ART CONNECTS NATIONS
EHP-BFNU-OVNKM-4-293-01-2023 under the Fund for Bilateral Relations within the framework of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021
The goal of the project Art connects nations is to organize an exhibition “Together in Europe” with international participation within the renowned festival – Fest Michael where we also present the outputs of the project, which will be created in the framework of creative cooperation with the Norwegian school in Oslo. The activities organised during the project support the mutual transfer of innovation and exchange of experience in vocational education.
Our partner school is named after the famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch.
Edvard Munch upper secondary school has around 1,300 students and approx. 170 teachers. The school is located in Ullevalsveien 5 – in what was the Art and Crafts School’s former premises, right in the city centre.
Their study programs are: Art, design and architecture, Crafts, design and product development (wood, gold and textiles), Music and Dance. In the newly established Studio E in Fredensborgveien, close to the school, the vocational study areas Flower, Hairdressing and Interior and exposure design are also offered.
Study specialization has a wide range of subjects as science, languages, social studies and economics. Within the language subjects, they focus on internationalization with exchange programs and study tours. Within science, they focus on technology, modeling and programming. Many students also choose cross-country sports. The learning environment is characterized by cooperation – the students at the school support each other and work together in groups of four. They also participate in activities where they work together with students from the other education programs. They emphasize on the diverse environment at the school. The school also has Munchtid – a voluntary tutoring service with teachers, where students choose which subject they want to work on. In the creative workshop, students can come to immerse themselves in a project, program a robot, use a laser cutter or create a 3D model.
Teachers will be involved in job shadowing in practical classes. They will be coaching the students as they work on photography assignments – the topic – architecture, landscape, and nature. They will have the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss teaching methods during the practical outdoor assignment with the Norwegian colleague and share know-how in the organization and implementation of practical teaching in different demographics. The teachers will discuss and compare educational systems, share, and exchange ideas and learn about new IT technologies using at school. We have the ambition to be an example for other institutions specialising in multimedia and creative education.
In May 2024 two Czech teachers and three students came to Norway. Students took part in art lessons and worked on their creative tasks and outputs for Fest Michael. They discussed the main theme “Together in Europe” with Norwegian students and teachers. All participants learned about each other, and cooperation increased awareness of other cultures, traditions, customs, and nature. Lecture and workshop – the theme Edvard Munch was prepared for teachers and students – discussion about an exceptional artist followed.
June 2024 – two teachers from Norway come to Prague. They will do job shadowing and cooperate with our FestMichael team on the art project Together in Europe.
The fifteenth anniversary of FestMichael will have international participation, and the results of Czech-Norwegian cooperation will be presented there. The festival will take place on 6 June 2024 at the Lucerna cinema, where the students’ films will be presented. Afterwards, the festival will move to náměstí Míru, where the exhibition of the works of students of Graphic Design, Photography and Interior Design will take place. The exhibited works will be open to the public until 13th July 2024 in the area in front of St. Ludmila’s Church and in the adjacent park.
