Pavilion Projects: Reverse Pedagogy †

Reverse Pedagogy †

May 31st to June 8th
REVERSE PEDAGOGY
Palazzo Zen, Venice, Italy
Residency

In May 2009, Reverse Pedagogy arrives in Venice, Italy. The experimental, nomadic art school will be in session during the first ten days of the 53rd Venice Biennale, bringing with it an international cast of artists, curators, and writers. Taking off from its first installment at the Banff Centre, Reverse Pedagogy will turn a Venetian palazzo into the site of art and knowledge production, communal living, play and conversation. With a dozen air mattresses, tents, and a dozen canoes in tow, participants will engage round-the-clock in activities within the residency and the Biennale itself.

In 2008, artist Paul Butler initiated Reverse Pedagogy at the Banff Centre for Arts in Canada. Participants were asked to direct the residency collectively. The goal was to create an experiment in which students would teach each other without hierarchical pedagogical models. The success of this collective experiment lay in the conviction that it is between the spaces of individual artistic production and top-down educational transmission that new artistic possibilities are born. Art is not produced in a vacuum; it is the product of social and cultural exchange. The twenty artists that took part in the month-long residency were free to make a series of exhibitions, radio broadcasts, serigraph prints, zines, photographs, ceramics, time-capsules, as well as organize meals, parties, and field-trips to hot springs, museums, karaoke bars, and ski ranges. Reverse Pedagogy was a sanctuary from the pressures and responsibilities that come with being a professional artist, giving these artists room to experiment, fail, and exchange. The results were spectacular, interdisciplinary projects, many of which are ongoing.

This summer, artist Dean Baldwin will lead the second installment of Reverse Pedagogy in Venice. Some participants will include Katie Bethune-Leamen, Nicholas Brown, Bruno Billio, Paul Butler, Sarah Cale, Catharine Dean, Kristan Horton, Kelly Jazvac, Seamus Kealy, Karen Kraven, Kelly Mark, Gareth Moore, Douglas Paulson (Parfyme, Copenhagen), Joe Pingue, Paulette Phillips, Clint Roenisch, Mitzi Pederson, John Sasaki, Maryse Larivière & Robin Simpson (Pavilion Projects, Montreal), Ruti Sela & Maayan Amir (Tel Aviv), Swintak, Chen Tamir, Ron Tran, and Kara Uzelman. Various manifestations of Reverse Pedagogy will take the form of public performances, discussions, presentations and exhibitions during and after the duration of the residency. The events of Reverse Pedagogy will be blogged round-the-clock, and print publications will be produced and distributed during the Biennale. Upon its completion, Reverse Pedagogy will ultimately lead to an exhibition that will travel within and outside of Canada.

See you Thursday, June 4th, following the Canada Pavillion opening celebrations, for the Canada Party at 8 pm at the Rialto Pescaria. Reverse Pedagogy will get the party going with a project by Dean Baldwin The Algonquin Tiki Tiki Hut .

PRIMARY SPONSORS
The Banff Centre
Elisa Nuyten/Art Gallery of Ontario

INDIVIDUAL CANOE SPONSORS
Bordercrossings Magazine
Canadian Art
Contemporary No.9
The Ladies who Launch
Lawrence Eng
Magenta Publishing for the Arts
National Gallery of Canada
Plug In ICA
Variant Path
Anne Webb