socio-political situation? Why do we still keep on learning and teaching art? “Art offers a possibility for relating to the world. It also represents, however, a refuge, a place of total immersion, allowing us to merge with it or with particular situations. Art sharpens our perception. Art is a means of (political) expression – and much more”, Amanshauser explains; its variety and complexity is evident in the diverse courses on offer. The common factor of the 18 courses is commitment to contemporaneity and openness to what is new or unknown and foreign.

The artists, curators and authors teaching at the Summer Academy in 2017 make use of existing knowledge and experience to explore the present, and they wish to share their own experiences. Aisha Khalid (miniature painting) and Andreas Lolis (stone sculpture) update a traditional technique. Lukas Pusch‘s extraordinary woodcuts and prints are commentaries on topical questions.

For Paulina Olowska, painting is more than simply a means of producing pictures; it is a direct reflex to life itself. Tony Chakar also is not concerned primarily with the production of (saleable) objects. He starts with a ramble around the town; his course – which is a continuation of the Public Art course, using different resources. Diana Campbell Betancourt, chief curator of the Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh, examines the challenges of curating in a global context. Ruth Noack, the well-known curator (also of documenta 12), studies “the potential of form to resist”. New this year: a blogging course directed by Sabine B. Vogel and Sabrina Möller – a reaction to the shift of the discourse on art from the print media to online magazines and blogs.

In Salzburg, besides acquiring basic techniques, students learn how to look at their own artistic practice in a wider context. The Summer Academy is open to all; it has no curriculum, and is non-academic. All those who teach or study here are fired by enthusiasm, so that our programme is hallmarked by intensity and diversity.

Teachers

Michael Beutler, Kimberly Bradley, Diana Campbell Betancourt, Tony Chakar, Distruktur (Melissa Dullius/Gustavo Jahn), Melissa Gordon, Valérie Jouve, Aisha Khalid, Andreas Lolis, Bernhard Martin, Till Megerle, Sabrina Möller/Sabine B. Vogel, Marc Monzó, Ruth Noack, Paulina Olowska, Lukas Pusch, Tex Rubinowitz, Mark van Yetter. More details here.

Grants, application, closing dates, fees

The fees, which vary according to the length of the course, are between € 370.- and € 1,200.-. Some 80 grants are available.

Application (digital only) for grants should be submitted by 3 April 2017. Information: www.summeracademy.at/grants

Application for courses should be submitted by 2 May 2017. Information: www.summeracademy.at/application.

Press kit see above.

For further details, please contact

Anette Freudenberger, presse@summeracademy.at, T +43 662 842113-14