WHAT IS TRUE OF ALL GROUPS IN THE TUTOR PROGRAMME
* That the tutor group should be a safe and trusted environment, not primarily focussed on the result, performance or success, but on a learning process that runs its course in a transparent way. Doubt, confusion, freezing up, conflict, failure are integral parts of this process. The aim is to allow students to develop their own vision and autonomous practice.
* The relationship among students has an important sustaining role in this learning process because of their differences in age, life experience and school years. The group process functions as the platform for education and development. It is there that students learn from one another through intensive exchanges and collaborations.
* Just as important is the guiding, questioning, mirroring, supporting and connecting influence of the tutor. The tutor’s task is to guide the process in the group and maintain individual contacts. Inspiration is to be found in the method of the Socratic dialogue. The tutor’s personality and artistic practice provide the instruments that enable him/her to play the role of tutor.
* That the values one cherishes in art also apply to the contact and choices made by and in the groups. The responsibilities that come with being an artist are actively questioned, individually and collectively.
* A specific discipline in art or a particular medium should not form an obstacle to the student’s development. Research into other disciplines and media and interdisciplinary work will be encouraged. The same goes for working in multidisciplinary teams.
* The leading principle is that people learn best by producing their work in freedom, by experimenting, by reflecting on their work together with others, and by presenting it in different situations. In other words, gaining experience in showing and contextualizing their work and gaining insight into their artistic process as a communication phenomenon. And of course, the aim is to acquire savoir faire, in terms of making and designing of images, objects, spaces and material.
This educational model uses a cycle of making, reflecting and showing in which individual students and groups collaborate. Which means that conceptual-artistic, socio-political, artisanal-technical and personal-existential elements are continually touched upon.
There are many ways and many media to do this, and a variety of possible choices in terms of priorities. The seven tutor groups distinguish themselves in these aspects.